What You May Not See In Other Countries: Masks

When you are sick , when you are coughing, when you are having allergic reations do you do anything special so it does not spread to others? In Japan, you will see people wearing surgical mask.
At school, at work, on the train ... to prevent cold, to prevent allergy or to make sure that it does not affect others.  It is quite a sight. So you don't need to cough in your sleeves or cough in a towel.


In Japan, you can get surgical masks in different sizes : from kids, women and men size. There are characters on some and some are different colors. You can also get masks for those who are wearing glasses, and who are wearing make up.

Wearing surgical mask is quite an usual thing in Japan that when I took picture of it and sent it to my friend in Canada I did not have any hesitation. But my friend was quite surprised to see my photo with a mask on. 

So if you see a person wearing a surgical mask on, it doesn't always mean that they are very sick.
It could be that they are preventing sickness or alergy from happen.