2009/08/21
Glimpses of Japan（外国人から見た日本）
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Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)
vol.253 If Everybody Does It
2009.8.21
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According to Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe's statement
Wednesday, an epidemic of the new H1N1 strain of influenza A has fully
begun in Japan. He also said that the government will strengthen measures
to prevent "new flu" cases from becoming more deadly, including giving
information to people with chronic illnesses such as diabetes or asthma,
to pregnant women, and to others who are particularly susceptible to
developing severer symptoms.
As far as I can tell, he didn't mention (although several news programs
have done so) that the amount of influenza vaccine available in Japan is
far less than what is thought to be necessary. Those at greater risk of
dying, and those in the medical profession, will probably have to be given
priority because there isn't enough vaccine to go around. This information,
combined with some high profile influenza cases, has evidently begun to
set off another mild panic, as usual media-fueled.
I don't find any of this surprising, but I was interested in some of the
"passerby interviews" of people by various news programs. While noting
that this time most or all drugstores and convenience stores seem to have
plenty of masks in stock, reporters asked people why they weren't wearing
masks, even in pretty crowded areas.
Some said that since it's still warm the influenza virus won't be
spreading much. I presume they didn't hear Minister Masuzoe's press
conference or watch the endlessly repeated news about baseball players
struck out by the flu.
My favorite response was so stereotypically Japanese, but said so
sincerely and naturally, that I just had to smile. "I'll start wearing
a mask," this late-middle-aged woman said, "when everybody else does."
I was reminded of comedian Beat Takeshi's long-ago gag phrase "Red light.
It's OK if everybody crosses".
Actually, I've frequently seen people check the behavior of the other
people waiting at traffic lights before they decide to cross against the
light or stay where they are. I guess they want to stand out neither by
being the only one to jaywalk nor by being the only one not to.
With anti-influenza mask wearing, I suppose that if sufficient people
wait until most others are wearing masks before they don their own,
many of the masked people will have already caught influenza.
One of the first things that caught my eye in Japan on the day of my
arrival was how many people were wearing what looked to me like surgical
masks. If memory serves, there are fewer now, but maybe that will change
if the current epidemic really spreads and enough people start wearing
masks to fit the "everybody's wearing them" definition.
Glimpses of Japan vol.253
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