On April 7, 2020, Japan’s government declared a State of Emergency for 7 prefectures to curb the spread of COVID-19. A little more than a week later, on April 16, Prime Minister Abe expanded the declaration to include all of Japan.

Amidst the government’s request for all citizens for self-discipline and restraint from nonessential and nonurgent outings, some schools have started their spring term.

Although some parents may fear their children will act as carriers and infections will spread further, others may think it’s more detrimental to delay their education any longer.

But what about the students themselves? How are they responding to being sent back to school during the coronavirus pandemic?

Dressing for the Occasion

Race driver Sōichirō Yoshida (@soichiro_r) shared his little brother’s comprehensive return-to-school preparations on Twitter.

Decked out in a full body suit, gloves, respirator, and goggles, the Yoshida brother looks like he’s about to board the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Sōichirō posted these pictures the next day.

He says:

Sōichirō apparently got a lot of questions about where his brother bought all that equipment. He said his brother bought the whole get-up at his local home center store for about 8,000 yen.

His friends certainly must have gotten a kick out of seeing him dressed up like that all day at school.

At the same time, it could serve as a reminder to everyone that we’re still in the middle of a pandemic.

Voices from the Net

Some commented that perhaps students should seriously be dressed like this in light of the current situation.

As we all know, many people are infected and show no or only slight symptoms, increasing the risk of infecting others around them. As there is no vaccine or real treatment currently available, we really should consider what we’re doing to keep ourselves and those around us safe.

Thanks to Sōichirō, we can have a bit of a laugh, but also think more deeply about this time of crisis.