Mask appeal: The addiction of surgical masks in Japan

CORRECTS YEAR Japanese students wear facial masks as a precaution against swine flu while touring the Senso-ji temple area, one of tourists destinations in downtown Tokyo on Thursday May 21, 2009, a day after a 16-year-old girl in Tokyo was confirmed to have swine flu _ the first case in the Japanese capital. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, FOR COMMERCIAL USE ONLY IN NORTH AMERICA Local Caption Have mask will travel: Japanese students wearing masks as a precaution against H1N1 while touring the Senso-ji temple area, one of the tourists destinations in downtown Tokyo, yesterday. — AP

Wearing surgical masks is a social norm in Japan, but for some, it is turning into an addiction. 

SPRING has come – and with it, teary eyes and runny noses for those with hay fever, as pollen is released into the air with each gust of wind that comes with the change in seasons.