Many commuters wear masks at the JR Shinagawa station in Tokyo on the morning of March 13. Hiroyuki Yamamoto Most Japanese commuters wore face masks on March 13, the day the central government ended its three-year request for protective measures against COVID - 19.
Only about one in 50 commuters was maskless at JR Shinagawa Station in Tokyo at 8 a.m.
A 26-year-old Tokyo resident said he took off his mask when he got off a train because he wanted to change the depressing mood. He said he was surprised to see so many people still wearing masks and wasting a new day of freedom. A company employee in his 50 s who lives in Saitama Prefecture decided not to wear a mask.
He said that at izakaya, where everyone talks loudly, people take off their masks. Why do people wear it at train stations where nobody speaks? He said he will keep a mask in his pocket.
He said that I will be careful when I cough, sneeze or have a conversation.
The continued mask wearing in Japan is cited as a result of peer pressure.
"I want to take it off but I still worry about how others might feel," said a 34-year-old female company employee.
The government said individuals can decide on their own when to wear a mask.
An announcement at Shinagawa Station said: "Please keep your conversation to a minimum." She said that when society is maintaining the status quo, I don't know if I should make a judgment as an individual.
On March 13, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida showed up without a mask at the prime minister's office. He became Prime Minister in October 2021, which was the first time that he did so.
He said that there will be more occasions when I don't wear a mask.
Kishida also noted that the government continues to ask people to wear masks when visiting nursing homes and other places with people at a high risk of developing severe symptoms from COVID - 19.
The health ministry, which is responsible for the government's COVID 19 measures, has notified its employees about the easing of the mask-wearing policy.
On March 13, around 70 percent of the 50 or so employees at the ministry's human resources department were maskless.
The new protocol is bringing nothing but worries to a woman in her 60s who owns a cafe in Tokyo.
She is allergic to chemical substances, so she avoided COVID 19 vaccinations because she fears an adverse reaction.
She said that everyone has a different opinion and it is important to respect that. But I hope they think about the fact that there are those who want to receive an immunization shot but can't, and a novel coronaviruses can be deadly to them, she said.
A 17-year-old female high school student said she can't imagine going out without a mask. She said when she was in junior high school and took a picture with her friends, she thought her face was ugly.
When she entered high school during the epidemic, wearing a mask was already the norm, and she has rarely shown her unmasked face to her high school friends.
She does not take off her mask during school lunch time.
She pulls a corner of the mask with her left hand to make space for her food.
Under the new protocol, she feels her friends may bully her and talk about her behind her back when she sees her maskless face.