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cannonman58102 t1_j6luqiq wrote

Reply to comment by SideburnSundays in Japan’s monthly COVID-19 deaths surpass 10,000 for 1st time by DoremusJessup

Have you been to Japan? Many wore masks everywhere even before pandemic.

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Abradolf1948 t1_j6lwgzb wrote

He is probably referencing the fact that Japan has said they will downgrade covid-19 to flu status, which means masks aren't encouraged as much any more and businesses don't have to require them.

Also the whole "everyone wears a mask in Japan" was kind of blown out of proportion. Before Covid some people wore masks due to flu season or allergies, but it was probably like 1% or less of the population.

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JohnWangDoe t1_j6niqs6 wrote

Alot of my female coworkers wore mask because they didn't want to do makeup lol

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lolpostslol t1_j6nr4ci wrote

I think it was more, went to Tokyo in 2019 and it was rare to jump on a subway wagon and not see at least a couple people with masks, even if it wasn’t crowded. Though outside of Tokyo it’s probably less common.

That said, anti-mask protests got quite wild in 2021, for some bizarre reason

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[deleted] t1_j6lxrpw wrote

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keatonatron t1_j6m31p3 wrote

>It's time to face the fact that masks have zero effect on the transmission of an airborne virus as contagious as the current variants of Covid -19.

What logic are you using to come to that conclusion? Just because people are wearing masks and there is still covid transmission? Covid transmission might be 100x worse if they didn't wear masks.

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iTwango t1_j6lz5fl wrote

At least in Tokyo they're still very much expected everywhere inside and even walking on the sidewalks. Big cities' schools are expecting them to be worn as well.

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Abradolf1948 t1_j6lzohb wrote

I should have clarified that my second point about masks was prior to covid. Most people still wear them here (probably 90% but it varies on neighborhood and time of day) now because of covid.

The government is making pushes for April/May for less restrictions, but I think most people will still continue to wear them.

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SideburnSundays t1_j6ly0bd wrote

I’ve lived in Japan almost a decade. I’m referring to all the idiots (mostly expats) who keep dismissing the risks of covid that are still very much real.

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cannonman58102 t1_j6ly666 wrote

Yeah I get it. When I was last in Japan i would say maybe 30% of the time I saw someone without a mask they were a foreigner. The others are mostly the elderly who just don't care.

Given foreigners make up a tiny fraction of Japan's population, that 30% is significant. I'm in PH now and I would bet less than 25% of white people I see wear masks.

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lolpostslol t1_j6nrllk wrote

Kinda makes sense since foreigners are exposed to a global news cycle where COVID is now mostly an old topic, while Japan handled it differently and ended up with a bit of a delayed pandemic cycle

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