Job Discussion Forums

[wolfman]

the other night i watched the film Nobody Knows (Dare mo Shiranai) by Kore-Eda Hirokazu. Great film, but anyway i know the film was made recently and i noticed a lot of characters in the bakcground wear what looked like surgical masks. is this fo fear of sars? is that a common practice in japan?

[ripslyme]

It's a common thing. People who don't want to catch/spead colds and people with allergies wear them all the time here in Japan. My students also wear them when they serve lunch to each other in the cafeteria - it's so cute!

[kdynamic]

[Apsara]

Feb- Mar in Tokyo is high season for masks because so many people have hayfever and apparently the mask helps filter out pollen- you can see them any time of year though.

There have been some new funky face-hugging styles around the last couple of years, not just the plain old rectangular ones.

Nothing to do with Sars.

[cornishmuppet]

There's one guy in my school who has worn a mask ever since I got here (three months). I assume its not something he just started because of me! Maybe he's scared of kids or something.

[Apsara]

Some people here are particularly paranoid about germs and pollen. I don't know how they stand wearing those masks myself, they look stifling.

[poof]

At first I used to laugh at those masks. One student was clearly embarrased when he 'had to' wear his mask in a one-to-one class. He got, let's say, 'sweaty'. But, don't you just notice how cold viruses don't spread so much in Japan - must be in part down to those masks and excessive hand-washing they do when they're sick. So, I've tried the mask myself. I don't like the cotton ones because they don't seal around the face well. They're also not practical to sterilize. If you want an effective one, go for the paper masks.

[Like a Rolling Stone]

Scary avater!