Pedestrians wearing face masks walk across a street in Tokyo earlier this month. Mask-wearing has been commonplace in Japan for years. Photo: EPA Pedestrians wearing face masks walk across a street in Tokyo earlier this month. Mask-wearing has been commonplace in Japan for years. Photo: EPA
Pedestrians wearing face masks walk across a street in Tokyo earlier this month. Mask-wearing has been commonplace in Japan for years. Photo: EPA
Japan
This Week in Asia /  Health & Environment

Japan has anti-mask protesters too, led by a coronavirus-denying political hopeful

  • Masayuki Hiratsuka ran for election as governor of Tokyo last month on a platform of pandemic denial, but attracted less than 1 per cent of the vote
  • Undeterred, he and his followers gathered outside a busy Tokyo railway station on Sunday for an anti-mask protest – sparking an online backlash

Topic |   Japan
Julian Ryall
Julian Ryall

Updated: 4:03pm, 11 Aug, 2020

Why you can trust SCMP
Pedestrians wearing face masks walk across a street in Tokyo earlier this month. Mask-wearing has been commonplace in Japan for years. Photo: EPA Pedestrians wearing face masks walk across a street in Tokyo earlier this month. Mask-wearing has been commonplace in Japan for years. Photo: EPA
Pedestrians wearing face masks walk across a street in Tokyo earlier this month. Mask-wearing has been commonplace in Japan for years. Photo: EPA
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