Pig Mask for the Porcine Plague
As the Porcine Plague Panic pervades the Japanese news 24/7, the one thing Japan has prepared for well in advance is their looove of wearing masks.
As I wrote about in 2005 in Get well soon masks®, Japan already has designer masks ready for the Swine Flu Pandemic created by the artist Samira Boon who describes them as follows.
Studio Samira Boon …the very sterile looking white gauze mask inspired to make it more cheerful and funny while still serving its purpose. This new mask is no longer masking, but transforming the part of the face it is hiding…
News reports about health mask wearing in Japan (and the Japanese themselves) mistakenly attribute mask wearing as Japanese politeness. For example:
Hello Kitty part of Japan’s mask craze
thewest.com.au -AP- 27th April 2009….[Mask] wearers say that, more than a health issue, they wear the masks almost as a fashion statement. By wearing a mask, the thinking goes, people are showing that they are being socially responsible.
“It comes from kindness, thoughtfulness – Japanese characteristics,” said mask-wearing Shuichi Yamamoto, a surveyor. “Wearing a mask is socially constructive. If I get a cough, I should have to wear a mask because everyone should think of others.”…more…
In reality, the main purpose of the mask is protection from hay fever. More importantly, masks are worn to the office as a way to “prove” to bosses and coworkers the wearer’s diligence in coming to work while being sick. (There is no such thing as “sick days” in Japan—Days taken off because of illness are deducted from vacation leave.)
“Zipper FACE!” via iMorpheus‘ flickr
Often masks are worn in Japan for personal reasons:
—young housewives slap on masks to pop down to the store without bothering without laborious makeup efforts;
—salarymen and OLs wear masks and blaring iPods to “escape” the crush of commuter trains packed at 250% of capacity;
—socially-withdrawn, reclusive otaku, the Hikikomori, wear masks the rare occasions they venture out of the house to buy pedo-manga;
—and, sometimes masks are just a fashion statement.
See the flickr pool of photos: MASKED Harajuku Girls
Shibuya246.com has a detailed explanation often ignored habit of Japanese wearing masks for fashion in the blog’s coverage of the Japanese DIME Magazine review of the 27 different types of masks available for sale in Japan….
Japanese DIME Magazine Review of masks–Shibuya246.com….
1. Masks focused on ones image
2. Masks focused on functionality
…As well as helping to protect you from the spread of flu, colds and hayfever, these masks also take into account features such as protecting you from dryness of air, fresh aromatic oils and menthol sheets in the masks…
3. Professional masks
Designer Masks, Original for you
…a “Mask with decoration”. It allows you to put on a design seal and rhinestone to make the mask an original for you. The Japanese name for this mask is “DecoriMask”…more…
- 
April 30th, 2009 at 2:57 am
“—socially-withdrawn, reclusive otaku, the Hikikomori, wear masks the rare occasions they venture out of the house to buy pedo-manga;”
i lolled so hard xDDD
April 30th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Yes, I was trying to bit a droll about the Hikikomori, but it’s also true about the behavior of the huge number of young Japanese with Freakazoid-ism.
Mask wearing is a common, if not the rule, for many Japanese NEETs with acute social withdrawal. Likewise, Japanese house burglars, molesters on the train, and bicycle thieves* always wear medical masks.
*These crimes more common in Japan
than other developed countries–so common
that they are seldom reported.
May 2nd, 2009 at 5:42 pm
The Aporkalypse!
September 12th, 2009 at 6:35 am
For any toy mask, you need to start out with a coffin when you want to collect pedonudes. Ropes help.