These Surveys Suggest That the Japanese Will Still Continue Wearing Face Masks Post-COVID

The couple of times I travelled to Japan pre-COVID, I noticed that wearing a surgical face mask is actually the norm for a lot of people commuting. I later found out that the Japanese prefer to wear face masks in the morning when they’re rushing to work because they don’t have time to put on makeup. Naturally, wearing a face mask became a norm for everyone in Japan during the pandemic to save themselves from the trouble of getting sick. Now, there are even surveys that suggest that the Japanese aren’t dropping their face masks even when the pandemic ends. 

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Surveys suggest the Japanese will continue with wearing face masks

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While everyone else around the world is just waiting for their local governments to advise the removal of the face mask requirement, the Japanese aren’t in a rush. According to a survey conducted by a Japanese fashion magazine called VOCE, Japan’s locals consider the wearing of face masks to be an asset rather than a burden. It is important to note, however, that VOCE only had 72 respondents where 90% voted in favour of face masks in a poll. 

That said, this result still echoed the result of another 2021 survey conducted by the marketing firm called Planet. Its survey had 4,000 respondents who were asked if they would continue wearing face masks even after COVID-19 ends. 

The results are the following:

• 24% of the respondents firmly preferred to continue wearing face masks
• 47.8% of the respondents said they would continue with face masks, but not as strictly
• 11.8% of the respondents claimed they would rather not wear face masks, but will continue to do so to avoid problems
• 15.9% of the respondents shared that they would firmly stop wearing face masks post-pandemic

Therefore, the majority of the respondents still leaned towards wearing face masks in spite of any progress in the elimination of COVID-19. 

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The benefits of wearing face masks post-pandemic

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You can’t deny that there will always be benefits in wearing surgical face masks even when COVID-19 is long gone. I’ve already stated one above — if you wear a face mask, you can drop the makeup. It’ll save you time and energy too. 

What’s more, it’s easier to hide facial expressions when you’re wearing a mask and it’ll ease your social anxiety; needless to say, people who are sadly always told to smile no longer have to feel the pressure of scrutiny. But of course, these are societal problems that should have their own solutions instead of relying solely on face masks to avoid the issue.

For now, it’s enough that everyone around the world has felt the importance of wearing face masks whenever they want to avoid getting sick or want to save others from that trouble. And besides, when Japan reopens its borders to foreign tourists, the fact that its locals still prefer to wear face masks will only boost their tourism if anything else! 

Featured image credit: Bo Kim | Unsplash; information sourced from SoraNews.