Japan’s Experience with Masks During COVID Is Not What You Think It Is

With mask rules loosened in mid-March, it’s time to look back and ask some questions about the price we paid for the policy

Why does this poor old codger need to wear a mask while standing outside on a bike road? (Photo: Author)

All is well with my world in central Japan — the sakura arrived early after a balmy March, the opening day of MLB is in the books and my Seattle Mariners won, my freelance teacher’s brain is rested after a rejuvenating week away from all actions about classes, we are three weeks into a world with loosened mask regulations and, last but not least, everyone in Japan is now mask-free, showing their lovely smiles for the first time in three years.

You can’t have everything, right?

No, much as I wish to return to daily life in Japan where masks are worn mostly in the winter for the flu and in the spring for hay fever by about 1/3rd of the people, that world remains, for now, a mirage.

But that mirage began to materialize in mid-February when I learned that starting from March 13 “mask use will largely depend on personal choice.” Those next four weeks I was a kid in December waiting for Christmas.