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The impression foreigners have is that only doctors use masks in surgery rooms, or that one must be heavily ill in order to cover his/her face like that. Wearing masks might seem a little too exaggerated for many around the world.
Of course, COVID-19 has popularized the act of wearing masks but Japan has had this culture long ago and now masks are essential survival tools for Japanese (at least they think so). When the pandemic first broke out in Japan, all mask boxes were sold out. People would buy all they can to keep it for themselves or perhaps even sell it for a much higher price. In other words, Japanese are desperate for masks more than ever.
To understand why Japanese loves and depend on masks so much, it is important to see how Japanese think.
According to a well known Japanese youtuber Nobita from Japan (watch), Japanese has a blaming culture. He explains that if someone gets sick in Japan, it is his/her fault because he/she did not make enough effort to avoid the sickness by washing hands, wearing masks, eating well or sleeping well. Japanese blame the ill for being ill. This creates a sense of embarrassment and pressure for whoever catches a cold let alone COVID-19 in Japan. So it is extremely important for each individual to take care of themselves. You can only imagine that not wearing a mask in public in times like this, might make some Japanese angry and some might stare at you as if saying "you are an irresponsible selfish individual!".
The history of wearing mask in Japan was triggered by lots of events.
A Japanese Literature professor from Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts University in Japan, explains how the culture of wearing masks emerged.
After Meiji period, masks were first spread all over Japan for safety purposes. For example, workers at factories and at mine sites would use them. Then, the out break of influenza occurred in 1919. This encouraged people to wear masks even in daily life. In 1923, The Great Kanto Earthquake struck Japan. After, air pollution such as PM2.5 from China and hay fever were reasons for Japanese to keep using masks in daily basis. In 1995, The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake occurred and in 2011, The Great East Japan Earthquake hit Japan.
The professor explains that although masks do protect us from an extent of bacterias, it is not proven on how much degree it truly protects us and others. Even so, Japanese believe masks work and show effort to avoid sickness to others. "masks are more like a charm for Japanese that provides some psychological security for them" explains the professor.
In modern society in Japan, using masks is something convenient for many as well.
Women get to hide their face when they don't feel like putting makeup on or people take advantage of masks to cover bad breath and the list goes on. However, masks can also cause negative impressions on others because since your mouth is covered it is hard to tell what are your intentions so some people can judge you easily. There are various purposes and effects of wearing masks now. The professor even mentions that wearing masks is more like a fashion now a days.
This unique yet unusual waring-mask culture has stuck in Japan perhaps because each Japanese individual has to be responsible for his/her own health and it can be convenient serving for various purposes. Maybe now that wearing a mask on daily basis is more popular because of this pandemic, many will be able to relate to Japan and Japanese.