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Japanese company officially bans employees from licking fingers when handling papers or money

Casey Baseel Nov 27, 2019
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Keep your saliva in your mouth, not on things other people are going to touch, taxi company says.

Yokohama-based cab company Sanwa Kotsu has an undeniable quirky, fun-loving side to it. This is, after all, the company that offers Tokyo-area taxi rides driven by ninja and “pretend-they’re-not-there” kabuki stagehands.

But Sanwa Kotsu is still a legitimate company, and a Japanese one. That means a commitment to sparkling customer service and proper business decorum, and so the company has recently installed a new employee policy regarding proper document-handling protocol. The company wants to be as transparent as possible regarding this change in worker regulations, and so it’s shared a photo of the memo that’s being circulated to its employees through the official Sanwa Kotsu Twitter account.

先程、弊社の全職員宛に
通達メールが届きました。
何か重大通達かと思いきや…

＿人人人人人人人人＿
＞激しく同意…！＜
￣Y^Y^Y^Y^Y^Y^Y￣
(２号) pic.twitter.com/g6Kq6SGTEn

— サンワさん＠三和交通 (@sanwa_taxi) November 22, 2019

The stern-looking memo reads:

November 22, 2019

To: All individuals affiliated with Sanwa Kotsu

Notification:
From this point forward, the following actions are prohibited when handling any documents or papers:

The application to the fingertips of transparent liquids secreted by the salivary glands, oral muciparous glands, or elsewhere in the oral cavity to the fingertips prior to the repagination of paper documents or currency.

This policy is to be thoroughly communicated to all employees.

– Sanwa Kotsu Corp. General Headquarters

Or, in simpler language: Sanwa Kotsu is officially prohibiting its office workers from licking their fingertips when leafing through papers, and also their drivers from licking their fingers before counting out the bills they give customers as change, on the grounds that it’s gross to make someone else indirectly touch your spit.

While Sanwa Kotsu hasn’t receive any direct complaints from customers regarding finger-licking, the company itself decided to officially codify the practice as nasty, and online commenters are already thanking them for it, reacting with:

“Such an elegant way of phrasing the new rule.”
“I wish my company would put out a notice like this.”
“And the library too.”
“There seriously are some taxi drivers who slobber all over their fingers before they give you your change. I haven’t encountered any Sanwa drivers who do that though.”

Oh, and while the new policy only specifically mentions paper-based items, we’re sure that in practice it’ll extend to the crossbows Sanwa Kotsu gives customers for its taxi cab archery promotion too.

Source: Twitter/@sanwa_taxi, IT Media
Top image: Pakutaso
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