Interesting Facts!! #48

48. Surgical Face Masks

A surgical mask is intended to be worn by health professionals during surgery. Surgical masks are also used by the general public in heavily populated countries in East Asia to reduce the chance of spreading airborne diseases. In Japan, it is common to wear a face mask while sick to avoid infecting others as you go about your day. Surgical masks was also used in many countries during flu pandemics such as the swine flu (H1N1) pandemic in 2009/10.

Japan is a hard working society, and the spread of productivity-sapping sickness is always a concern at schools and workplaces, but that doesn’t seem like reason enough for a large number of facial coverings that sometimes make Tokyo offices look more like an operating room.

Health concerns are only part of the reason why the Japanese wear masks. Until recently, masks were primarily worn by people who had already come down with an illness. If you were feeling under the weather but couldn’t take the day off, common courtesy dictated that you cover your mouth and nose with a mask, as not to breathe your germs all over you class or office mates or fellow commuters.

In 2003 medical supply maker Unicharm released a new type of mask specifically designed for hay fever sufferers. Most masks had been made of cotton, with an inner pouch into which gauze was placed. After taking off the mask users threw out the gauze, washed the cotton mask for reuse, and restuffed the pocket.



Unicharm’s anti-hay fever masks were made of non-woven material, which was more effective in blocking pollen. They were also completely disposable and could be cheaply bought in large amounts. This new type of mask was a game changer, and business research firm Fuji Keizai now says non-woven masks account for 86% of the market today.

The introduction of these cheap, easier-to-use masks also made it more practical to wear one in order to prevent getting sick in the first place. Commuting in Japan often means spending an hour or more pressed up against your fellow passengers on a train or bus. Mask sales have more than tripled over the last decade, with particularly large spikes caused by influenza outbreak fears in 2009 and worries over micro particulate matter following the earthquake and nuclear accident of 2011. But some people are using them for purposes that have nothing to do with physical health.

One 46-year-old mother, who herself wears a mask every day in the winter to prevent getting sick, says her high-school-age daughter wears one for a completely different reason. “She puts on a mask and sticks headphones in her ears so that people won’t bother her. It makes it harder for them to start talking to her.” Juvenile psychologist Jun Fujikake has made simmilar observations. “When we deal with others, we have to judge whether to do things like smile or show anger,” he explains. “By wearing a mask, you can prevent having to do that. The trend of wearing a mask to prevent directly dealing with other may have roots in the current youth culture in which many of them are more accustomed to communicating indirectly through email and social media.”

But the recent surge in masks’ popularity isn’t entirely the result of a desire to give people the cold shoulder. Instead, an increasing number of people are using masks because of their desire for warmth. Japan gets pretty chilly during the winter. As the temperature drops you can bundle up with tights, undershirts, sweaters, parkas, gloves, scarves, and caps. One thing that’s hard to do, though, is keep your face warm.

You could always pick up a ski mask at the sporting goods shop, but effectiveness aside, you’re going to get some strange looks wearing one anywhere other than on the slopes. But since Japanese society has already gotten used to people wearing surgical masks outside of the hospital, you can safely put one on to keep your nose and cheeks warm without attracting any attention.


Not only have masks become so commonplace that wearers aren’t seen as unattractive, some people are finding fashion and beauty uses for them.Some people even see masks as a fashionable accessory. An online search for masuku bijin or “beautiful masked girl” will bring up hundreds of results, and an increasing number of companies are offering masks with floral, polka dot, and even houndstooth patterns, not to mention jet-black ninja-style masks for guys. Even women whose livelihood doesn’t depend on looking their best at all times are finding masks to be a handy for those times when they need to dash out to run errands and don’t feel like spending a half-hour putting on blush and lipstick first.

There’s even a mask whose seller claims it’ll help you lose weight. Cosmetics maker T-Garden has jumped into the mask arena with its Flavor Mask. Not only does it feature a pretty-in-pink design, each disposable mask comes scented with raspberry, which T-Garden says will boost your metabolism. Personally I am not entirely convinced that a mask can help you lose weight  it seems like a food-based fragrance that is going to do more to ramp up your appetite than your metabolism.

Like any mask, it should help prevent you from passing a cold around, keep your face a little warmer, cut off unwanted social interaction, and stop the need to wear extensive makeup, none of which is necessarily worthless by the unproven calorie-burning mask.

-The more you know~