Japanese Moms (and teachers) Against Mask Madness

This initial post is for Japanese literate readers first, English translations to follow within a few days.

I am presently working for the city board of education as the only native speaking foreign Assistant Language Teacher for 3 Junior High Schools, 8 elementary schools, and one special needs school (between 2000 and 2500 students) in a small township in West Tokyo. The kids are still required to wear masks in the classroom, even during the heat wave that recently swept through Tokyo and the main island of Honshu.

Just prior to the recent government sponsored fear mongering, the top down mandates had eased off a bit, and the kids were allowed to drop their masks … in specific situations such as where heat is hazardous.

But in my humble opinion, this is not based on science. It is part of the repeated easing and then tightening strategy used to wear down a population to make them more compliant to worse things to come. I have a lot to say about policies in Japan that are contradictory to following the science, and policies contradictory to each other, but will save that for another post. I am not alone in my assessment.

On Monday, July 25, 2022, I went to a cafe for an evening drink and chat with a small group of concerned mothers of those students, one other Japanese elementary school ALT, a graduate of an American university, and one elementary school teacher. Although I can not know how salient the gender of those who came is, the ‘think green’ movement of a few decades ago, and many local community NPOs, have been started and powered by housewives and mothers whose hands were not tied by corporate policies. At this meeting of maybe 10 or so, discounting a few of the students whose moms were present, I and the elementary school teacher were the only males, and I was the only non-Japanese. I would have liked to have taken and shown a group photo, but everyone is well aware of what might become a precarious nature of our status, so I hope the reader will just take my word for it.

The meeting was a loose discussion, a sharing of experiences at the schools, events and rallies, and ways to ‘softly’ subvert the gradual loss of individual moral autonomy to the corporate nation-state. While sitting around sipping our tea or beer, a few leaflets were circulated regarding the immediate physical health risks and more pernicious long term socio-psychological effects of masking, including the bullying of those kids who are gradually dropping the mask. Yes, Japanese psychology also mirrors the post-Nuremberg behaviorist experiments in conformity (Solomon Asch) and compliance to authority (Stanley Milgram) as well as patterns seen by Philip Zimbardo in the Stanford Prison Experiment.

I uploaded a low-resolution photos of the leaflets to my Facebook page for the benefit of fellow expats and Japanese friends. One ex-pat buddy requested high resolution photos, presumably to circulate among like-minded teachers and parents in his part of Japan.

For the benefit of Japanese speakers, and as a template for non-Japanese speakers, I am uploading the high resolution photos here. English translations will soon be forthcoming after I chat and verify with my Japanese friends.

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The first is a single page, detailing the physical and psychological harm of masks. A translation will follow within the week.

The remaining 12 photos are of a small booklet, ending with the challenge for teachers and parents to stop mask-bullying by stepping up to be the adult in the room.
Translations also soon to follow.

Cheers all, and I hope these face diapers will soon be the laughing stock of future history class students, teachers, and parents alike.