What do you think it will take to persuade the majority of Japanese people to go maskless after the government downgrades the coronavirus status to the level of influenza?

Has the J government ever heard of leading by example?

A maskot?

It'll happen on its own.

Agreed. Already noticing a difference in those who were mask less at ski resorts this month compared to December. People are now going down those slopes mask less and dining mask less as well. Nothing to force on everyone, it will gradually die down. Those who want to continue to wear them, so be it.

I think a government campaign promoting the removal of masks would be effective. Japanese people generally are willing to follow the directives of the government.

People will gradually stop wearing masks and that will lead other people to do the same…; eventually, things will go back to normal (I call it fifty-fifty, many people wearing masks… many people not wearing masks, because, as we all know, mask culture was already part of Japanese society before the pandemic…); I predict that this will take two, three months (from August/September, people won’t be afraid of not wearing masks anymore and they will stop looking at people without masks…);

so it all comes down to us, the people; forget about the government, they’re useless.

In addition to no more mask mandates at the gym I go to, I hope the plastic dividers and thermal cameras are taken away on May 8th. Utter nonsense, all of it.

Very simple, when conbini staff will stop to wear.

Praying that on 8 May, all the hideous plastic partitioning and curtaining is removed. Surely that is part of the Great Demasking. Thinking positively here.

just use common sense which is largely missing here.

otherwise speech of PM in TV at evening with "instructions" to take off face masks to japanese citizens.

herd need get exact instructions from officials.

A good start would be to stop having these so called ‘experts’ on tv with their doom & gloom opinions.

blatant scaremongering

At least 8 televised meetings where the oyaji suck their teeth and do all the talking. Camera panning so often to show the gals pouring tea refills.

Then a week of a national TV campaign with an anime maskot taking off its mask and saying, "It is happy fun time so no more masks. Banzai!"

The maybe 10% of the peeps here will ditch them.

A bunch of the most popular tarento across a range of generations to say in clear, unequivocal language (not the wishy-washy urges and suggestions usually issued) that it's OK to no longer wear masks indoors and out. Otherwise the message won't get through. And a mascot.

So I don't see it happening anytime soon.

Herd mentality is the way of living in Japan. If it's not about mask, it could be anything that involves conformity. Japan is supposed to be a democratic country, but there's really no freedom of choice here. You have to abide with the herd. So to answer the question, I think only time can tell. It took time for them to realize that foreigners can also speak Japanese or use chopsticks. So, let's give Japan the benefit of time.

I think a big issue is the fact that we still are asked to wear masks in any indoor environment, on public transport, schools and in especially in the workplace. What is going to happen to those requests when the government makes its downgrade? If most businesses and workplaces continue to request masks, then people will carry on wearing them. If not, then I think we'll slowly start to see more and more people stop wearing them.

To effect a change, you need consistent messaging, and as I have pointed out before, we haven't really had that - on one hand it's apparently safe to take your mask off outside, and on the other, the virus apparently continues to represent such a threat as to make it necessary to wear them at work, indoors, still keep the plastic screens up everywhere, still have signs warning people about masking and talking loudly, still have daily updates about the number of cases, hospitalizations etc. etc. If they are going to downgrade to influenza-like status, then all of that needs to be gone so that the messaging is consistent.

Wearing face mask has been a part of life for many Japanese people. In winter, lots of Japanese had been wearing masks as a protection for getting infected with flu virus. Although recent mask wearing lives may look unusual, a sight that more than fifty percent of passengers in a train are wearing masks is not. Therefore, it takes incredibly long time to lead a mask free lives since face masks are getting a part of people's body.

A miracle.

May 8th of 2023 may be day when all of "covid science" will die,lets hope for good.

authorities abandoning masks in all public events, famous people holding events without wearing masks as well, stop making dramas where they wear masks, make a medical drama with a top5 hot ikemen as ML about how Japan is living in a post pandemic world, ask a top girls band to make a music hit about stopping wearing a mask, ask a top manga artist to make a poster for a antimask campaign, organize a cultural festival/a concert where only people without a mask could enter.

Unless it becomes illegal to wear a mask, never. They became addicted and especially women and children lost all confidence to show their faces.

Time. And by time I mean years, it's what gonna take to persuade the locals in both Japan and Korea (where it was made official by the government) to go maskless in public.

That’s not going to happen, period. Even under former pre-corona normal conditions it was maskless in summer and wearing masks during flu season. Therefore, by logic, if now Covid is like a all-year long flu, there will be all-year long masking like during a flu.

What do you think it will take to persuade the majority of Japanese people to go maskless after the government downgrades the coronavirus status to the level of influenza?

Fed up independent college kids and noisy scooter gangs. Same as it ever was.

Stranger: You think wrong, Government have lift all mask wearing outside. I have only seen foreigners not wearing mask outside. Yet to see a local not wearing a mask outside. The only place I have seen locals not wearing a mask is in their car when alone.

Only time will solve that thing.

Maybe it will take more than 10years to come back in 10years.

The root of Japanese spirit is Wa.it takes a lot of courage for them to be first penguin.

A miracle.

Patricia Yarrow: Will not happen to partitioning. I cost money to put up and then cost to bring down and cost to replace again for the next health crisis. So I take you do not own or manage a business telling from your concerns. Also you must not go out much or never live in Japan because partitioning was in most small ramen counters before the health crisis.

We will continue to use the plastic partitioning screen in our student teaching room but we have dropped the mask requirement.

What do you think it will take to persuade the majority of Japanese people to go maskless?

An honest answer would be the treat of violence, extreme violence. For many the wearing of masks has nothing to do with health. They are not coming off anytime soon.