A Japanese mask costs 300 yuan. Why is the mask so expensive?

According to media reports, there has been a huge shortage of masks in Japan recently, and the prices have also skyrocketed. An ordinary box of medical masks (40 pieces) can even be sold for 200,000 yen (about 12,937 yuan), with an average price of 5,000 yen (about 323.5 yuan) per piece.

On February 21, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga responded to the shortage of masks at a regular press conference, saying that the government has decided to subsidize and increase mask production. The relevant departments have required domestic mask manufacturers in Japan to operate 24 hours a day to increase mask production capacity. In addition, imports from China will be gradually resumed. It is estimated that the weekly output of masks will exceed 100 million. The current supply has doubled compared with previous years.

However, with the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic and the peak incidence of the "national disease" hay fever, Japan's demand for masks has surged to 900 million per week, and the supply of masks in various locations is seriously insufficient. In front of many drugstores, people can be seen queuing up to buy masks early in the morning, and some customers even quarreled over the rush to buy masks.

According to CCTV News, as of 10:30 a.m. local time on the 2nd, there were a total of 962 people infected with the new coronavirus in Japan, including 243 infected people and Chinese tourists in Japan, 705 passengers and crew members of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, and 14 people who returned to Japan on a Japanese government charter flight.

Jack Ma sends Japan 1 million masks in return

The Jack Ma Foundation said it has donated 1 million masks to Japan to support Japan's fight against the epidemic. This batch of masks has been shipped from the Cainiao warehouse in Jiaxing, Zhejiang. After arriving in Japan, they will be handed over to the relevant departments in urgent need by Toshihiro Nikai, honorary chairman of the Japan Medical Internationalization Organization.

Written on the box are the words "We share the same mountains and winds and rains." Just 20 days ago, 125,000 sets of protective clothing urgently raised by various parts of Japan for China were sent to all parts of the country from the Jiaxing Cainiao warehouse.