[Gay State Conservative]

My three or four visits to Japan have all been in the winter and I was always amazed by the fact that about 99% of the people you’d see on the street were wearing some kind of mask.And a friend of mine from South Korea told me just the other day that the same is true in Korea (well,South Korea at least).

[ThanhPhero]

Face masks have been a part of ordinary outside wear in the cities in China and Southeast Asia for years. There are two primary reasons. One is everybody drives scooters and the mask is protection against dust in the air and the other is that everyone is conscious of air pollution. Another reason goes back to the various influenzas that have emanated from China. In Việt Nam the popular wisdom is, "Vũ Hàn. Here it comes again."