Any parents in Japan fretting about their kids’ hand hygiene will want to buy one of these cute stamps.

The coronavirus pandemic has everyone either resorting to the mercy of ancient yokai spirits or desperately keeping tabs on their own personal hygiene, especially that of their hands. But parents are coming up against an all too familiar stumbling block: how do you get your kids to wash for the entire recommended 30-second span of time?

There are gimmicks out there to encourage healthy hand-washing habits, for sure. But if you really want to encourage eager scrubbing in your little ones, there’s a product from all the way back in 2016 that might do the trick.

▼ This is the “Otetepon” push stamp, priced at 500 yen (US$4.66) plus tax.

The stamp has caught on in the social media sphere thanks to Twitter user @Puri__Papa, a father himself.

▼ Here he is with his own Otetepon stamp. (translation below)

https://twitter.com/Puri__Papa/status/1238632794152001536

“Recently we invited this into our household.
You press the stamp onto your kid’s hand, then they wash their hands until the stamp fades away! It’s a fun way for your kids to learn how to wash their hands.
What an ingenius idea, to help kids wash their hands by getting them dirty first. I never could have come up with it!
Shachihata, I salute you!”

The stamps come with a cute plastic hand-shaped stand in blue and pink colors, each with a different adorably evil virus print to stamp onto your child’s palm. The company even provides handy instructions to help your tots scrub away the ink.

Step 1: Stamp your hand with the device.
Step 2: Lather up with soap and wash (for about 30 seconds)
Step 3: Hand-washing complete!

Twitter was over the moon to find out about this four-year-old innovation from Shachihata, the genius company that brought out anti-groper stamps last year. When one added, “I think some adults could benefit from this product”, @Puri__Papa was quick to show his own stamp with pride.

▼ “I tried it out myself.”

https://twitter.com/Puri__Papa/status/1238638166854078464

If you’re desperate to try this fun little trick out for your own hygienic washing rituals, presumably it will work just as well with stamps from any regular stamp seal. Just make sure not to use all your ink stamping away on your hands!

Source: Shachihata, Twitter/@Puri__Papa via Hamusoku
Images: YouTube/シヤチハタ/Shachihata
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