It happens in Japanese cities every winter and spring — the mask attack.
These white strips of cloth obscuring your fellow commuters' faces have long been a common way to ward off influenza and hay fever, but their popularity is soaring higher than ever this winter because of frequent reports about an outbreak of a new type of flu.
"The media have been repeatedly giving a warning of a new type of influenza outbreak, so people may have thought they should store some masks and use a mask more often," said Yukihiro Hosoe, manager of the advertising and marketing strategy department at Kowa Co., Japan's leading health care product company.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.