More than one month ago, the Japanese government changed its recommendation for wearing masks. It suggested that people can remove masks, but the idea is not popular.
Japan has never had a government mandate to wear masks. However, after two years of the pandemic, wearing a mask seems to be polite. Now, some people are worried about illnesses related to the heat because summer in Japan is very hot.
Experts say that many people don’t know that the government recommended taking masks off on May 20. The recommendation is only for some situations. People might not learn about the recommendation unless a well-known person like the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, says it.
The recommendation to wear masks outside is only for when you are talking to another person less than 2 meters away. However, most people wear them outside all the time.
The government tried to inform the public about the recommendation with leaflets. They will also try some TV and radio commercials.
There are some cases of children who were sent to the hospital for heat exhaustion or heat stroke because they were wearing masks during gym class at school. The ministry of education asked schools to let the kids play without masks. The ministry also said that young children can take off masks during their commutes to school.
People are slower to accept the recommendation for masks indoors. According to the government, wearing a mask inside is also not necessary if you are more than 2 meters from another person and there isn’t a lot of talking.
However, there are still many messages to wear a mask in public places from companies who are worried about coronavirus.
East Japan Railway Co., a train company that services the Tokyo area, still asks passengers to always wear masks. The company says that it will not change the message unless the government tells them to.
May by Laibo Inc. did an online survey of 708 people. Around 40% of the respondents said that the requests to wear masks can end. However, around 90% of the respondents said that they will continue wearing masks.
More than 48% of the respondents say they will stop wearing masks when there is a “wonder drug” against COVID-19. Around 62% of the respondents say that it is rude to be in public spaces without a mask.
Naoki Sato, a professor at the Kyushu Institute of Technology, says that peer pressure is very strong in Japan. People will do what other people are doing. He says that the word “mask police” was created during the pandemic and people feel like they can’t take the mask off.
Sato also says that many people want to go out and take their masks off, so the prime minister should try to give a “science-based and impactful comment.”
VOCABULARY
- Remove – take off, stop wearing
- Mandate – official order or instruction to do something, a rule from government
- Pandemic – when a disease or sickness goes all over the country or world
- Polite – good manners, respectful, nice
- illness – sickness, disease, to be sick
- Inform – to tell someone, to give someone facts or information
- Public – general people, all people, citizens
- Leaflet – flier, brochure, pamphlet
- Heat exhaustion – weakness and tired because of high temperatures
- Heat stroke – sickness from heat and high temperatures (fever, chills, can’t breathe, etc.)
- Ministry – a department of a government (education ministry, health ministry, etc.)
- Education – the process of teaching and learning, giving knowledge and understanding
- Commute – the travel or journey between home and work or home and school
- Indoors – inside, not outside, not outdoors
- Survey – a poll or questionnaire; a set of questions for the public to understand opinion
- Respondent – a person who responds, a person who does a survey or answers questions
- Rude – not polite, mean, insulting, very direct
- Peer pressure – influence from a group, people around you influence or pressure you to do something
Original story from Kyodo News below:
