An airport in Japan has taken toilet cleanliness to a new level. A company has installed "toilet paper" for smartphones in the public lavatories at Tokyo's Narita International Airport. Passengers are being encouraged to use the special wipes to disinfect their mobile devices. The cleansing rolls are the idea of Japanese mobile giant NTT Docomo. It also paid for the disinfectant dispensers to be put next to the regular toilet paper holder in 86 cubicles in seven rest rooms at the airport. A company YouTube video informed us that toilet seats were usually more hygienic than smartphones, saying: "There are more than five times the germs on a smartphone screen as compared to a toilet seat."
Japan is a world leader in toilet technology and boasts some of the most high-tech bathrooms in the world. Many Japanese homes have toilets that are equipped with innovative flushing, seat warming, and automated bidet functions. On some, the lid automatically rises when you enter the toilet and flushes when you finish. There is also a gadget that produces loud flushing sounds if you want to hide embarrassing "toilet noises". NTT Docomo has accompanied its smartphone wipes with a two-minute instructional video for tourists on how to use the sheets correctly, and also on how to use the other features common in Japan's toilets. It said it wants to make sure, "foreign tourists could enjoy their travel hygienically".
