The other day a present from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe slid into my mailbox. I was not the only recipient. Every household in Japan received a similar packet containing two white, washable face-masks.
Abe’s gesture was not universally appreciated. There was mockery on social media, and political embarrassment followed when some of the masks proved defective. The larger point, though, is that Abe had seen that face-masks had become well-nigh unobtainable and knew that was politically unacceptable. In a health crisis involving air-borne germs or pollutants, the Japanese public has come to demand and expect masks.
