Will Abenomasks help prevent coronavirus spread in Japan?

After initial skepticism, Western countries are also counting on face masks

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is distrubuting two cloth face masks to every household in Japan. The masks have been mockingly described by the public as "Abenomasks." (Collage by Yuki Kohara)

AKANE OKUTSU and MITSURU OBE, Nikkei staff writers

April 22, 2020 11:41 JST

TOKYO -- The Japanese government has started deliveries of a pair of cloth face masks to each of the country's 50-plus million households, as part of its plan to slow the rapid spread of the new coronavirus.