The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.
© KYODO'Abenomasks' only received by Tokyo residents
TOKYO©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.
© KYODO
55 Comments
Login to comment
Badge213
Nowhere to be seen on my end of Tokyo.
Chip Star
Too late.
BertieWooster
One of the biggest things to come out of this whole mess is that it shows up the total and pathetic uselessness of Abe and his gang of idiots. When fast, effective action is needed, Abe is at home playing with his doggie. He even failed at supplying masks. He screwed up the economy before corona, so what on Earth he is going to do now, I hate to think.
He'll be alright though, so will Aso and the rest of the goons. They'll retire with nice fat pensions, while there is going to be real poverty in other areas.
yildiray
In Tokyo, haven’t received anything yet...
Michael Machida
So, the judgement by Abe san is now in question. 46.6 billion yen for masks is now seen as a lack of intellectual judgement. Ask the person next to you if they think 46.6 billion yen for masks is one of the most brilliant ideas a person could have thought of? Or could 46.6 billion yen could have been used for something better? If you had 46.6 billion yen to be used to help the people of Japan, what would you spend it on? For example, medicine.
Tokyo-Engr
Farce......As a straw poll; I wonder if any foreign residents of Tokyo reading this have received these masks.
rainyday
We can expect them when the emergency is over then? I see.
Great idea, this was just a really really great idea. Very well thought out and executed. Good value for taxpayer money.
mariasjapan
I bought mine through Amazon so it’s ok. I don’t need that anymore!
u_s__reamer
Don't need any "Abenomasks", but, as the saying goes, still waiting for him to put his "Abenomoney" where his mouth is.
hooktrunk2
No Abenomask yet in my part of Tokyo. There are a lot of us though. If they are the gauze type, they sure are going to be hot if we still need to wear masks in June.
I have begun to see small packets of paper masks at the SEIMS near me, right near the cash register. Kind of spendy for just 7 masks. Better than nothing.
Alfie Noakes
No mention at all of the Fukushima company Yusebio, run by a Komeito supporter with a conviction for tax fraud and close relations with Komeito bigwigs. Or the rumours that one company is owned by Aso Taro.
Kyodo is a joke. After reading a Kyodo story one has to scour the rest of the media to find out what actually happened.
We got ours a couple of weeks ago. They were really small and since we have plenty of masks anyway I sent them to my mother in the UK.
Cricky
What a joke...I will wear one (if I get one) as they burn my corpse. Really need a wholesale change of political leadership to have any chance of a happy future.
dbsaiya
History will be looking at all of the leaders and their policies during this global crisis and Abe's legacy will be his masks. Pathetic and farcical. A tragic comedy.
savethegaijin
I wonder where they are then lol... I don't need them, but I live in Tokyo and haven't gotten them either.
Dan Lavender
Couldn't make this up!
What a joke!!!!
Abe....disgrace.
Do the hustle
And, 70% of the people who received them have tossed them in the garbage because they were dirty.
Andi
I live in Shinjuku Ward and received the masks May 1st. Very small indeed
rgcivilian1
smack in the middle of downtown Tokyo and no one in our mansion has received such masks.
Arrrgh-Type
It's been long enough that I had forgotten about this for a couple of days, and then remembered it later all of a sudden. You know what else was like that? Premium Friday. "Oh yeah, that was a thing". Abenomasks is the Premium Friday of pandemic response.
Politik Kills
Yubaru
Still getting ripped off! My daughter bought a pack of 50 surgical grade,three ply masks, for 1,980 yen! (Tax included!)
My next door neighbor, who is hearing impaired, got her masks, two weeks ago. Couple of guys from the city office were delivering them to according to them "those who need them the most". (She does not need them, she is a seamstress by trade and has been making her own masks since before making masks was a trend!)
Waste of money!
kohakuebisu
A complete failure of political grandstanding. Announce something not needed by many in the given timeframe with a difficult and seemingly politically-connected supply chain.
If they were going to make them, it should have been in boxes of different sizes to town halls, with those in need urged to collect them and big fines for reselling. The timeframe and simplicity of the item mean that many were always going to be able to make their own before the provided masks were likely to arrive. In inaka, every mother is expected to sew futon cases, plimsoll bags, and the like for their kids to go to hoikuen. Lots of people can do enough sewing for a mask.
doggar
Got mine. Don't wear it. Looks like nobody else around me are wearing them either. How many people have you seen wear them?
rcch
... so, after five months of ( possibly ) millions of people being exposed to the virus, trying to find masks / surviving without masks, they will finally get two tiny little masks (and) when the state of emergency is over (!) ... nice...!
let,s just say it,s for kids, that makes a lot more sense ...
theResident
Did receive mine - Haven't even taken them them out of the wrapper. Was lucky enough to get a job lot from Taiwan a while back.
drlucifer
The annoying part is that the bureaucrats that came up with the shady idea to defraud the state (taxpayers ) to the benefit of some select few companies with ties to will go uninvestigated and unpunished in Abes tenure which is plagued with numerous scandals.
When will the media do what a media is supposed to do, indulge in some investigative journalism and rein on the present scandal ridden Abe government.
smithinjapan
This is such a statement on the Japanese government in general that you couldn't write the stuff if you tried. I mean, where does it stop? It's all the greats rolled into one: cronyism, being out of touch with the general public, sending defective products, spending billions on failure, stubborn pride and refusal to admit mistake, product going out AFTER the SoE is basically lifted, and the colossal amount of bureaucracy it takes to get it out to begin with.
People overseas are getting a huge laugh out of this.
Tom
@Yubaru. How did your neighbor get masks? I thought only being distributed in Tokyo, but you live in Okinawa. And I know the curriculum is not uniform throughout Japan.
therougou
That still seems like a ripoff. A quick search on Rakuten showed me a box of 50 is down to 2000 yen and 100 are down to around 3,600 yen. They are no longer the hottest items on Rakuten. And they ship in a couple of days. Even at the peak, however, I was able to get some reusable Pitta masks in a few days. The look of horror on people's faces when they see a gaijin wearing a dark grey mask and sunglasses is priceless.
Kobe White Bar Owner
ours are going in a picture frame as a stark reminder!
blvtzpk
How fast do two masks burn on a Weber grill?
Tom
blvzpk: They burn faster than wagyu. Do not put greasy fatty steak on your Weber.
The masks are mostly made of plastic materials and an aluminum band .
Luddite
What a massive waste of taxpayers money.
Cricky
Just return to sender, I'm sure they can be used at the next Nippon Kaigie school or at the vetenary university that's not needed although they might be shredded by that disabled worker by mistake. Just return them the masks are as useful as lipstick on a pig. Actually a pig with lipstick would probably make better decisions.
BertieWooster
Simian Lane,
Just saw your comment about Abenomihodai. What would that be? All you can drink non-alcohol beer?
Invalid CSRF
Phil Smy
Actually my father in law up here in Miyagi got his...so not sure what that's all about!
Xeno Man
Japan is the stagnant nation to the point that incompetent, corrupt idiots get away with their cimes. None of them gets prosecuted. In the US, you will be grilled and ultimately thrown into prison. I have seen a lot of former members of Congress get imprisonment for corruption. The US has rules of law with the lack of democratic values but it is still functional to make people accountable. Of course, it is totally non-existent in Japan as corrupt bureaucrats rarely get punished severely.
Meanwhile, China is the total opposite but their punishment system for corruption is still effective. A small bureaucrat makes a mistake and takes small bribe is enough to be sent into prison in China. Of course, the dear leader Xi Jinping would not ever EVER post tone-deaf videos like Shinzo Abe (like his stay at home video in Tokyo). There would be riots across China if any bureaucrat makes a mistake. We never see this in Japan after 1990s.
Japan is probably the failed state in the aspect of politics, while the aspect of economic is being tested.
Xeno Man
They will flee outside Japan for retirement after the country is completely owned and brought by foreign investors who are primarily American and European. Aso and Abe realized the country is damned for good, and there is no way to save it. They prepare to jump the ship and flee Japan when it is all over.
Laila Kholoussi
No masks yet in Shibuya-ku Yoyogi 5-39.
mmwkdw
Should really focus more attention upon encouraging companies to make disposable masks locally. I've not seen even a single facemask for sale in months!
Speed
They should've used this 46 billion yen on computers for kids/families who don't have one for school classes nationwide that should've all gone online last month.
This way no kid would be left behind and the govt/board of educations would no longer have an excuse for not going online with education.
Brian Wheway
This is not going to end well for Abe san.
Thomas Robert Mountcastle
Mr. Speed: Perfect! I have been fighting that battle, with no success, for a long long time.
Paul
O--------, I am sure Teflon Abe will somehow survive this as there is no descent replacement as every member of the parliament is just as useless as the next!
spinningplates
So, what happened to the recall we read about on this very site after the dirty deliveries?
Has out tax money now just disappeared up some Old politicians yacht fund?
Waiting for an explanation.
Paul Clarke
Prime Minister Abe should have used the very low quality Abenomasks & its money for the medical staff support and short supply gowns & face shields instead. As a leader he cannot prioritise which is more important - economy or lives. Perhaps Japan needs a female leader ( Never Akie, his wife, God bless!) like late Margaret Thatcher who takes speedy action in times of emergency similar to war situation. There is too much bureaucracy here and the Kanryos still stick to their territory. One of the reasons for very few PCR tests taking place. Many universities and private companies can extend these tests to 20,000 daily, but hampered by useless red tape & civil servants.
Paul Clarke
My friends in Chiba have not receive the poor standard cheap second rate masks. It is only a pair of masks for one household and one size - so not for small children. The Japanese civil servants are spending tax payers money on all fronts. The least Japanese members of Japanese House of Representatives can do is to donate their JYE100,000 to medical support team or to purchase medical shields and proper gowns. Where is Japan's Captain Tom Moore, I wonder? If a hundred year now Colonel can organise such a big charity, why is nobody organising any donation to the hard-working medical team. Is it only myself that I have NOT heard of Red Cross assisting with COVID-19 Virus issues?