Packet containing Japanese leaflet about COVID-19 regulations and two face coverings from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

In April 2020, the Japanese government sent every household one of these information packets. It contains two reusable face coverings and some information about COVID-19 guidance at the time. Unlike in the UK, which made face coverings mandatory in the summer of 2020, they have never been compulsory in Japan. However, Japan, like many other Asian countries, has a much more established culture of people wearing face coverings when they are unwell. It has a long history, but it really started to be encouraged during the Spanish Flu pandemic. In October 1919, the Japanese local authorities also distributed face coverings to people who could not afford them. Since the 1970, face coverings have also regularly been worn in Japan to ease the symptoms of hay fever, as well as for flu like illnesses. Public health messaging about wearing face coverings in the early 2000s was based on the idea that individual actions can have an effect on the health of our wider community.

This packet also has some information about Japan’s COVID-19 strategy in April 2020. People are encouraged to avoid the 3 Cs - closed spaces, crowds and close-contact situations. This is similar to UK government advice like Hands, Face, Space, but it suggests that more emphasis was put on the importance of well-ventilated spaces, much earlier than it was in the UK.