Society Japan refuses to unmask

While Japan has entered the eighth Coronavirus wave and is preparing for the flu season, Nikkei looked at why the Japanese so stubbornly cling to wearing masks, ignoring government recommendations to stop wearing them outdoors.

Apart from the fact that many Japanese were not aware of these recommendations (see below), Osaka University professor Otake Fumio pointed out several contradictions in the behaviour of the general public:

"We don't generally need to wear masks when outdoors, but should continue masking up indoors and in crowds, where the risk of infection is higher," Ohtake has said. "We don't wear masks when we're inside restaurants, even though those places are said to be high-risk, but we put on masks once we go outside," Ohtake pointed out in a remote interview. "Isn't that odd? It's plain that they aren't being worn for the sake of preventing infection."

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Other experts state that apart from preventing infections, masks effectively visualise the dangers posed by COVID-19:

Wearing masks is highly effective from an infection prevention standpoint. Masking indoors lowers the risk of being infected, show multiple high-quality studies that have been analyzed thoroughly. The pandemic has given rise to the idea of universal masking -- people wearing masks not only to protect themselves, but also to protect others and society in case they are silent carriers. Some infectious disease experts believe that masks help people visualize the dangers of COVID-19, since the virus cannot be seen with the naked eye. That way, society would not grow lax in responding to the pandemic.

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Paywall alert:


Earlier this month, it was reported that most Japanese were not aware of government guidance that wearing masks outdoors for protection against the coronavirus is unnecessary in most cases.

Although the guidelines were issued in May and the government's position on mask-wearing has since remained unchanged, the survey found that 18.4 percent of respondents had no knowledge the guidance even existed, while 40 percent knew of it but not the specific details, according to data by polling firm Laibo Inc. Compared with the 58.4 percent overall who were unaware, 41.6 percent said they knew of the guidance and its content, according to the survey. [...] Wearing a mask remains the norm in Japan, despite 72.7 percent saying they are in favor of dropping the practice. Among the respondents, 33.9 percent said they were in favor of shedding masks, while 38.8 answered they were "somewhat" in favor.

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Based on my observation and compared to several weeks ago, more people are masking up, even in private transportation and outdoors. In Japan, masks are here to stay.

I sure don't wear them outdoors, but the university students are required too.

I kind of feel that another reason is that its easier to hide behind a mask. More anonymous, less interaction.