Japan to Lower Mask Guidelines That Does Not Include Transportation and Hospitals
By keeping the masks on public transportation this is essentially maintaining a defacto mask mandate. This is because many people will likely just keep their masks on as they walk from the subway or bus to wherever their destination is:
The most recognized emblem of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the one likely to persist, is about to lose some of its clout in Japan.
New mask guidelines from the government take effect Monday, three years after face coverings became a universal fashion accessory across the country, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s website.
The ministry will recommend individuals decide for themselves whether to wear masks in public. Never an actual mandate, mask wear persists in Japan as the pandemic wanes.
The coronavirus continues to infect an average 9,500 people per day, a declining number. Japan on Jan. 14 experienced its highest one-day pandemic death toll, 503, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
Under the guidelines revised in February, the ministry recommends wearing masks only in medical facilities and on crowded trains and local buses but says nothing about masks on Japan’s iconic shinkansen trains or long-distance buses.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
The Chrysanthemum Crowd hasn’t figured out the link between pushing low-T male images (in games, cartoons, and pop music) and their declining birthrate, so I don’t expect they’ll actually figure out their fascist government still has a thumb on the scale.
I only hope South Korea decides not to follow them into the toilet.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2022/04/25/lifestyle/akihiko-kondo-fictional-character-relationships/
I’m afraid GI Korea misinterpreted the latest Japanese guidelines.
By saying that they “recommend” wearing masks in medical facilities and on crowded trains and buses, the Japanese government has effectively placed the decision onto the hands of the Japanese people.
It also means that they will not enforce it which means if the people choose to not wear masks they don’t have to since they won’t be penalized.
Compare that to the current South Korean mask mandate which “requires” people to wear masks in medical facilities and all forms of public transport.
This means if Koreans don’t wear masks in the above locations and are caught, then yes they can be penalized, so Koreans will have to continue wearing them in medical facilities and public transportation until the government decides to follow the lead of the othre countries.
Frankly I’m surprised that in the case of loosening the mask mandate, Japan is moving way faster than Korea.
TOK, it looks like GI didn’t misinterpret.
He called it perfectly…
…unless you think a high-trust society like Japan is going to line up to show off against government recommendations.
They will likely just follow what the government recommends, even if it is not fully in their heart… “essentially maintaining a defacto mask mandate.”
This is not a good battle.
Say, what do you think? Does the world need more Nazis who burn tires?
TOK is correct that the Japanese government has issued guidelines which I call in my write up defacto mandates. This is because the Japanese public tends to largely follow what their government tells them. Largely everyone on the Tokyo subway wears a mask just like on the Seoul subway which has an actual mandate.