2 firms recall undelivered cloth masks from Abe's handout program

How embarrassing that even the delivery of a simple cloth mask is beyond the government’s ability...

I also expect Abe to return the 46.6 billion yen of our tax money. And STOP WASTING MY TAXES ON STUPID THINGS THAT FEED THE POCKETS OF YOUR CRONIES!!

Nice way to waste half a billion bucks.

One of these companies received a contract for over $50 million (58億円) and outsourced the entire order overseas. Heads should roll for this kind of incompetence. It’s inconceivable that tax money gets wasted like this.

That's embarrassing. Another well thought out plan. With little quality control.

Send them back to Abe and ask him for a refund...

Return to sender, can not vote but I can send these cloth things back. Abe has lost all credibility and is descending into madness.

Yeah, yeah, yeah; Japan this, Japan that.

Don't you worry; we have them over here in the UK/London too.

Yeah, gee, its weird how those of us who actually live in Japan and personally have a stake in how the government handles this seem so opinionated about Japan this, Japan that.

IF they ever make it to our house, they will go directly into the trash!

Gees Abe, given the cost for each mask, you should have at least ensured its quality. Do you not have some common sense? I guess your greed for the retainer eventually prevailed.

I received these useless masks the other day - way too small (barely larger than my palm) and cheaply made. What a waste of taxpayers' money.

I will return this with a letter.

This is an insult to any Japanese person or resident of Japan.

This money could be used for ventilators and extra hospital beds.

After more than 2 decades here I always knew of the shortcomings of this government (all governments have them) but what I have witnessed in the last 4 months is way beyond what I would have expected.

The response of the central government to this pandemic is unbelievable.

$435,000,000 spent (wasted!!)on cloth masks ! ¥466 yen a mask that is too small for your face ! tainted dirty and doesn't fit properly!

Outsourced to China!!!:-o

Total and utter waste of our tax and the masks are not even made domestically !!!

What a shambles!!!!!!

Of ALL the countries in the world, the Japanese government had the audacity to order cloth masks from CHINA?

The two companies said they procured the cloth masks from overseas.....

They procured the cloth masks from other countries and they didn't both to check quality and safety???

A HUGE national security issue, imagine all the masks are tainted with a harmful substance, what will happen to the whole Japanese population?

@the incongruous amalgamToday  07:01 am JST

we can't trust China to do anything properly (unless it's misinformation and other scheming) so let's find more safe and trustworthy sources.

i agree

but can we trust Japan?

I have been putting off a trip to Daiso because I need rags to wash my car and toilet. These masks fit the description of what I was looking for.

Another Japanese government SNAFU!

@rainyday; so with you on that. Also, Visiting Japan is not the same as living here. Living here for a couple of years is not the same as living here your whole adult life.

I got them BUT too small and ear loops are short and of different lengths

Your (residence, pension,income, car inspection) tax yen at work.

At this point it should be assumed that any PPEs being made in China since the beginning of March 2020 are tainted/faulty and are solely made to make money in China. Quality control in China on these items has been shown to be non-existent based on all the reports coming in from around the world from countries like Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK, Canada, etc.

What will it take for the masses to kick these incompetent louts to the curb?

Return to sender...No stamp!

People are better off making their own. China and Chinese companies just scammed Japan out of millions again!

I would not trust a country that was the source of a pandemic to produce products to protect me from that pandemic that they have not stopped.

Here's a video of them making them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFziEl_GW18

Gosh I hope those workers washed their hands!

Would you buy a car without test driving it? How about one million cars?abe is irresponsible and in charge of our lives.

he doesn’t have to care about his idiocy because he can just blame China.

Sadly this mask fiasco is a perfect metaphor for modern Japan!

Is this guy joking? anywhere except for Japan, this guy would be impeached and kick out of the office .

Unfortunately, it is not true. The US elected a conman reality TV star to the presidency.

For those of us living in Japan for a long time I wonder if we will even get a mask. Maybe it is better we do not since they do not seem to be useful. The reason I ask this is that I have also confirmed through immigration that if we leave Japan (even those of us married to a Japanese national) we cannot re-enter, although our spouse would be able to do so. Would they send one mask to such a household or two? Does anyone know?

I like how they include places like Hong Kong and Taiwan on the no-go list and yet these two are doing really really well, both considering the situation, and in comparison to Japan. I don't think anyone from these places would want to come to Japan.

@Smith

In addition to what you have identified, the 3M N95 masks are made in China. Everyone has put all their eggs in one basket for masks. This needs to change

If the ear gum straps were different sizes, and the masks dirty, why would you try it on to see if it was too small as well?

Just watch Abe on the news. The mask is the size of a saltine cracker.

Once the world gets back on its feet, Chinese manufacturing will lose many orders and factories will go unused, as companies move manufacturing back home. It is amazing that one country has evolved to have an almost global stranglehold on manufacturing, aided by corporates who exploit the wage differences and lower environmental standards to maximise profits and keep prices low. Prices will go up though.

If we receive any I may frame & put them on my wall!

@GW - actually the framing and putting on the wall might be a better idea.....this would be a reminder to not get complacent and assume the central government is competent.

this is a joke, those stupid masks are laughing stock of the world.

Is this guy joking? anywhere except for Japan, this guy would be impeached and kick out of the office .

I am all for wearing masks, except ,this mask would protect me from common cold.

I've been posting this story with its progression on social media and people are having a real laugh about things here.

@anon

Sorry forgot to post the links (English and Japanese)

http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001318288.pdf

http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001316999.pdf

I am confused...maybe that is the proof you want. My wife could not believe this so she called herself.

This is why we wonder about masks or if I can even receive the equivalent health care here.

@Pukey

Focusing on the mask issue I believe Taiwan started early ensuring Taiwanese would have masks (banning export to the People's Republic of China). They also ensured distribution of real masks (not this farce) to their citizens.

Likewise citizens of Singapore who have handled this situation much better than Japan were issued masks through their neighborhood associations; again real masks and more than a mere 2.

Additionally all countries mentioned do not have policies which separate families and again the reason I post this is I am wondering if we would only get one mask.

I think no one in the above countries has an interest in coming to Japan now.

superIMO2020: "Who would use these filthy masks made in China?"

The Japanese would, if given them and told they were clean, as they have for years upon years, or did you not know almost all of the masks used here were made in China? Even soon after Japan banned imports from China they quickly reopened them for masks.

China and Chinese companies just scammed Japan out of millions again!

Might not be the case, might be the Japanese companies are the ones that have scammed the Japanese companies. Where is investigative Journalism when it is needed it most. Some people are smiling all the way to the bank. The sad part is the bureaucrat who hatched this scam will be promoted with a pay raise. Won't be surprised if the cost of the mask including shipping from China is not up 20yen per piece and they are making a killing more than 20 times the cost.

What will it take people to wake up.

Tokyo-Eng: "In addition to what you have identified, the 3M N95 masks are made in China. Everyone has put all their eggs in one basket for masks. This needs to change"

Agreed. It won't, though, as indicated by them turning back to China in the article. It'll be out of necessity for now, but companies here that are trying to mass produce masks are still demanding an arm and a leg for them, which will ultimately just lead to demand for cheaper products, which China will produce, and people will buy.

Anyone who can't do something as simple as preparing a supply of masks for his people really, really, really should NOT be Prime Minister!

(Invalid CSRF)

Tokyo-Engr

http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001318288.pdf

http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001316999.pdf

I am confused...maybe that is the proof you want. My wife could not believe this so she called herself.

Yes thank you for that information. I feel as outraged as you. These seem widely unpublicised and I am sure most foreign residents of Japan do not know about this. I think many would feel likewise

Who is in charge of quality control in japan ???. stop blaming other countries, when u want to save money. Other people have to eat too.

I had the feeling things will go wrong here ...

If you paid exhobitant taxes but can't vote, you work and are denied any rights. Think criticism of a tiny cloth mask that is exobantly expensive and useless is not Japan hating rather LDP criticism. Buy the way Japanese people are great LDP doesn't represent Japanese people at all? A Feudal hang on from a past best forgotten.

@GW - actually the framing and putting on the wall might be a better idea.....this would be a reminder to not get complacent and assume the central government is competent.

Exactly what I was thinking!

Leave the packaging intact, wait a couple of hundred years or so and these masks will be declared to be worth a fortune on some future antiques TV programme....

Wow... as if the program itself weren't failure enough, now they won't even be delivered because they are tainted. I think Abe should be forced to not only pay back the money for this project from his own personal funds, but to wear the tainted masks from now on.

@anon99999

This is exactly what I am saying. What do you want me to do...post my Zairyu card here? You are correct - the policy separates families.

In some country like France, selling a mask to the population is forbidden and you can go to jail if to try so it is good to receive some mask in Japan from the gvt but honestly, those masks are not worth the money paid and are not the best for fighting the contamination.

Interesting development of the situation. While I think it was not necessarily a bad idea to provide citizens with reusable masks amid the shortage of the disposable ones, by the time people actually receive these this epidemic may as well be over. I'm wondering if people actually still wait to receive these masks or if they just sourced alternatives – be it disposable ones or DIY cloth masks. At this point in time it feels like the massive cost is simply not justifiable anymore and the timeline of the distribution is a big fail.

I vividly remember months ago Japan was one of the first countries where people started sharing online how to make DIY cloth masks at home. In the Czech Republic, after the government ordered that people must wear face masks in public, most of the people readily made their own cloth mask at home. Volunteers even supplied medical staff with makeshift masks.

That's why it's a bit difficult for me to comprehend why at the end of April this is still a thing.

Dear Educator

Thank you for this clarification. It is heartwarming to understand the mask distribution program does not match the immigration policy of splitting up families. At least we know we will not be split up over the mask issue.

""Under the initiative, Kowa made a contract for supplying masks worth 5.48 billion yen ($51 million) and Itochu got a 2.85 billion yen contract, while Matsuoka's contract is valued at 760 million yen, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, though the ministry declined to clarify how many masks each company will provide.""

Just what I thought, as I posted earlier, Mr Abe and his GO Boys at work very hard, 9,090,000,000 yen of tax payers money being given to 3 well connected companies to buy masks from China and others. Local manufacturers can and are providing masks, but the source of COVID - 19 is a better place to SPENT THE TAX PAYERS MONEY.

The government of Taiwan with the help of the private sector is producing 10,000,000 (10 million) masks per day for it's 23 million citizens. The governments provides the raw materials and controls the distribution according to reports. Each adult gets 2 masks per day and each child gets 3 per day, and now started donating masks to other nations.

While the Japanese government was busy trying to keep the dead Olympics alive!!!!!? others nations were taking measures to protect their citizens.

CORRUPTION of the first degree.

SCAM.

we can't trust China to do anything properly (unless it's misinformation and other scheming) so let's find more safe and trustworthy sources.

I have also confirmed through immigration that if we leave Japan (even those of us married to a Japanese national) we cannot re-enter, although our spouse would be able to do so.

You are saying PERMANENT residents of Japan will not be able to return to Japan now if they go overseas.

But their spouse and children, if Japanese can.

Please provide your proof from immigration.

Who would use these filthy masks made in China? I bet the government is hiding way more terrible contamination than human hair.

NumanApr. 24  11:46 am JST

Is this guy joking? anywhere except for Japan, this guy would be impeached and kick out of the office .

Unfortunately, it is not true. The US elected a conman reality TV star to the presidency.

at least, entertainer didn't ripped of his people by selling them defected masks , whole world now know how crooked this guy is so don't deny it.

"cloth mask" = ZERO VIRAL PROTECTION

***--It is so insulting to human's dignity, to deceive so bluntly

*Scare people

*Take their ability to work, to be free and to interact with other human beings

*Keep the hospitals EMPTY ( do not allow people to be treated for other important health issues which lead them to a possible morbidity)

*lie about the numbers of people infected with CV

secretly acknowledge, but not publicly, that the tests are faulty /contaminated / 80% (or more), are false positive

acknowledge secretly but not publicly, that people who got the flu shot will test positive

*secretly acknowledge but not publicly, that PCR test is not reliable and has never been intended for diagnostic

*play the global game : "reshaping the world" in a totalitarian system of control and abuse : Agenda 21/ 30

*take China system as example

*deploy the FIVEG death towers, who destroy the immune system and provoke a whole list of disabling symptoms

...

etc

People begin to see though the deceit ~ will they act though to protect their lives and their families ? + their future?

Another Japanese government SNAFU!

but in the West......

NHS workers need to be re-tested for coronavirus after a minister admitted the Government's early tests were inaccurate.

I wonder which is worst a bad mask or a bad test?

"How embarrassing that even the delivery of a simple cloth mask is beyond the government’s ability..."

Yeah, yeah, yeah; Japan this, Japan that.

Don't you worry; we have them over here in the UK/London too.

I have personally seen some of them, filthy and disgusting.

Retail price in many corner shops: £14.

EACH.

Take it or leave it.

"Hundreds of thousands of counterfeit medical masks are being peddled as the world grapples with the coronavirus crisis, The Independent can reveal.

The fake masks are often made in unsterile sweatshops previously used to make phoney handbags or designer jeans."

"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-face-mask-fake-turkey-medical-supply-shortage-covid-19-a9423426.html"