Abenomasks
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| Photo from the internet |
This week (June 17th to be exact), I received my Abenomasks. If you are not in Japan, you might be wondering "What are Abenomasks?"
"Abe" refers to Japan's Prime Minister Abe, "no" is the possessive in Japanese (like 's in English), and masks are, well, masks. This may also be something like the prime minister's economic policy, which is refered to as "Abenomics".
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| Prime Minister Abe |
At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, everyone wanted masks, but they were in short supply. The Prime Minister announced every household would receive two washable, reusable masks from the Japanese government. It sounded like a great plan a few months ago. The government said the plan was reasonable in that it would help reduce the demand for disposable masks and ease public anxiety.
Many people complained about the cost (46.6 billion yen) and the small size and that two per household doesn't work for families. In addition, they took so long to be delivered that people made their own masks and now, masks are back on the store shelves, so the timing was a little off. I'm not complaining, although I don't think I will wear them. They are kind of small and they are thick (five layers), so I think too hot for summertime. I'm planning to put mine in my scrapbook as a souvenir of 2020, the Year of the Pandemic.
6 comments:
I think we got ours a month ago! Now in the hot and humid summer these five-layered cotton masks are definitely too hot to wear. I will keep mine for winter when the second or third or whatever number wave will hit us... The Corona battle is not over.
Stay safe!
I guess at least it was a good thought.
At least the Japanese government has tried to do something to keep people safe.
A promise fulfilled, but they do look a little thick
Hold onto them -- you'll probably need them when winter sets in!
It's a nice gesture, even though they arrived a little late. I'd probably wear the five layer ones if I was to visit someone high risk and/or at the hospital.
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