We knew we were heading into a different world even when we
were still on the ground in San Francisco. As we boarded the United jet, we
immediately noticed about half of all the passengers wore surgical masks. Hmmmm….either they are sick; they think
everyone else is sick or they know something about this airline air that we
don’t know.
The masks continued at the airport in Kyoto. All of the
immigration officers wore them and about half of everyone we saw at the airport
had them on too. After a long bus
ride from the airport, we arrive around 6 PM in downtown Kyoto. I was so tired and bewildered at the
same time. The lasting image from
that first night as I looked out from the taxi was two young men in black suits
riding bicycles on the street with their white surgical masks. Now you don’t see that everyday in
Austin.
The next day we did what many travelers to Japan must do. We
Googled, “Surgical masks in Japan.”
What a fine blog we found.
TofuGu Thank you John, fellow traveler for this great information. As this blog describes, yes…it is
common for people to wear masks if they are sick and if they believe others may
be sick.
David was fighting a cold before we left Austin. Here in
Kyoto he has been coughing, sneezing and the like. I convinced David that
wearing a mask was necessary. I argued
that we are guests here in Japan and we need to respect local custom.
So, here is the mask section a convenience store. As you see you can see,
you have the option of disposable or reusable masks. Value packages go up to 10
so you get a little discount on bulk buying. All the masks we have seen out and about are white, but
looks like some of the packaging is gendered. If the color codes are the same, pink packs for the ladies and
blue packs for the gents.
Here David models his mask as we settle in for one one of
our first restaurant meals. David really didn't wear it much because it was a bit weird and the mask fogged up his glasses (it is cold here). Later Emma reflected that perhaps the masks are for just for
fashion! “Wow,” I said. “Now that
would be some marketing campaign.”
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