Japan: Ginza shoppers clean hands, phones with high-tech wash stations

Workers standing next to a mobile handwashing machine called 'WOSH', installed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease, in Ginza shopping district in Tokyo on Saturday (Dec 19, 2020). - Reuters

TOKYO, Dec 19 (Reuters): Shoppers washed their hands and sterilised their smartphones in the streets of Tokyo's posh Ginza district on Saturday using handwashing stations that a Japanese start-up hopes will revolutionise access to clean water and better hygiene.

WOTA Corp set up 20 of its WOSH machines near popular Ginza stores in an initiative with a district association aimed at encouraging shoppers to wash their hands to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.