Really, Prime Minister? Only two?
Like a lot of people in Japan right now, Japanese politicians have been going about their business in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak sans face masks, which are currently in low supply around the country.
That all changed suddenly this week, however, when cases in Tokyo increased and Prime Minister Abe was seen attending meetings on television with a mask covering, well, a portion of his face.
▼ Abe’s small mask looked like the ones young children wear when serving school lunches to fellow students.
Whatever the reason for the Prime Minister’s small mask, it soon became a secondary concern for people in Japan after he announced that the government would be sending face masks to all households in Japan.
The free distribution of two reusable, washable cloth face masks will reach 50 million households from later this month, targeting areas with rising cases of coronavirus. While the initiative is designed to help people at a time when masks are difficult to find, a large number of these people are less than impressed, and they took to Twitter to share their feelings with the hashtag #マスク２枚 (“two masks”).
▼ “How to wear your two masks.”
As the above image illustrates, two masks for all households doesn’t take into account how many family members live together under one roof, which means children like Shizuku from Studio Ghibli’s Whisper of the Heart may have to go without.
▼ “Shizuku, there’s only two.”
▼ Same goes for Chihiro from Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away.
For bigger families, like the multi-generational household in Sazae-san, the world’s longest-running animated TV series, the two masks would require some creative manoeuvring.
▼ Three-headed kaiju King Ghidorah also faces a predicament.
▼ And what about Pokémon’s Dugtrio, Dodrio, and Hydreigon?
While the tweets are humorous, they belie a greater sense of dissatisfaction with the way the government is handling the growing outbreak right now. A large number of people in Japan feel that sending out a couple of masks to each household isn’t going to help as much as monetary support for families and businesses during the health crisis.
And with streets in areas of Tokyo looking eerily quiet right now, there are a lot of businesses who could do with the financial help.
Source: Twitter/#マスク2枚
Top image: Twitter/@Longe0829
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