Gov't to offer unused Abenomasks to local governments

Can we draw little animated Abe characters on them?

No thank you.

Someone got very rich selling these masks to the government and that should be looked into.

How about just giving me back my tax money?

they are perfect if your face is the size of a large peach.

That's the best idea they have, after a year or so.

8 months storage cost for those little masks 600 million Yen?

That must be a joke or some people really got it made!

And who in the world wants those things anyways?

Not me, that's for sure! Still got the previous ones in storage without paying any storage fee.

The masks are worthless and useless to small to fit an adults face correctly and we know that because we saw Abe kind of wearing it for a short while before he got a sore tummy

Symbol of Japan's incompetent corona virus measures, "Abenomask" (Abe's mask).

It cannot even block virus.

What’s next?

Gov't to offer unused Abecondoms to local governments?

Just did the calculation.

Roughly $600.000 for storage?

Where did those masks "reside"?

5* hotel, executive suite? I mean, a simple container or maybe 2 would've been sufficient!

Placed on an empty field in the pampa .... no more than Yen 10.000 a month rental fee.

Too late, too small, no one knows what to do with them but get them out of the public eye, safety tucked away in an expensive storage system. Public wants none of them but they maybe ? of use ( someday ) to people in nursing homes that are too old to question anything. The thing of memes and public ridicule.

The perfect representation of J leadership. Textbook stuff.

They should make the idiot that these masks were named after buy them back with his own money. What a waste. What a dip.

Nice to see transparency, critical decision making come to such a successful outcome.

Thank you Kishida!

For fun, why not deliver Abe no masks to Shinzo Abe’s house, surely he can have the courtesy to look after the masks he ordered and wasted tax payers’ money on?

I wonder what bacteria may be growing in these masks.

Moeru gomi

The storage of the massive amount of masks has sparked public criticism as a waste of taxpayers' money.

Where was that criticism when they first wasted the taxpayers' money making and distributing them?

the government had finished distributing cloth masks to households but switched to an on-request basis for nursing facilities, and that led to the surplus.

Because nobody wants the ridiculous-looking tiny little things.

Japan is considering distributing unused cloth masks, dubbed "Abenomasks," to local governments after a large amount procured by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration remained locked away accumulating storage costs, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Wednesday.

Err, the problem is about storage of something that nobody wants...Shoving it around the country will just move them from one storage facility to a several several smaller ones where inventory space still has a cost, not mentioning the transportation cost and the manpower costs to do that...In short: the problem gets "diluted" but not "solved" while incurring additional costs for nothing. Transporting that garbage to a garbage incinerator facility would at least spare everybody the inventory costs.

The storage of the massive amount of masks has sparked public criticism as a waste of taxpayers' money. The top government spokesman said at a press conference the masks can be sent to municipalities that wish to "stockpile them for use in disaster situations and distribute them to local residents."

Even if municipalities run by LDP-stooges "ask" for them (insert sontaku 忖度 here), size-wise they remain pretty useless and would (1) only take space that could be dedicated to "real" masks and not overpriced playtoys and (2) give a wrong sense of comfort until emergency hits (e.g. inventory mentioning "masks" but when the municipality actually needs the masks they will find out that their stock is useless fluff). This is not even mentioning that Abenomasks were reported as "tainted" (mine did come with unappetizing black spots as reported by the media).

The masks can also be given to nursing facilities and individuals on demand, he added.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki said in October the government had finished distributing cloth masks to households but switched to an on-request basis for nursing facilities, and that led to the surplus.

Kyodo desperate to make the situation look less bad than it is and ends up invalidating itself. Bottomline: already the stocks are unwanted period!

Ideal solution: dump the garbage onto Abe and make him personally pay to get rid of it. Second best solution: dump the stuff onto the LDP and make them pay to get rid of it with party-money.

Regarding his predecessor's mask rollout, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday in parliament there were "points that need to be investigated and reflected upon."

In straighter terms, "It was stupid."

its silly joke.

large waste of taxes for some Shinzo s business friends/of course no brines involved/....and at the end...nothing happened...

pathetic.

Just did the calculation.

Roughly $600.000 for storage?

Where did those masks "reside"?

5 hotel, executive suite? I mean, a simple container or maybe 2 would've been sufficient!*

Placed on an empty field in the pampa .... no more than Yen 10.000 a month rental fee.

Yep. thats per month! You could buy a few big empty warehouses in inaka for that.

Why wasn't this done sooner?

Problem 1:

Which ministry should be in charge?

Answering this question will involve thousands of hours of meetings, discussions, consensus building, and finally a 100 meter pile of pdf printouts that needed a hanko.

Problem 2:

How can this be done "fairly"?

Simply giving them away as quickly as possible to whoever wants them will lead to cries of "unfair, unfair" by those that didn't get any, even though they probably don't even want them. So, again, meetings, discussions, consensus building, and hankos on how it will proceed fairly.

Can anyone else think of any other problems?

I just simply estimate, that 47 smaller storages are much more costly or expensive than 1 big storage. The same of course for attempts of emptying and recycling, if that should be considered one day sooner or later.

Those little old Abenomasks must have been a nice little earner for some LDP-connected chancers.

"Symbol of Japan's incompetent corona virus measures, "Abenomask" (Abe's mask).

It cannot even block virus."

neither can almost all the types of mask that people are wearing......

Just dish them out to schools while it's cold and be done with it. Those things are impossible in the warmer months.

Ahhh, Looters. D.on't P.ay.

Abenomasks is another scandal waiting to be investigated!!!

Also, who owns these storage facilities or are they government owned? Another point to investigate!

My wife is still using abenomask at home sometimes.

Storage costs between August 2020 and March this year amounted to some 600 million yen ($5.3 million).

What did they rent?

A 20 LDK in Ginza?

Morons, just donate them to all elementary and junior high schools across the nation. Let them use it as spare masks for when the kids need them.

Great job, Abe. As usual...........

Small, poorly made and expensive masks that they can’t even give away. Abe should be made to refund the tax payer’s money wasted on this farce.

Went to the hospital today, half of old women were wearing Abe-masks...

Have been following the news about the coming Omicron variant. While masking up and social distancing remain important, the most important precaution of all seems to be to get one's booster shot, when due.

The unvaccinated will suffer the most, but there is a huge decrease in illness between the simply vaccinated, and those who get their booster shot.

Also, breakthrough infections among the vaccinated appear to be much less severe, and often asymptomatic.

In the US, about 15% of adults are unvaccinated, and hospital ICUs are becoming overwhelmed, in parts of the country with the lowest rates of vaccination.

So much tax payers money in warehouse costs ???.

blueDec. 16  10:00 am JST

Ideal solution: dump the garbage onto Abe and make him personally pay to get rid of it. Second best solution: dump the stuff onto the LDP and make them pay to get rid of it with party-money.

No one would dare hold Don Shinzo or any other LDP capos responsible for any of this.