TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) — Toilet rolls for wiping smartphones are the newest feature in Japan’s famously high-tech bathrooms, often equipped with bidets and heated seats.
Japanese mobile phone company, NTT Docomo, has installed small rolls of screen-wiping sheets inside 86 toilet cubicles in Tokyo’s Narita International Airport for people to wipe their phones while they relieve themselves.
The company cited a recent study carried out by “SPA!” a Japanese weekly magazine, revealing that smartphones were five times more germ-infested than a toilet seat.
“Japanese toilets are praised world-wide and we wanted to place something like this in our toilets “said Yosuke Chikamura, a spokesperson for the NTT Docomo product.
A survey conducted by toilet maker Toto revealed that 93.6 percent of those surveyed said they found toilets in Japan cleaner than ones at home.
Cleaning phones, however, isn’t Docomo’s only objective.
Information on the firm’s public Wi-Fi networks and travel app are printed on each phone-cleansing sheet, allowing tourists to come out of toilets more knowledgeable about Japanese travel than before they went in.
Despite Japan being known for its efficiency and convenience, many foreign visitors to the country have said they encountered difficulties with scarce Wi-Fi services, according to a Japan Tourism Agency survey.
Some tourists found the printed travel information more helpful than the wiping sheets themselves.
“I wasn’t sure exactly how helpful as far as wiping the phone, because it didn’t seem like, moist or anything. It was kinda dry, but as far as like the information on it, I think That’s pretty helpful for tourists, because you just sitting on the toilet and it’s like a moment where you can just kind of look at information,” said Brian Ombonga, a tourist from Oakland, California.
First-time visitor Norhidayahdi found the idea “brilliant”.
“It’s very, very helpful and also, it was a smart thing to do,” she said.
Docomo has posted a two-minute promotional video on its YouTube channel, explaining the use of these smartphone loo rolls, while offering a humorous demonstration on how to correctly use the bidet function – a small shower feature often found in Japanese toilets.
A suited man is shown demonstrating various movements or sitting positions on a toilet seat, coining them names like “The Tornado” or “The Sumo Wrestler.”
Docomo’s toilet rolls will be available until March 15, 2017.