The eruption of Mt. Aso on the 20th of this month and the shaking with a seismic intensity of 5 or higher that struck the metropolitan area on the 6th of this month.
Recently, there have been a series of urgent press conferences held by the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Of course, the content was of course, but I think there were many people who also paid attention to the mouth.
A slightly mysterious mask with a transparent area around the mouth.
"The mask was novel."
"It looks like you
're
wearing snorkel goggles in your mouth."
There were various voices on Twitter.
Why wear this mask?
I covered the background.
The trigger was last year's heavy rain disaster, a press conference with a non-woven mask
The decision was made by Taiki Yamamoto, a press coordinator of the Japan Meteorological Agency's Public Relations Office, who is in charge of managing the press conference.
The trigger was a press conference last year during the heavy rain disaster that struck Kyushu.
At that time, the infection of the new coronavirus was spreading, so the person in charge wore a non-woven mask and called for caution against heavy rain.
A sign language interpreter is also present at these conferences.
However, after the press conference, the Japan Meteorological Agency received the following requests from people with hearing impairments.
"I want you to remove the mask."
"You can read the information by the movement of your lips."
"It is meaningless if you do not receive useful information."
"I want to devise ways to convey information as much as possible."
However, Mr. Yamamoto thought that it would be difficult to hold a press conference without a mask as the infection spreads.
We also considered installing a transparent acrylic plate on the face shield and the stage, but abandoned it because many press conferences gathered and the possibility of splashes spreading at the press conference, which could take a long time, could not be wiped out.
Meanwhile, I learned that there is a mask with a transparent mouth on the Internet and decided to introduce it last month.
Mr. Yamamoto said, "It is better to have as few urgent press conferences as possible using such masks, but I would like to continue to keep in mind so that I can devise ways to convey information as much as possible when there is."
Sales company "Email from a hearing-impaired employee"
When I asked the person in charge of the company that sells this mask, it was said that the reason for the development was a single email from a hearing-impaired employee to the president.
The employee was worried that his work would not proceed as he expected because he could not understand the words by reading the other person's mouth while the surroundings began to wear masks due to the corona.
When I consulted with my mother, she handmade a mask that allows me to see her mouth, so I heard that she was handing it out to colleagues at work.
When I told the president directly about these efforts by e-mail, I was instructed to develop a mask that can see the mouth, so I started the first sale in April and have already sold it 6 times, but at the earliest, only a few It means that it will be sold out in time.
Other people who need a mask with a visible mouth ...
Some college students, like this employee, need a mask that allows them to see their mouth and are working to popularize it.
Ayaka Kawabata, who is studying at Waseda University, is deaf by nature.
It is said that you are attending lectures while utilizing computer interpreters and sign language interpreters by student volunteers, but it is also important to understand the other person's story from the shape and facial expression of the person who is speaking. ..
However, the fact that he began to wear masks due to Corona's illness made it difficult to communicate by oralism.
The number of face-to-face lectures has increased since this spring, but he said he was worried that he couldn't keep up with the class because he couldn't understand what the teacher was saying when he was wearing a mask.
At that time, Mr. Kawabata was told by a friend about the existence of a transparent mask that allows you to see the shape of your mouth.
He said he had hope, saying, "I can share the same space and time with everyone and work hard at studying."
I want to deliver masks to students with deafness and hearing loss who have the same problems as me
In addition, Mr. Kawabata launched a project called "Transparent Mask Utilization Daisakusen" in late August, hoping that masks would reach not only himself but also his fellow students with deafness and hearing loss.
This initiative is to raise funds through crowdfunding, purchase masks with transparent mouths, and distribute them to deaf and hearing-impaired students nationwide.
In just one month, more than 2 million yen, which is more than double the target, has been collected, and now we are distributing masks to students who need them through supporting NPOs.
Mr. Kawabata said, "I am grateful to the people who supported me. It warms my heart when I can see the other person's smile with a mask that allows me to see my face. I would be happy if you could know that there are people to communicate with. "