One (Thing) For All

Posted on 04/20/2021 Last updated on 05/31/2021

The situation we have found ourselves to be in over the last year and a half (and for the foreseeable future) has left many in an anxious limbo. A pandemic is a terrifying thing, made even more so for those living in a foreign country. Keeping our health is the most important thing to focus on these days. For many who come from western countries like America, there is little as hard to adjust to with regards to our health than the use of masks.

Let’s get one thing straight: the mask is essential. Not just in Japan, but around the world right now. You should be wearing a mask every day. A medical one if you can, or at least one or two decent cloth masks every time you go outside. They’re our third best defense against this virus after getting a vaccine and social distancing.

In Japanese society, before the pandemic, you may have seen people in your office or around town wearing a mask. Seeing the casual use of them may have been a shock for many their first time in the country. If you catch a cold or get a sniffle, or even have allergies and went to a clinic, you may have been given some medicine and told to wear a mask for a while.

Here’s why: the mask is for the people around you. People wore the masks before Covid-19 not for themselves, but for the people around them. The mask isn’t for you, it’s for every single person you see around you when you go outside. Japanese society is very group-centric, and the health of the group, of society, should come first.

(Listed from most to least effective against transmission https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/most-effective-face-mask)

“But it’s so stuffy! It’s itchy! I can’t see with my glasses!” I hear you say. Yeah, they’re not the most comfortable thing out there. But you’re responsible for finding a style that fits with your needs, to do your part. Right now, there are a lot of options:

1. Fitted N95 mask with no exhalation valve (#14)
2. Three-layer surgical mask (#1)
3. Cotton-polypropylene-cotton mask (#5)
4. Two-layer polypropylene apron mask (#4)
5. Swath of polypropylene mask material (not shown)
6. Two-layer pleated cotton mask (#13)
7. Two-layer pleated cotton mask (#7)
8. N95 mask with exhalation valve (#2)
9. Two-layer “Olson style” cotton mask (#8)
10. One-layer Maxima AT (air textured) mask (#6)
11. One-layer pleated cotton mask (#10)
12. Two-layer pleated cotton mask (#9)
13. Knitted mask (#3)
14. Double-layer bandana (#12)
15. Gaiter-type neck fleece (#11)

So many choices! Of course some are better than others, and we should be sure to leave the more effective PPP tools for the medical professionals that truly need them, but there’s nothing stopping us normal folk from finding something that works. And there are so many awesome designs out there now!

My point is that the mask isn’t just for you. In the east, especially, the mask is an important, culturally ingrained tool for the greater good. If you are one of those people that thinks that you’re not in danger from the current situation, that’s not the smartest thing to think but it is much more likely for you to be asymptomatic. But that nice little obaasan going grocery shopping for the week, who lives alone and can’t go and see her friends? She is very much at risk for much more serious complications.

So please, wear your mask and keep your sniffles and coughs at a distance, for the obaasan.

Photo Credits:

Additional Photo by Health.com