Photo/Illutration A sign that reads “Shodokueki” (Hand Sanitizer Sta.) is almost identical to the station signboard for JR Ochanomizu Station in Tokyo. It is placed inside the ticket gate at the Hijiribashi Exit. (Hidemasa Yoshizawa)

An official-looking sign at JR Ochanomizu Station in downtown Tokyo caused a stir on social media, has drawn laughter from commuters and may be helping to save lives.

The sign, which reads “Hand Sanitizer Sta.,” is almost identical in design and color with the real station signboards set up by East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) on its train platforms.

It was posted above a stand with an antiseptic spray bottle near the ticket gate at the Hijiribashi Exit. The sign even carried the station code of “JC03” for non-Japanese speaking passengers, meaning that it is Ochanomizu Station used for the Chuo Line’s rapid services.

One tweet saying the sign “has good sense” received about 100,000 likes.

Business operators on a nearby shopping street in Chiyoda Ward provided the hand sanitizer to the station in January to help prevent the spread of novel coronavirus infections.

But possibly because the bottle was inconspicuous, only a few passengers used the sanitizer.

Naoki Kawasaki, 24, a station worker, and two of his colleagues who also joined JR East last year, thought about how to make the bottle more noticeable.

“In this day and age, we don’t have many good things to talk about. So we wanted to make something to give passengers a little chuckle,” Kawasaki said about the plans for the station signboard parody.

When Kawasaki was making the sign, he thought about the medical workers who are struggling to deal with surges in infected patients.

The station is surrounded by medical institutions, including Tokyo Medical and Dental University’s Medical Hospital and Nihon University Hospital, and many health care workers use the station.

When Kawasaki was working in a ticket gate booth one day, his doctor acquaintance told him that medical workers have been fighting an uphill battle against COVID-19 ever since the pandemic began.

Official station signboards show the station name and the next stations in either direction.

But the “Hand Sanitizer Sta.” sign shows “Countermeasures” in place of the previous station, while the next station is replaced with “Habits.”

“It calls on passengers to make a habit of disinfecting their hands,” Kawasaki said.

All station workers were fastidious about recreating every detail of the station signboard. They added Chinese and Hangul translations at the suggestion of the stationmaster.

The sign has drawn positive reactions from passengers.

“I like it because it’s humorous. Trains are used by an unspecified number of people, and it feels good to use hand sanitizers at stations,” said Mieko Yokota, 61, from Narashino, Chiba Prefecture, who was taking photos of the sign.

“It’s easy to notice when there is a sign. It makes me feel I should try it,” Yasushi Nishimoto, 75, from Tokyo’s Nerima Ward, added.

Kawasaki said about the sign: “It may be a small thing, but we’d be happy if it can help station users feel safe to travel on trains and shows our gratitude for medical workers. I hope we can get through the coronavirus pandemic soon.”

Since November last year, rope-shaped blue LED lights placed on the station building are lit at night to show gratitude to medical workers. The blue lights are directed at medical institutions around the station.

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