Many Japanese Wear Surgical Masks For Reasons Other Than For Hygiene

Above, some mask-wearing Japanese in Chiba Prefecture. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

When I was in Japan last week, I noticed quite a number of Japanese people wearing surgical-type masks. I've seen this before and I figured that they must be ill with a bug and don't wish to pass it on to other people. After all, it is the cold and flu season (and Japan is currently
experiencing a flu epidemic).

But, according to an article in RocketNews24, not all Japanese are wearing masks for hygienic reasons.

They wrote:

Like kimono and T-shirts with English writing (sometimes vulgar, sometimes comical, always unintelligible), the number of people you’ll see in Japan wearing surgical masks is pretty surprising. Sure, Japan is a hard working society, and the spread of productivity-sapping sickness is always a concern at schools and workplaces, but that doesn’t seem like reason enough for the proliferation of facial coverings that sometimes has Tokyo offices looking more like an operating room. 

Health concerns are only part of the equation, though, as recent studies have revealed multiple reasons people in Japan wear masks that have nothing to do with hygiene.

So why are many Japanese wearing masks for reasons other than hygiene? Go here and find out!