DM Monitoring
TOKYO: A Japanese law professor on Monday sued the government for withholding information on the unit price of washable cloth masks distributed for free to all households in Japan and the procedures under which they were ordered during the coronavirus pandemic ealier this year.
Hiroshi Kamiwaki of Kobe Gakuin University, in the suit, claimed the government redacting information on the masks’ costs, impeding on necessary debate on the government’s decision-making regarding the purchase and mass-distribution of the masks.
The reusable cloth masks, two of which were provided to each household in Japan from April to June during a shortage of disposable masks available for purchase, proved hugely unpopular with the public due to the perceived expense involved and the masks’ ineffectiveness.
Nicknamed “Abenomasks”, a play on words on Abe’s “Abenomics” economic policy mix, the plan to provide each household with the two masks each was spearheaded by then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a bid to help combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The masks, however, arrived late to many households, with numerous complaints made about the quality of the masks and their inability in some cases to cover both noses and mouths of some people, due to their single, small size.
A total of 120 million of the washable masks were eventually delivered during the pandemic at an estimated cost to the taxpayers of 26 billion yen (246.54 million U.S. dollars). Kamiwaki said that from documents the government did supply that were not redacted, the unit price of the masks came to 143 yen (1.36 U.S. dollars) including tax.
