The outbreak of a new coronavirus in China, now officially named COVID-19, has sparked plenty of concern online — some valid, others more hyperbolic in nature. Like many global events in the social media age, the outbreak has also resulted in no shortage of fake news and racism. Both elements have recently surfaced in Japan, but the subject sparking plenty of discussion is face masks.
Face mask shortages have become common in China, to the point where manufacturers that have little or no ties to the field of medicine have started producing them. This scarcity has subsequently resulted in hoarding in Japan, extending to online retailers such as Amazon. It has also created a sizable resale movement on sites such as Mercari, where users are selling boxes of masks at highly inflated prices.
Resales quickly became one of the most talked about topics on Japanese social media and netizens were quick to shame those engaging in the practice during such trying times. Shock at the online prices for masks soon gave way to something resembling a campaign to discourage reselling, down to pictures of customers loading up on masks at stores coupled with messages imploring people to refrain from doing this (although, maybe they just secretly wanted to pad out their own stash?).
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