Japanese companies developing cool face masks for summer

Do these masks meet any kind of protection standard, or are they purely for fashion and cooling?

I mean, if there was a threat that required us to wear gas masks, and then Mizuno and Uniqlo decided to enter the market with a much lighter mask, I'd still want to know how they compared protection wise.

In USA as result of bogus N95 made in China masks that tested far below N95, all masks must be approved by US Surgeon General. Made in Thailand masks has are forbidden to be exported. What governing medical association is regulating these and other made in Japan masks?

There is no concrete evidence that supports face masks stop the spread of viruses among the general population.

Insane!

Folks, a reminder. Masks aren’t really for protecting you from getting the virus. The main point is to prevent people who are currently infected from spreading the virus by limiting the flow of air that people breathe out when they exhale.

As there are many non-symptomatic cases of COVID-19, this is especially important.

Look, I get it. Masks are uncomfortable and uncool. And everybody likes to think that they know better than the “experts”. But the more people that can use them, the better the spread of the virus can be controlled.

EL rasta and others who will not wear masks: assuming you are a foreigner and in Japan, thanks for giving other foreigners a bad name and confirming what most japanese think; foreigners don't know the manners and culture of our country and are not to be trusted.

Go ahead, make it bad for us all.

If I were a carrier of the virus, would you not want me to wear a mask?

EL rasta and others who will not wear masks: assuming you are a foreigner and in Japan, thanks for giving other foreigners a bad name and confirming what most japanese think; foreigners don't know the manners and culture of our country and are not to be trusted.

This isn't even a Japan issue anymore. People all around the world are wearing them.

Last I checked it's still a personal decision unless your job forces you to wear one...

Most stores ask that you wear a mask. So at least wearing one while shopping is the polite thing to do in current times.

I welcome this. It's not easy exercising in the gym wearing a mask.

Not even the possiblity of death will make me wear those things. I refuse to be a sheep.

Personal decision that should be guided by respect and manners

As with those unecessary heating pads for the winter, more use of toxic chemicals I'm sure to produce such a mask. No thanks.

I'm 50 but after a week of wearing masks I have the spotty chin of a teenager

Yonex Co, a maker of equipment for badminton, tennis and other sports, will sell masks made with its "Very Cool" material containing xylitol from early July.

Xylitol absorbs heat, responding to sweat, and the material is used for Yonex's wear for the Japan badminton national team, as well as professional tennis players.

Xylitol? Seriously? The artificial sweetener? I can't imagine it would make a fabric cooler. But, regardless, people with pets will need to be very careful, as Xylitol is extremely poisonous to dogs, who often like to chew things like socks, gloves, and masks.

One thing I don't like about the cloth masks I've seen in Japan is there are no interior pouches for disposable paper filters. In the US, many fabric masks have them, and many plans for home-made masks include them, as well.

Being able to add a layer of paper filter material is crucial to ensuring the effectiveness of the masks as a method of protection. Even the paper used in those blue paper "shop towels" increases the effectiveness of fabric masks greatly.

therougou

Personal decision that should be guided by respect and manners

Unfortunately, not something that a lot of people here appear to consider.

Good luck! The masks don't stop Corona to begin with (virus is small enough to pass through it), and as it is moisture accumulates around the mouth and nose and people handle their masks more than people normally touch their faces in a day WITHOUT masks, that moisture is going to increase 10-fold with the humidity, and people are going to be pulling the sponges from their faces constantly to take drinks, then touching things. Wearing them will be more danger than not, and not just because heat stroke is going to increase exponentially. May as well just dip one of Abe's cleaning rags he sent in water and cough on it a few times, then wipe the tables and chairs around you.

EL rasta and others who will not wear masks: assuming you are a foreigner and in Japan, thanks for giving other foreigners a bad name and confirming what most japanese think; foreigners don't know the manners and culture of our country and are not to be trusted.

Last I checked it's still a personal decision unless your job forces you to wear one...

The argument goes we are all potentially Corona asymptomatic so should all wear masks.

But as others have pointed out, Corona gets through average masks.

And of course there’s the research they’re near useless.

As told a friend recently, it’s like trying to stop a bullet with paper.

I’ll wear them at work to placate people, and on my commute if I must.

Beyond that I hate the things

I really feel sorry for you guys who have to wear them. Wearing a mask is definitely not comfortable. I feel really lucky that I do not need to wear one. Things will get better so hang in there, mates.

Most stores ask that you wear a mask. 

Has it been legislated? No. It's still a personal decision...

Simian

So do I. 'Cause that is what I, as boy and an adolescent, was made to wear when visiting terminally ill relatives in intensive care.

That's pretty antiseptic language. Let me be more honest:

My grandmother, an uncle and my own mother all died from lingering afflictions. I was a child and was forced to don those damn things. I hate them. I hate their smell. I hate fog around my mouth and nose I get when I wear them. I hate them more than just about anything else in this world.

Except one thing:

Death and suffering.

An wearing those damn things will prevent death and suffering.

Good luck! The masks don't stop Corona to begin with (virus is small enough to pass through it), and as it is moisture accumulates around the mouth and nose and people handle their masks more than people normally touch their faces in a day WITHOUT masks, that moisture is going to increase 10-fold with the humidity, and people are going to be pulling the sponges from their faces constantly to take drinks, then touching things. Wearing them will be more danger than not, and not just because heat stroke is going to increase exponentially. May as well just dip one of Abe's cleaning rags he sent in water and cough on it a few times, then wipe the tables and chairs around you.

I find myself in agreement this time. I’m getting used to Japanese I work with as faceless entities behind their masks, and imagine what they actually look like.

Rather different when the masks come off for meal times.

Wish they’d drop this stupid nonsense pronto