Japan to ask foreign guests to wear face masks at Abe state funeral

Just provide them Abenomasks, a big inventory.

That's one funeral I'd miss if I was one of the 'invitees'.

Masks do have a place in helping with preventing the spread or airborne disease, but the mask fixation, and nothing else, is an obsessive distraction in Japan.

Abe masks!

What pantomime.

Just provide them Abenomasks, a big inventory.

A perfect tribute to the man, you would have thought.

I always try my best to be respectful of the culture where I'm visiting. You know, the whole "when in Rome" spiel, but this is just ridiculous. What's the point of getting 3x or 4x vaccinated if you still have to wear a mask?

Kishida has consistently stated that japan needs to live with the virus. But this is not living with the virus. This is still fearing the virus and letting it control your life.

Perfect opportunity to make use of the 71 million Abenomasks still in storage.

Why let them go to waste?

/s

Just stop with the masks and sanitiser. They didn't work then. They don't work now. Huge case numbers showed that here, in Korea and Taiwan. Masked and sanitiser to max and covid central. End of.

And for those who think they do work - explain how they work when inside and eating together? Will this not happen at all? Ludicrous then to don masks outside (when the risk of transmission is effectively non existent) only to remove them when dining/attending meetings, banquets indoors, etc. And this will happen. Obv.

If you want no chance of transmission then ban all mass meetings of people. Close all restaurants and bars, ensure all families are masked at home at all times, and don't hold state funerals.

That said, getting a virus that is so mild many don't even know they have it, a virus that poses next to zero risk to most - not least the young and healthy, a virus even the late 96yr old queen managed to see off, not to mention the oldest person on the planet, is really not as scary as we once believed a few years ago.

Move on Japan. Looking silly is, like walking alone outside with a mask on, or sitting masked outside a packed, smokey unventilated restaurant waiting to get inside to eat, is not a good look.

Incredible, but oh so predictable, also.

Do they really have to say this? Like a fellow poster pointed out, this is the country that had the highest infection rates in the world not so long ago.

If foreign guests were being asked to wear masks to prevent being infected, I could understand. But the whole thing comes across as Japan looking prejudiced towards people from other nations.

A fantastic way to show the rest of the world just how stuck in the past Japan is!

@Fighto

what utter nonsense. The queens funeral was 3 days ago. There would be no correlation as you are suggesting.

The foreign guests are for the most part, heads of state, their representatives or other politicians, and they will follow the requests, just to be diplomatic about it.

I agree with the idea of passing out Abe's masks, be a fitting memorial to the man!

Why not hand out the rest of the Abe masks? There must be plenty left!

When in Rome, etc. Hopefully they all just decide to not come.

Wise move.

To be honest I was stunned to see the Emperor and Empress maskless in Westminster. There is now an outbreak after the funeral, which was predictable.

Cases in the UK are decreasing, and over 90% of the population fully jabbed. No new outbreak.

Being socially obliged to wear a mask outside is insane. Even countries with strict lockdown rules said you had to wear a mask outdoors.

Goog way to make use if all those leftover Abe no masks I guess

Rude, rude, rude. Considering no one really wants to come anyway, this isn't a great incentive.

Immature and regressive request by a load of old dinosaurs. None of this based on science just this bizarre cult mask/fetish lark

Positively no plebeian Abenomasks for VIP guests!

This may not be related to this subject but,

Breaking News, Mr. Trump just go completely CRUSHED by a federal appeals court regarding classified documents appeal. a big win for THE PEOPLE of the USA.

They shouldn't have asked the visiting politicians to wear masks.

I'm curious what complaints people would throw up then

No, the Japanese don’t want foreigners to catch Corona in Japan, as I did….

Just provide them Abenomasks, a big inventory

Comment of the month! Almost spewed my beer everywhere.

To make masks truly effective, I insert two pieces of new cheese cloth in nostrils before wearing the mask. In the city in the morning, the cheese cloth is snow white. In the evening, it is grey. If health authorities in Japan introduced the above described use of masks with cheese cloth it would benefit the nation. And if the World Health Organization approves the use of cheese cloth before donning masks, the world will copy Japan's example.

Tbh, I don't think it's that big a deal.

After all, many of these supposedly more "pragmatic" world leaders being invited spent quite a lengthy time forcing/nearly forcing people in their own countries to wear masks. Nothing has actually changed, except for the fact that a large percentage of people caught the virus anyway, recovered with no long-term problems, and stopped supporting mask mandates because the government couldn't scare them with propaganda anymore.

I am a proud member of the "Will never wear a mask unless I am on the clock and am getting paid while doing so" club. If the Japanese government wants to mask up at their functions they can do so. It's not really my problem. I already avoid places where people are likely to complain because I am not wearing one, and will continue to do so.

As the rest of the well vaccinated world moves on, Japan is publicly standing out as the odd one out and wonders why everyone else sniggers (though I am not sure just how well vaccinated they are, had my Autumn booster last Saturday).

Tokyo_m by their (and everyone else) not wearing a mask it highlighted the folly of the Japanese mask position, and this request and the subsequent visual contrast which will be gleefully picked up by the world press, further derides the whole policy.

There was a time when masking up in crowded situations served a useful purpose but now the need is more to ensure that the population is vaccinated and consequently as protected as possible.

The Japanese attendees should be kept well away from the visiting guests from abroad due to the pandemic and the high coronavirus infection numbers continuing in Japan.

This is a wise request for multiple reasons ! They certainly don’t want foreign dignitaries catching Covid here since it’s still running wild here ! On the minuscule chance a dignitary has it , they don’t want them sharing it as well ! Proactive is much better than reactive! Masks are just 1 tool to help mitigate the spread…. Not sure about all the anti mask talk ….

Wise move.

To be honest I was stunned to see the Emperor and Empress maskless in Westminster. There is now an outbreak after the funeral, which was predictable.