...of doing YouTube which is: "why do Japanese people wear masks?"

也就是「為什麼日本人常常戴口罩 ? 」

This is probably like my third most frequently asked question after like,

這在我最常被問到的問題裡名列第三，緊接在

"Why did you learn Japanese?", "How did you get to Japan?", "What's your job in Japan?", etc.

「 妳為什麼學日文 ? 」、「 妳怎麼來到日本的 ? 」、「 妳在日本做什麼工作 ? 」 等等

Why do Japanese people wear masks?

為什麼日本人戴口罩呢 ?

Now, there are actually a bunch of reasons.

這其實有幾個原因

Right now it is spring in Japan,

現在日本是春季，

although you can't really tell because it's been like snowing.

雖然你可能看不出來，因為最近下了一陣子的雪

Snow and cherry blossoms.

下雪又有櫻花

And a lot of people here suffer from hay fever.

這裡有很多人都深受花粉症所苦

So in Spring, that is a big reason. You'll see people wearing masks, that's because a lot of Japanese people suffer from hay fever.

所以在春季，這是一個很重要的理由。你會看到人們戴著口罩，因為很多日本人深受花粉症所苦

Like, really bad.

嗯，是真的很嚴重

Like, in my friends there are a lot of people who suffer from hay fever.

我的朋友裡有很多人也因為花粉症而困擾

Reason number two is reportedly the original reason people wore masks, and that's to do with sickness.

第二個理由據說是人們一開始戴口罩的原因，跟生病有關

So if you are sick, you wear a mask.

如果你生病了，你會戴口罩

It's kind of a way of protecting the people around you from catching the sickness.

這是一種保護你身邊的人不被傳染的方式

Now, I mean there's argument as to how effective this is, but it is kind of a common courtesy

這樣做的效益還有些爭議性，但已經是一種基本禮貌了

because people who are sick do tend to go into work, even though they're sick in Japan.

因為在日本，即使生病了，人們通常還是傾向去上班

I mean, it's kind of like you just go in until you're told to go home because you're too sick to be there.

這有點像你只是進公司待到因為病得太重不能工作而被叫回家休息

But that is how it tends to be done here.

但這就是日本人的做法

So that is another main reason.

這是一個主要的理由

Another one connected to this is people will wear masks to prevent getting sick.

另一個跟這相關的理由是日本人會戴口罩來預防被傳染疾病

So prevention, uh, particularly on trains, airplanes shinkansen, the bullet trains, and places like that, people will wear masks to protect them from germs.

所以預防被傳染，尤其是在火車、飛機、新幹線、子彈列車跟其它類似的大眾運輸工具上，日本人會戴口以防感染病菌

Whether or not it's effective, it is a main reason people do wear masks here.

無論有效與否，這是日本人戴口罩的主要原因

And if you can imagine a very crowded Tokyo train and just all those germs flying around, it's enough to make anyone a little bit germphobic.

想像你在東京一輛超擁擠的列車上，身邊有各式病菌環繞，這足以讓任何人有病菌恐懼症

But there are other reasons for wearing masks, too.

然而還有很多戴口罩的理由

One of them is disguise.

其中一個是偽裝

Probably this isn't something you guys will need to do but it is one of the reasons people wear masks, which is just a little extra disguised, particularly if they are celebrities.

這可能不是一般人需要做的事，但這是日本人戴口罩的理由之一，這是一種偽裝的方式，尤其當你是名人的時候

And another reason is if you are not wearing makeup, it covers pretty much most of your face.

另一個理由是假如你沒化妝，口罩可以遮住你大部分的臉

So if you're not wearing makeup, it's kind of like a lazy day method of covering your face with something else.

所以如果你沒化妝，這有點像是把你的臉遮住的一種懶人模式

When you have a breakout, acne, spots — I just scratched myself, whoops.

如果你有痘痘爆開、粉刺、斑點問題 - 我剛剛刮到自己，哎喲

Um, just you can put on your mask and cover them up.

你可以戴上口罩把它們全部遮起來

And I'm not going to lie, I've done that before.

我不會說謊，我也曾這樣做

Another reason that has definitely been debated about online is social anxiety.

另一個在網路上引起爭議的理由則是社交焦慮症

Like maybe you don't want people to approach you or talk to you.

或許你不想要有人接近你或是跟你講話

Or maybe you're just not feeling confident so you can cover up your face and feel a little bit more secure.

也或者你就是沒自信，所以把臉遮起來好覺得有安全感一點

And I can definitely see how this would work being shy myself.

身為一個害羞的人，我完全瞭這麼做的用處

And another reason I found while researching this video was warmth.

我在做這支影片時找到的另一個理由是保暖

People wear it for warmth.

日本人戴口罩來保暖

And I thought about that and I was like, "Really?"

我想了想後覺得「真的嗎 ? 」

But then I thought about how cold it gets in Winter and I can totally understand especially when you're walking outside.

但當我想到日本的冬天可以變得多冷，尤其是在外面走的時候，我就完全懂了

It's very cold, dry air outside.

外面的空氣很冷又乾燥

So warmth is another reason.

保暖是另一個理由

I hope that answered the question for you.

我希望這有解開你們的疑惑

Why do Japanese people wear masks?

為什麼日本人常常戴口罩 ?

Recently masks are even becoming more and more of a fashion accessory.

近期口罩甚至變得越來越像一種時尚配件

You can buy black masks.

你可以買黑色的口罩

They're quite popular in Harajuku in the moment.

目前它們在原宿這裡蠻受歡迎的

You can buy, uh, like funny masks with little pictures on them.

你可以買有一些小圖案在上面的有趣口罩

And you can buy kind of pastel-colored masks.

也可以買粉嫩顏色的口罩

And you can get masks that have a little aroma infusion in them.

你也可以買有香氛的口罩

I actually really like those.

我其實蠻喜歡這種的

So if you're in Japan, I challenge you to try out a mask and see how it goes.

如果你人在日本，挑戰一下戴口罩然後看會發生什麼事