外刊听读| 经济学人 日本人戴口罩上瘾
Covid19’s aftermath
新冠后遗症
Cover story
口罩的故事
Why get a face lift when you can get a face mask?
既然可以带口罩，为什么还要整容？
1 ZAWACHIN, A JAPANESE celebrity, has long been known for her stylish face masks. When she started her career a decade ago, wearing masks helped draw attention to her lavishly made-up eyes. With time, masks became part of her brand, and she carved out a niche as a “mask influencer”. The pandemic brought her passion to the masses. Now she not only promotes new masks, she also advises those suffering from “mask addiction” on how to take them off.
ZAWACHIN，一位日本名人，长期以来以她的时尚面膜而闻名。十年前，当她开始她的职业生涯时，戴口罩有助于吸引人们对她豪华眼妆的注意。随着时间的推移，口罩成为她品牌的一部分，她作为 "口罩网红"做出了一份称心的事业。新冠疫情把她的热情带到了大众面前。现在，她不仅推广新的口罩，还向那些患有 "口罩瘾 "的人建议如何摘下口罩。
2 Even before covid-19 arrived, mask use was common in Japan. Many wore them as a barrier against pollen during hay-fever season or to protect others when sniffly. During the pandemic, the practice became pervasive, though the government has never enforced a mask mandate. It looks set to continue. A recent survey showed that half of Japanese would like to keep wearing masks as much as possible, regardless of medical advice or rules.
甚至在covid-19到来之前，口罩的使用在日本就很普遍。许多人在花粉病流行季节戴上口罩，作为抵御花粉的屏障，或者在感冒时保护他人。在疫情期间，戴口罩变得很普遍，尽管政府从来没有强制要求。这种行为看起来会继续下去。最近的一项调查显示，一半的日本人希望尽可能多地戴口罩，无论医疗建议或规则如何变化。
3 Some reckon the attachment to masks is a function of social conformity. Since mask-wearing has become common practice, no one wants to be the one to buck the trend. “In Western countries if there’s coercion, people feel their freedom is invaded, but in Japan people feel it is fair if everyone is doing it,” says Yonaha Jun, a cultural critic.
一些人认为，对口罩的依恋是社会从众性的一种表现。由于戴口罩已经成为普遍做法，没有人愿意成为逆潮流而动的人。"文化评论家Yonaha Jun说："在西方国家，如果有胁迫行为，人们会觉得他们的自由受到侵犯，但在日本，如果每个人都这样做，人们会觉得很公平。
4 Japanese communicative culture may place a greater emphasis on the eyes than the mouth. Consider emoticons (or their newer avatar, emoji), says Yamaguchi Masami of Chuo University: in the West, the shape of the mouth changes the expression, such as :-P or :-D. In Japan, the eyes do: (><) or ^^. Ms Yamaguchi, who has conducted studies on how facial expressions are perceived, reckons that people in East Asia tend to spend relatively more time looking at the eyes of a speaker, while Westerners focus more on the mouth. Masks, she argues, are thus less of an impediment to socialising.
日本的交际文化可能更强调眼睛而不是嘴巴。中央大学的山口正美(Yamaguchi Masami)说，考虑到表情符号（或其新的化身--emoji）：在西方，嘴巴的形状会改变表情，如:-P或:-D。在日本，眼睛发挥了改变表情的作用，如：（><）或^^。山口女士对人们如何看待面部表情进行了研究，她认为东亚人往往花相对较多的时间看说话人的眼睛，而西方人则更关注嘴巴。她认为，因此，口罩对社交的阻碍较小。
5 Moreover, young people have discovered that masks can be useful for covering up unflattering features, blemished skin or crooked teeth. Men can get away without shaving, and women without putting on make-up. Some young women believe masks make their eyes seem larger and prettier.
此外，年轻人还发现，口罩可以用来掩盖不好看的面部特征、有瑕疵的皮肤或歪斜的牙齿。男人可以不刮胡子，而女人可以不化妆。一些年轻女性认为口罩使她们的眼睛看起来更大、更漂亮。
6 A new lexicon has emerged. Some call masks “kao pantsu”, or “face underwear”, reflecting how essential they have become. Among adults, a “masuku bijin”, or “mask beauty” is someone who looks beautiful in a mask; a “masuku sagi”, or “mask fraud”, is someone who looks good with one on, but less so with it off. Fear of being deemed a mask fraud is another reason to keep the things on.
新的词汇已经出现。有些人称口罩为 "花王内裤"，或"脸部内衣"，反映出口罩已变得十分重要。在成年人中，"masuku bijin"或 "口罩美女"是指戴着口罩看起来很美的人；"masuku sagi "或 "口罩骗子"是指戴着口罩看起来很美，但摘下口罩后就不那么美的人。害怕被认为是口罩骗子是保持戴着口罩的另一个原因。
7 Zawachin’s advice is to take it slowly. “It takes a lot of courage to take it off all at once,” she says. Try spending a few days with the mask below your nose, then shift to wearing it below your lips, and finally below your chin. Eventually, she suggests, it will start to feel normal to live without a mask.
Zawachin的建议是慢慢来。“她说：”一下子把口罩摘下来需要很大的勇气。试着花几天时间把口罩戴在鼻子下面，然后转成戴在嘴唇下面，最后戴在下巴下面。她建议，最终，不戴口罩的生活会开始让人感觉正常。
