＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:https://skawa68.com/
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
<Added 5/8/2020> As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads worldwide, people all over the world are now wearing masks all the time. In Japan, due to a shortage of masks, the number of handmade cloth masks has increased, and people have started to make more creative masks using a variety of fabrics. Recently, masks with illustrations of local mascots or colorful masks have become more fashionable, and more people are wearing unique masks in addition to the traditional white masks.
Recently, the number of tourists visiting Japan has increased dramatically, and in Osaka, Chinese and Korean tourists are often seen. Among them, what stands out recently is the young Korean men pulling suitcases wearing “black masks.”
Last year, my wife was watching the Korean drama “Love Thief: I’ll Steal Your Heart” with great enthusiasm. It was a very interesting drama, and I was watching it sideways while writing my blog.
This drama tells the story of the sons and daughters of people who have been unjustly oppressed or killed by “evil” who become prosecutors, lawyers, and police officers, and who, despite facing many hardships and struggling, ultimately “bring down the hammer of justice” on the “evil.”
The program introduction is as follows:
Dolmok (Ji Hyun-woo), who lost his parents to Chairman Hong’s evil schemes at a young age, is raised by his father’s friend Pan-soo.
In order to please his adoptive father, he studies hard and even becomes an accountant and lawyer. However, after witnessing the evil deeds of the privileged class that reigns above the law, he establishes Justist, a jack-of-all-trades that can circumvent the law and solve any problem.
He also works as a thief under the name J. All in order to see his estranged brother again and to punish the privileged class that drove him to the depths of despair.
Then his childhood friend So-ju (Seo-hyun, Girls’ Generation) comes to his house. She has become a passionate police officer, but she also lost her father to Chairman Hong and is searching for clues to the case.
I remember that the main character, Dolmok, wore a black mask instead of a mask like the Japanese ones when he was acting as “Phantom Thief J”.
I once saw an old photo of Japan (probably from the Taisho era) where some old people were watching a baseball game and they were wearing black masks to keep warm. But until recently, I had never seen black masks in Japan.
1. The origins of the black mask trend
Black masks first became popular in Japan about four years ago when a female fan saw Yuta Tamamori of Johnny’s Kis-My-Ft2 wearing a black mask in private, and the trend spread.
However, it seems that it originally started when Korean “K-pop idols” started wearing black masks in “airport photos” or “photos of them on their way to work at a TV station.” Now, black masks seem to be mainstream in Korea. Idols wear masks to protect their throats and hide their faces, but why “black” masks?
2. Advantages of wearing a black mask
In Korea, where wearing a mask is seen as something to do with people coming back from plastic surgery and where wearing masks on a daily basis was not a common practice, the black color is what made them seem fashionable. This may be due to the fact that Korea, like China, has severe air pollution caused by PM2.5.
Black masks have the following advantages:
(1) They look more “stylish” and “fashionable” than white masks.
White masks are associated with hospitals, pharmacies, colds, and hay fever, but black masks can dispel these associations and have the effect of making your face look smaller. They can also be used as a fashion item and do not interfere with your outfit. For women, they have the advantage of not standing out even when wearing no makeup.
(2) It uses bamboo charcoal, so it has deodorizing, odor elimination, absorption, and antibacterial properties.
(3) Dirt is not noticeable.
(4) It has UV protection.
(5) It is conspicuous and has a dark aura, so people like door-to-door salesmen won’t approach you.
3. Future trends in black masks
In addition to Korean tourists visiting Japan, there are signs of black masks becoming popular among the younger generation in Japan. However, they are not seen much in Osaka at the moment.
Black masks also have images of being “suspicious,” “bad,” “masked,” “creepy,” “scary,” “uncool,” and “old-fashioned,” so I’m not sure if they will take root in Japan.
