[zzeeman]

I asked about the widespread use of masks the last time I was in Japan (late 1998) and my hosts told me that people that were sick (cold, flu, etc.) wore them to prevent the spread of their infection to others. That seemed to be the party line about it, however a couple of other guys told me on the side that a lot of people wore them for the opposite purpose, i.e., to prevent catching the germs from others. So I assume that it is probably a mix across both motivations.

[bgill]

Thanks for the info.