Is it true that Japanese people continue to wear masks as a ploy by the government to gain financial profit? No, that's not true: Wearing masks is a matter of habit for many Japanese and even after the government lifted a COVID-19 pandemic mask mandate, many individuals and workers still opt to wear face masks in public.
The claim initially appeared on TikTok (archived here) on June 29 with the author saying:
There are still so many people in Japan wearing masks, but in countries like the UK and the US, nobody wears masks anymore. This is because the country [Japan] makes money (on the sale of masks?).
The man then proceeds to elaborate on his point, connecting Japan's aging population with the persistent fears of COVID:
Japan is a country with a lot of senior citizens, so if the news media continues to spread anxiety-inducing news about COVID, the elderly will go to the hospital more and buy prevention goods such as masks, therefore making Japan earn profit.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Jul 4 00:06:40 2023 UTC)
From March 13, the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare has lifted the mask mandate, stating that the choice to wear a mask is up to the individual's discretion. Public broadcaster NHK conducted a survey showing over 50% of the respondents chose to wear a mask despite the absence of a mandate. Japanese have a long history of wearing masks to the point where face masks have become an everyday item purchased during the winter for flu and cold prevention.
According to one poll conducted by Tokyo-based career development agency Laibo, 42.6% of respondents said they continue to wear masks out of habit, and the survey also showed that companies have independently adopted mask-wearing rules for employees, with 35% of respondents saying they wear masks because their workplaces recommended it.
