A thread titled “How long are you going to keep wearing a mask?” on 5ch’s “Morning Coffee” board turned into a lively exchange of opinions on mask-wearing. Even now, well after COVID-19 was reclassified as a Category 5 infectious disease in Japan, opinions remain split over whether restaurant staff, hospitals, and train passengers should still be masking up. Some posters keep wearing masks for health reasons like hay fever or chronic sinusitis, while others called continued mask use just leftover habit from the pandemic, and still others defended it by pointing to the current flu season. Between manners, hygiene concerns, and personal freedom, the thread made clear that everyone draws the line differently.
What people said
1AnonymousSep 2, 2026 19:50
Are the people still wearing masks now going to wear them until they die?
Are store clerks going to keep wearing them until they retire?
3AnonymousSep 2, 2026 19:52
Forever, as long as there are filthy people out there spraying spit everywhere.
8AnonymousSep 2, 2026 19:53
I'm sensitive to smells, so I wear one whenever I'm face-to-face with someone (for both our sakes) — it helps block odors.
9AnonymousSep 2, 2026 19:53
There are actually hospitals now that say you don't have to wear one.
15AnonymousSep 2, 2026 19:54
Re: #9
I wouldn't want to go to a hospital like that.
10AnonymousSep 2, 2026 19:54
I've got chronic sinusitis, so wearing one versus not makes a huge difference for me.
11AnonymousSep 2, 2026 19:54
COVID deaths are still way too high.
And on top of that, the flu death toll.
12AnonymousSep 2, 2026 19:54
There are still hospitals that won't even let you in without a mask.
13AnonymousSep 2, 2026 19:54
I work in food service and I stopped wearing a mask.
It's hard to talk through, and the company never told us we had to wear one anyway.
Every once in a while some complainer writes in on a survey like "There was a staff member not wearing a mask!" but I just ignore it.
14AnonymousSep 2, 2026 19:54
Forget masks, there are still idiot supermarkets hanging cheap plastic sheeting at the registers.
16AnonymousSep 2, 2026 19:56
I don't think supermarket cashiers need those plastic gloves anymore.
20AnonymousSep 2, 2026 19:58
Not until the pollen's gone, damn it!!!
21AnonymousSep 2, 2026 19:58
Flu's already starting to spread nationwide, you know.
22AnonymousSep 2, 2026 19:59
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare itself said masks don't prevent the flu.
23AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:00
Shaving's a pain, so I just shave my sideburns and neck and cover the rest with a mask.
24AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:01
Re: #1, if you ever need surgery, just ask the doctor and nurses to take their masks off then.
25AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:01
The mask rate among the senior office ladies at my workplace is really high ("o-tsubone" types). Wonder if there's some benefit to it.
26AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:02
Re: #25
They probably don't want people seeing their aging face. And honestly, I don't want to see it either — win-win.
28AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:06
As long as you're not doing intense exercise, it's really not that uncomfortable.
29AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:06
I was already a year-round mask wearer because of pollen allergies, so I'm glad there are so many more designs to choose from since COVID.
30AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:10
Might just be my imagination, but it feels like the people who don't wear masks are always the ones coughing.
31AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:11
I'm from the countryside, but the mask rate at supermarkets here is still really high.
33AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:14
Restaurant staff should honestly keep wearing masks forever, but they were the first ones to ditch them.
34AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:15
The flu's going around, you know.
36AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:17
Whether someone wears a mask or not is their own business.
38AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:18
Re: #32
Wait, you WANT the mask kept on during surgery? Why?
39AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:20
I wear a mask when I go to nursing homes or medical facilities, even though I don't think it does much.
40AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:21
The world's just too filthy — I can't go without a mask.
42AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:21
People on-site recognize me as "the guy in the mask," so I actually like it — makes things easy.
44AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:22
It's always the ones hacking up a lung on the train who aren't wearing masks.
Sometimes they even take the mask off just to cough.
45AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:23
Re: #44
What is with that, seriously?
46AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:24
They probably just hate how the inside of the mask gets all soggy with saliva.
47AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:30
Isn't the flu supposed to be a winter thing?
48AnonymousSep 2, 2026 20:34
The news said it's already starting to spread.
Apparently if you get your flu shot too early, the effect wears off by the February peak.
Background and Talking Points
Mask-wearing became a matter of personal choice in Japan in May 2023, when COVID-19 was reclassified as a Category 5 disease under the Infectious Diseases Control Law. More than two years later, practices still vary widely across restaurants, hospitals, and public transit, depending on the industry and each person’s health or personal values. The thread revealed a mix of motivations — wearing masks for health reasons like hay fever or chronic sinusitis, wearing them as infection prevention, and views dismissing continued use as “peer pressure” or sheer habit — making clear there’s no single standard for when to mask up. Some comments also touched on flu season timing and vaccine effectiveness, but it’s worth noting these reflect individual posters’ personal experience or hearsay rather than confirmed medical fact.
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