Okay, so maybe that’s a bit of exaggeration. But for those unfamiliar with the way things are done in Japan, the whole surgical masks being worn in public thing can be kind of strange and unfamiliar. So why do they do it, anyway?

They’re Sick

By far the most common reason people in Japan wear surgical masks out in public is because they’re sick. Chances are it’s not some life threatening, dangerous and debilitating illness – they’re just wearing the mask to be considerate of others and to help contain the spread of germs. Just think about how many people cough or sneeze into their hands and then go on to touch the things we use every day. Door handles, guard rails, the poles and rings you hold onto on the subway. People touch a lot of stuff.

These surgical masks really help as far as containing germs and preventing the spread of contagious colds and illnesses. And people aren’t going to avoid you like the plague if you happen to be in a mask either. They’ll be more likely to avoid you if you aren’t wearing one (if you’re coughing up a storm that is). In most cases, you’ll be treated just like anyone else not wearing a mask.

When I was in Japan, one of our friends got sick on the trip but was still coming out with us and going to the local college and everything. The Japanese girls encouraged her to get a mask and wear it when she was socializing. She didn’t seem too keen on the idea and saw it as an inconvenience, and the Japanese girls seemed kind of disappointed in her when she wasn’t wearing it. They thought it was inconsiderate.

So if you’re in Japan and you get a cold or a bad cough, don’t be surprised if one of your Japanese friends asks you to get a mask to wear and definitely don’t be afraid to do so. I wish more people in the United States did this, especially those in schools (those illnesses spread like crazy).

Occasionally you’ll have somebody who’s pretty into Japanese culture wear a mask like this when they get sick, but because it’s not the social convention here in America, they usually (and unfortunately) end up looking kind of silly, even if their mask is quite fashionable.

Everyone Around them is Sick

Another reason you’ll see Japanese people wearing masks out in public is because they’re afraid of getting whatever illness that happens to be going around. Maybe it’s flu season or something and they’re just trying to avoid getting sick for the third year in a row because the hand sanitizer alone just isn’t cutting it.

It makes sense when you think about it. I mean, I usually come down with something near the start of summer (I’m actually getting over a cold right now) and I usually get sick again near the start of winter. Maybe if I wore a mask around these times I would be less likely to fall under the weather or avoid the illness altogether.

But like I said before, it’s not the social convention here in America and I’d look kind of silly coming into the office in the morning wearing a surgical mask. Oh well, NyQuil and Sudafed to the rescue once again.

They Have Bad Allergies

On the whole, wearing masks because of allergies isn’t as common as wearing one because of illness, but around hay fever season in Japan mask wearing out in public becomes a much more common sight. I touched on it in a post I wrote a while back about Hay Fever Hell in Japan, but along with masks, the Japanese have a lot of things around to combat allergies and you’ll definitely see a surge of mask wearers out in public during allergy season.

They’re a Bosozoku Bike Gang Member

If you see a bike gang member in Japan I’m sure that their surgical mask is not going to be what gives them away. But it is not unusual for a bosozoku member to wear a mask like this for no other reason than concealing their face. Most likely they aren’t wearing it for allergies or germ prevention (unless of course they are a very kind, caring, and socially considerate bosozoku).

And if you want to learn more about these folks, you can read all about ‘em in a post I did a while back entitled Violent Japanese Biker Gangs Just Not What They Used To Be.

They’re Too Embarrassed to Show Their Face on YouTube

Okay, so this isn’t technically in public, but you still see it a lot (if you’re on YouTube a lot and wander to the stranger corners of it like I tend to do sometimes). This one mostly applies to the ladies from what I’ve seen, but there are a lot of videos of Japanese gals doing some sort of choreographed dance or playing an instrument on YouTube/Nico Nico Douga. A lot of these girls are shy and will wear a mask like these to hide their face/identity.

Since I can’t actually ask them why they choose to do it, I can only guess. Perhaps they are shy. Perhaps they think they are unattractive. Or perhaps they think they are too attractive and want their dancing/instrumental skills to be judged honestly, not wanting to be complimented just because the audience thinks they’re hawt. See examples below.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rk-wHjzPco&feature=related']

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h7DmJeOS3s&feature=plcp']

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqphfvR4jcw&feature=related']

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLcqh1s3bDQ&feature=related']

And now you know pretty much all the reasons why you might see someone in Japan wearing a surgical mask. It’s not a weird or strange thing to do and most often they’re just looking out for the well being of others or trying to protect themselves from a seasonal illness or pollen invasion.

But what do you guys think about the wearing of masks like this? Wish you could wear one in your home country but are afraid of the social stigma? Have you ever done it in a Western country and got strange looks from others? Let us know in the comments!

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In Japan, hay fever is kind of a big deal. Estimates suggest that anywhere from 15-30% of Japan’s population suffers from hay fever each and every year. The pollen from Japan’s sugi trees are prevalent in the atmosphere between mid-February and late April, and the pollen from the hinoki trees last from early April to about mid-May. That’s a good three months of pollen induced pain. For more information on the nitty gritty details of hay fever in Japan, you can check out this great post from the Nagoya International Center here. But the bottom line is that there’s a lot of pollen in Japan and hay fever season is a force to be reckoned with over there.

How People Deal with Hay Fever in Japan

In Japan there are tons of products designed specifically for sufferers of hay fever. Ranging from medical products to special masks and eye-wear, they’ve pretty much got something for everyone and once allergy season starts, convenience store shelves are stocked full with them.

Hiroko from HirokoChannel does a great job here in this video detailing all of the stuff that starts to become available in Japan once spring and the pollen starts to roll in. Some of you may remember Hiroko from my Awesome Japanese YouTubers post. Her videos are always so useful!

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afTXMuzU4xI']

And here’s another invention that only Japan would come up with – the mighty pollen detector. They installed 700 of these things across Japan to monitor the amount of allergens in the atmosphere and update the pollen data second by second. Hospitals, schools, and households across the country volunteered to install these pollen robots on their properties to help map the pollen as it spreads across the land.

Using laser technology, the machine counts the number of pollen particles blown into the ball. It also uses sensors to monitor the local temperature, atmospheric pressure, and humidity. For those interested, you can read more about them here.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3JB59N09Qw']

So as you can see, pollen is a much bigger deal in Japan than it is in America (and probably a lot of other places too). Every year thousands of Japanese people dread the coming of the pollen apocalypse. But why is there such a ridiculous amount of pollen in Japan in the first place?

Why Japan Has So Much Pollen

A great deal of the pollen in Japan comes from their cedar trees. But why does Japan have so much cedar anyway? Between the 50s and 70s, around 4.5 million hectares of cedar trees were planted in an attempt to meet the growing need for construction material in Japan. However, it eventually became more economical to import lumber which soon made the cedar plantations obsolete. As the cedar forests matured, the amount of cedar pollen in the air increased and the number of hay fever sufferers multiplied. Apparently, even the monkeys are suffering. No, seriously – they are.

These troublesome cedar forests look like they’ll be sticking around though as the government plans to reduce Japan’s ceder are neither ambitious nor well funded. Good thing there’s a real-time pollen map of Japan that makes use of those nifty pollen detecting robots mentioned earlier. And if you want to read more about this, you can check out some useful info on the epidemic’s very own Wikipedia page.

And here are some quotes from annual Japanese sufferers of hay fever that I found on GlobalVoicesOnline.

It’s that time of the year again. The most depressing season of the year for me – kafunsho season. Some people are only affected in the eyes or nose, but I get both and it’s really tough. I must go out and buy eye drops, masks, medicine, yogurt…
-eternal_name

Pollen is flying around already… sniffle. I’ll cry if it’s bad on my exam day. I wish universities would take kafunsho into consideration. Not suffering from kafunsho would be such a great advantage in this world…
-Mizuka Yukizawa

As of two years ago, whenever I go outside during this season I get bleary eyes. It happened again this year, and just on the day that the pollen started flying. I haven’t thought about it because I didn’t want to consider it, but I think now that this must be kafunsho.
-SOW

So with so many people in Japan being all red-nosed and depressed, what is being done to lift people’s spirits?

Fighting Fever with Allergy Anime

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q95_Nxcm9H8']

Lately Japan has been taking a new angle on the annual allergy abomination Japan faces. And of course the answer is anime. The video above is the latest creation from an unbeatable duo of anime girls out to combat hay fever in Japan. But who is the benevolent corporation behind these allergy assassins? That’d be Rohto Pharmaceutical. Most will probably recognize the name Rohto from their line of popular eye drops, but they are also involved in contact lens care, skin care, and a variety of medicines and supplements.

Headquartered in Osaka, Rohto Pharmaceutical has been promoting these characters known as the “Alguard Sisters” for their hay fever countermeasures campaign that began last year. This year however, the sisters finally have their very own opening animation sequence. As to why, I’m not sure. But will this new anime clip do much to combat the disease? Only time will tell.

And why are they called the Alguard sisters? Well, “Alguard” is a broad name for all of Rohto’s hay fever countermeasure products that include eye lotions, eye washes, rhinitis sprays, nasal irrigation fluids, masks, and so on. The company also has a Twitter and Facebook page to show off their stuff along with the Alguard Sisters.

Personally I don’t really understand the appeal of the Alguard sisters. It’s not like they’re actually doing anything to help combat hay fever. I mean, all they’re really doing is drawing attention to a disease that pretty much everyone in Japan already knows about. If anything it’s just drawing attention to Rohto’s products made to specifically combat the symptoms of hay fever in Japan. But there’s really no mention of Rohto in the anime promo at all. What do you guys think about this? Seems kinda silly to me. You’d figure most people would already know about what products are available over there with hay fever being such a huge deal and all.

So tell me – do you suffer from seasonal allergies? Ever been to Japan during hay fever hell? Wish you had cool allergy inventions and anime promotions in your home country too? Let us know in the comments!

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