"Be a Ninja: Cough etiquette is ninja knowledge"

Image from https://www.hanshin.co.jp/company/press/pdf/20210218-kyodo-2.pdf

This poster, as seen at train stations and inside trains, is from a current joint manner campaign by 19 railway companies in the Kansai area. The poster has the theme of "Consideration for the surroundings of coughing and sneezing." Good timing as cases in Osaka are again on the rise.

What else is written on the poster?

"How to cover your mouth"

"Prevention of spread of new coronavirus infection"

"Cooperate in wearing a mask in the car"

List of the 19 participating railway companies

Press release about the campaign (in Japanese): https://www.hanshin.co.jp/company/press/pdf/20210218-kyodo-2.pdf

The cute little ninja looks kinda sick under his mask if you ask me... When can we expect vaccines?

"Kyoto slammed for manga telling people not to talk at restaurants" - SAVE THE WORLD! LEARN SIGN LANGUAGE!

Image and text from Japan Today, 2/21/21.

Ever since the pandemic began, Japan has been targeting restaurants as one of the primary risk spots for infection, with the main reason being that people inevitably have to remove their masks to eat.

And while some local governments have been asking restaurants to close their doors early at 8 p.m., to prevent diners from overdoing it on booze which tends to lead to loud talking without masks, the coronavirus doesn’t just come out at night, so people are now being asked to practice mokushoku, or “silent eating”, no matter what time they eat out at a restaurant.

While this seems to make sense, seeing as COVID-19 is an airborne virus, some people have been pushing back against the idea, even in Kyoto, where the city has now introduced a four-panel manga to help promote silent eating.

1. In the first panel, a character called Isamu enters a ramen restaurant and notices it’s quiet inside, even though a family is eating there. On the wall beside them is a blue poster, with mokushoku written on it in kanji, which asks people to eat in silence. These blue posters are being used a lot these days in restaurants and they’ve been widely shared on social media.

2. While Isamu waits for his order to arrive, he sees the family communicating to each other via smiles and hand gestures to express their thoughts on how good the meal is. Two of them give each other the thumbs-up sign while the other family member puts their hands above their head to form a maru circle, a gesture used to mean “good” in Japan. Isamu thinks to himself, “So this must be silent eating. This is great!”

3. When Isamu eats his ramen, he follows the example shown to him by the family, giving the staff a thumbs up while thinking “It’s delicious!” The staff smile in return and he feels that the meal enjoyed silently is really tasty.

4. Isamu sees the family leave the restaurant and it’s only then, when they’re outside with their masks covering their faces that they talk to each other, saying that the meal was delicious and they’d like to come back again. This last panel encourages everyone to “Do what you can when you can, bit by bit”.

The panel makes things pretty straightforward, laying out step-by-step alternatives to speaking for anyone confused by what mokushoku means, and Kyoto is keen for everyone to follow these guidelines when dining out.

However, what sounds good in theory might not be so great in practice, as a surprisingly large number of people were quick to criticize the idea online...

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/national/kyoto-slammed-for-manga-telling-people-not-to-talk-at-restaurants

Anthropology News: "Sign Languages as Disaster Entertainment"

Sign Languages as Disaster Entertainment

by Lynn Hou and Octavian Robinson
June 19, 2020

Sign language interpreters have become social media celebrities of our coronavirus moment. But signing is not a form of light entertainment; it should be lifesaving information.

Some gems from the article:

Read the whole article: https://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2020/06/19/sign-languages-as-disaster-entertainment/

Cite as: Hou, Lynn, and Octavian Robinson. 2020. “Sign Languages as Disaster Entertainment.” Anthropology News website, June 19, 2020. DOI: 10.1111/AN.1444