Tweet of the Week #105: Japanese Company Creates Business-card Face Mask

Several months after the pandemic, surgical face masks have become part of our everyday lives. Whether we like it or not, stepping outside without a mask is not only dangerous but socially irresponsible, too (unless you’re lucky and living in the middle of nowhere). 

So, instead of fighting it, why not adopt what has become 2020’s hottest fashion accessory.

Masks become fashionable, but there’s a catch

Earlier this year, masks were scarce in most countries. Even if you could find one, they were limited to basic white or blue. Now, we have all kinds of styles to choose from, and some are way more expensive than others. Whether it’s a cool home-made design from Etsy or something simple from a 30-piece value pack, masks are now an excellent tool for expressing ourselves.

However, the fashion industry has been tiptoeing around how to treat face masks. Will embracing masks beyond medical necessity stick? Burberry, the first big-fashion house to launch its masks collection, seems to think so.

Unfortunately, due to masks becoming vogue, there could be an awkward downside. We’re slowly becoming unable to recognize each other due to something called “face blindness.” Oops!

Even in Japan, where masks were a cultural norm even before the coronavirus, people have growing concerns about remembering faces and being remembered.

The Japanese ‘business-card mask’

The face blindness scare inspired 101-year-old Japanese printing company Nagaya to develop a possible solution: the business-card mask.

In Japan, business cards are so culturally significant that they’re considered an extension of the individual. 

The first thing you do when meeting a new person is to typically exchange business cards. But does printing your contact details on your face mask really help?

【絶対覚えられる】顔がわかりにくい問題を解決「名刺マスク」登場https://t.co/PZYAPymfOV

3層構造のマスクに特殊プリンターを使って名前や肩書などを印刷。1枚から購入できて、価格は送料・税込みで1500円です。 pic.twitter.com/Ir9MbCJNLt

— ライブドアニュース (@livedoornews) November 8, 2020

【絶対（ぜったい）覚（おぼ）えられる】顔（かお）がわかりにくい問題（もんだい）を解決（かいけつ）「名刺（めいし）マスク」登場（とうじょう）

https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/19191638/…

3層構造（さんそうこうぞう）のマスクに特殊（とくしゅ）プリンターを使（つか）って名前や肩書（かたがき）などを印刷（いんさつ）。1枚（いちまい）から購入（こうにゅう）できて、価格（かかく）は送料（そうりょう）・税込（ぜいこ）みで1500円（せんごひゃくえん）です。

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“[Absolutely memorable] Business-card masks now available to solve face blindness. Print names and titles on a three-layer mask using a special printer. You can purchase as few as one, and the price is ¥1500, including shipping and tax.”

Beyond the business-card design, the clever printing company, seeing some more potential deals, also offers sales and customer service masks with a companies’ logo, slogan or any other information the buyer deems relevant.

How to use zettai in Japanese

Although seen very early in Japanese studies, 絶対, or zettai, is a strong word that can be an adverb (e.g., absolutely, unconditionally) coupled with the particle に. However, it’s sometimes used with a noun (e.g., absoluteness) or even an adjective (e.g., absolute, unconditional). In which case you’ll see 絶対 in a compound adjective such as 絶対的 (zettai teki).

絶対に負（ま）けません = I absolutely won’t lose!

この世（よ）に絶対は無（な）い = In this world there’s no absoluteness

絶対的な信頼（しんらい）を得（え）る = Gain absolute trust

Vocabulary

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