As I have done a few other times, today (11 September 2023) I gathered some data on the percentage of people who wear masks at the station. My method was the same as the other times I did it: I stood to the side of the station gates (at about 4:00 PM) and counted how many of the first 500 adults to pass through the gates were wearing masks. The result: 31% of people wore masks. I counted someone as wearing a mask only if the mask covered the person’s mouth and nose. People with masks pulled down or dangling from an ear I counted as not wearing a mask.
Previous data:
|Date|Mask-wearing percentage|
|:-|:-|
|11 September 2023|31.0%|
|19 July 2023|37.4%|
|16 October 2021|98.8%|
|? July 2020|93.9%|
Answers to questions asked whenever I post on the same topic:
* The data take about 10 minutes to gather.
* No, I didn’t make a special trip to do this: I was waiting for someone at the station.
* I have written nothing here regarding whether I think wearing masks is good or bad, whether it’s useful or not, or whether the results are surprising or not.
21 comments
Would have been cool to have data for:
1. July and September or October 2022
2. When the government announced they would re-classify COVID
3. When the government actually re-classified COVID
(just for comparison purposes, not saying that to complain or anything)
Anecdotally speaking, I personally felt a major swing in favor of not wearing masks around late May this year.
In my local area (of Chiba), I’d say about 80% of the people shopping at my supermarket are now doing so maskless. Sometimes feels like the only people wearing masks are literally just the shop staff.
I’m surprised it’s that high honestly. I feel like it’s around 10%, or less where I’ve been recently
I think it’s good to keep in mind that many people (myself included) aren’t masking because it’s hot as fuck out rn. I think the numbers will still be down come winter but I think we’ll really see who’s “still masking” come winter time
It would be interesting to include male vs female in this data – where I am I’d say it’s closer to 50-60% wearing masks, but heavily skewed towards women
Also working in a school, like 90% (I mean it – out of a single class of 40 with 20 boys and 20 girls only maybe 3 girls weren’t wearing a mask today) of girls are wearing masks – and most of the guys aren’t
Thank you for your service.
Japanese wear masks not just for covid. They didn’t do make up. They have a cold. They have hayfever
This kind of data collection is a thankless job, but I’ll thank you anyway.
Thanks, dude.
Anecdote: I don’t mind wearing a mask in the winter but I get a rash in the summer when I wear a mask, so that’s basically why I’m not wearing one right now.
Are you big city or small town?
I anecdotally seem to notice that smaller towns are still doing some covid stuff but Tokyo downtown seems to have moved on.
I was out in okutama and in Kyushu noticed not only more masks but also a restaurant had the temperature face scan and I haven’t seen one of those downtown in a while.
Who cares?
Some may only be masking on the train itself where it’s more crowded and less airflow
Interesting. Thanks dude
I assume this is in Tokyo. I feel like most people are still wearing masks up here, but when I went to Tokyo last week, most people weren’t.
TIL people still obsess over other people deciding to wear masks.
I teach a high school student remotely, and he told me he’d stayed home last week owing to catching covid. But that he’s much better now. He did seem worn.
I think people are slowly going back to normal (my self included) because we have years now of reliable vaccine data, and many people have had several rounds of vaccinations. On top of the fact that by and large, infection rates and related deaths have fallen off. I’d bet unless something significant happens, the numbers will continue pointing in a downward trend.
This guy datas.
So happy that “socially mandatory” mask wearing is finally ending. Used to be a good citizen and always wear it to not get stared at. But after going home to Germany this summer, I just can’t put it on anymore. Summer heat is not helping either.
Sounds about right. On recent local train trips in Sendai, I would say 20-30% of people on the train were wearing masks.
I had a 38 temp on Sunday. Wore a mask on train and work yesterday. Today just slightly runny nose and small cough once and awhile. Probably mask on train and Black Halls for the day since I’m out and about.
I’ve seen a slight uptick in the flu already so I suspect the rates might also start to reflect that.