Japan Today
Image: Japan Today
picture of the day

Good manners

12 Comments

A poster on the wall of a subway station in Tokyo asks commuters to cover their nose and mouth when they sneeze or cough.

© Japan Today

©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.

12 Comments
Login to comment

Entirely necessary. And not just in stations. I'm convinced every Japanese male was never taught to cover their mouths when sneezing or coughing. Bad parenting to blame for sure.

20 ( +21 / -1 )

Are they saying foreigners don't cover their mouth, I'm assuming that is a foreigner drawing because of the size of the nose.

-9 ( +7 / -16 )

"Coughs and sneezes spread diseases, trap them in your handkerchief...."

1 ( +3 / -2 )

In Japan, it is not common to use handkerchiefs for wiping the nose as it is considered unclean. Instead, they use tissues for this purpose.

4 ( +9 / -5 )

I saw this a few days ago and I thought: Oh, here we go. Btw, the guy in the left looks like he’s yawning. I mean, sometimes I am forced to see and(!!) hear(!!) Japanese guys yawning without covering their mouths and I feel like I’m surrounded by little kids. So, this poster doesn’t tell the whole story—they should’ve added yawns.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Most people are cool, but a few percentage are not. Unfortunately for everyone else.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

I’m constantly surprised at how a country of mask wearers will take off the mask to open mouth sneeze and cough, wipe it with their bare palm and touch a bunch of stuff. Go to the bathroom and just splash water if that despite there being soap freely available. Love Japan but men at least, are unhigenic to the point where it’s mind boggling. But I’m the one getting side eyes on the train for being a foreigner lol

10 ( +11 / -1 )

Yeah, I was taught to sneeze in my elbows and not in my hands. A handkerchief would be nice if you have the time to pull one out and not mix this with the one you use to wipe your hands with which is hardly the case. But I agree with those above, many ossan here don't cover their mouths at all and don't even get me started on the decibels. lol

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Are they saying foreigners don't cover their mouth, I'm assuming that is a foreigner drawing because of the size of the nose.

Not really, looking at other examples of similar posters

https://japantoday.com/category/picture-of-the-day/orderly-manner

It just seems the artist likes drawing big noses on men.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

I've seen silly old goats take off their face mask to sneeze with their mouth uncovered. Disgusting and pointless.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

One of the benefits of Covid was that people became more aware of their bad habits with masks forcing them to be more hygienic. But I don't understand what they have against blowing their nose in public. Instead they continually breathe it back heavily into their nose with a nasty sound every 30 secs. Why not use all those free tissues you get handed.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

They should put this poster up in the US. Quite a few people do the same here as they do in Japan. Why the criticism of Japan, as though theirs is the only culture in the world with this problem, befuddles me. Oh, and plenty of people here yawn with their mouths open. So?

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites