The Japanese government’s uninspired response to the coronavirus — announcing, belatedly, a state of emergency, but carrying out few tests — may well prove the end of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s long term.
One of the most maligned and mocked initiatives has been Abe’s offer to send each household in the country two face masks.
This has been criticized as an “epic fail” due to the ineffectiveness of just two masks, delayed distribution, quality of the masks, and their cost.
But by far the most novel critique and, simultaneously, striking utilization of the masks has come from idol Amo Shiratama (白玉あも).
The Hokkaido-born Gothic Lolita in her late thirties, who describes herself as a “menhera idol” (idol with mental health issues), recently posed for a selfie in which she used one of the masks as a pair of panties. She shared the selfie on Twitter with a hashtag literally meaning “Abe’s mask challenge.”
In her tweet, she joked that the mask was big so she tried putting it on (the masks have actually been criticized for their small size).
The results are sexy yet silly, and promptly set the internet on fire. Lord knows, we need this kind of distraction right now.
