So finally the government’s mask recommendations in Japan has changed. To put it simply, when there before was a please-wear-a-mask-everywhere-policy, there is now a please-where-a-mask-at-your-own-discretion-policy. Together with many others I have not yet fully embraced the new “freedom” of not having to wear a mask everywhere, but still there has been a visible shift in …
So one more pandemic year has past. Never could I have imagined three years ago that we would still be in a pandemic with alcogel everywhere and people’s faces behind masks. I sometimes feel like society has changed for good and I am wondering if there ever will come a time when there is not …
Sometimes it is difficult to like crowds of people. I really try, I do, but sometimes it is just not possible, especially when you are tired after an almost 40-hour-journey with a two-year-old who did not let you sleep, and you arrive at an airport where social distancing is unheard of and the sport seems …
Now it is two years since the first case of the new corona virus was detected in Japan; never had I believed two years ago that we would again find ourselves in a situation where the case count is going up and up, where the vaccines are not effective enough and the news is filed …
Sakura season is here. The cherry blossoms are celebrating life just as the state of emergency for the Tokyo area came to an end this week; I sense the hope in people as they gather in groups, anticipating the arrival of summer. In many ways it feels like previous years. Except for the masks; trying …
A year ago, the first case of corona virus was reported in Japan. Looking back, it feels difficult to comprehend that it has been a whole year. I so clearly remember the first months when the corona cases started to appear in Tokyo, how fearful I felt stepping outside, how everyone seemed to be panicking, …
With a four months old baby and all the joys and challenges he brings maybe I should be too busy to miss anything, but this week I have been overcome with nostalgic feelings from the time before the face of the world changed. Maybe it is tiredness, maybe it is that autumn is coming, maybe …
So spring is here. Last week I felt like I had been punched, all of my body seemed to have allergic reactions – spring has already come. After a few days of antihistamines I started to feel like myself again, and now I have one more reason to wear a mask, masks that sometimes are …
The last few days the winds have been strong and cold. It feels a bit like winter has finally come, although no snow, just clear skies and chilling winds. I worry about my wife’s stomach – her favourite coat is now too small and she cannot button it. I insist she wears a thick scarf, …
Coming from Sweden with no history of mask-wearing except for doctors and dentists, it takes time to get used to all people wearing masks in Japan. In stores, on trains, on the streets – especially in winter there are many many white masks walking around. The reasons, as I understand them, are to not infect …