The custom of facemask-wearing began in Japan during the early years of the 20th century,

日本人を始め東アジア人がマスクをする理由 https://t.co/tlP7OztmaO　マスクにはウイルスからの感染防止には殆ど効果がないが、日本人の発想は逆。自分が咳等で周囲に迷惑をかけないことが目的。背景にあるのは道教、漢方、そして「気」の概念。なので中国・韓国にも広がった。

— Spica (@Kelangdbn) December 23, 2018

The custom of facemask-wearing began in Japan during the early years of the 20th century, when a massive pandemic of influenza killed between 20 and 40 million people around the world—more than died in World War I.


A second global flu epidemic in 1934 cemented Japan’s love affair with the facemask, which began to be worn with regularity during the winter months—primarily, given Japan’s obsession with social courtesy, by cough-and-cold victims seeking to avoid transmitting their germs to others, rather than healthy people looking to prevent the onset of illness.