Coughs and sneezes
Written by: adekun on 24 May, 2009 9:23 pm - Filed under: blog
We decided against going to the annual air show over at Miho airbase. Not due to the current influenza epidemic gripping the country, but on account of the weather. Instead we had a sukiyaki party. During which we caught a few minutes of a television debate on the effectiveness of facemasks. The panel looked a pretty fair reflection of the general population; perhaps not a healthy debate but one nevertheless.
Since the initial cases were reported overseas there have been a deluge of programmes reporting on shopkeepers stocking up. Hazmat suits the price of a small car etc. I heard that if there is one confirmed case in the prefecture or the adjoining one all the schools will close for a week. Schoolchildren being instructed to wear paper masks for a visit to a recycling plant and the hosts request.
It’s easy to be critical at the overreaction; yet I suppose equally if things took a turn for the worse the same people would be in the firing line. As a foreigner it’s difficult to understand Japanese reasoning at the best of times. No doubt the face mask is a cultural thing. Some sort of comfort. But if it’s all to do with cleanliness, what about hand washing; there’s never even soap in public toilets. I’m sure there’s plenty of money to be made off alcohol hand wash.
Denise
28 May, 2009 #
A “sukiyaki party” party sounds like an excellent trade for an air show! Are you talking about Swine Flu? We haven’t heard much about that over here lately. For about a month, it was ALL we heard about – especially being so close to Mexico .. but then, it disappeared.. Of course, our attention span is quite small, so when the American Idol finals came around, THAT was all we focused on. LOL!
)
lapiz
28 May, 2009 #
Yes, One case in Kyoto and we were swiftly ejected from our language school for a week. While my partner teaches at 3 unis, all have which have closed – but at different times! Now we are back, although as far as I can tell there’s no particular evidence the danger has passed after only a few days.
What we want to know is, what’s the real news? Remember that pop star who covered the news for days for stripping off in a park? A friend told me that was the day Japan backed out of an environmental protection law (i think she said it was)which activists were campaigning about – and none of the major papers reported it.
On the other hand, I’ve certainly been told to wash my hands and use that spray enough times recently – and if masks were going to work anywhere it’d be in Japan, since they only work if it’s the sick people who wear them, requiring some responsible public-spiritedness not just self-protection.
adekun
29 May, 2009 #
The news does tend to be of the same sort. If there’s something to be fearful of, then the people can see all the efforts being made by the bureaucrats.
There was hardly any coverage of the radiation leak and fire up at the power station in Niigata – unlike the rest of the world (it’s just reopened for testing). That was quickly forgotten by most people.
I guess things aren’t panicky up here – still you can’t buy face masks…