Tokyo pop-up mask store lures shoppers with festive face coverings

TOKYO (Reuters) - As a new wave of coronavirus infections sweeps Tokyo, a pop-up store near Japan's capital is luring Christmas shoppers with 250 types of face mask, including festive versions with decorative lights.

Tokyo Mask Land, which opened Tuesday for a month in an office building in Yokohama, also has a mask bar and is offering mask-making workshops to draw visitors.

People often wore face mask in Japan before the pandemic, particularly during the winter flu season and in Spring when cedar and cypress pollen triggers hay fever.

Although no law mandates wearing them, it is unusual to see someone without a mask in Tokyo, even outside.

The store also plans an exhibit on the history of face coverings and a photo booth featuring Christmas trees and a mannequin dressed up as Santa Claus.

"I don't think you would come up with an idea like this if there had been no coronavirus outbreak," 23-year-old Ryota Nabetani, who was shopping for masks with his mother, said of the photo spot.

Although it has had far fewer cases than in the United States and Europe, a recent surge in coronavirus infections prompted authorities in Tokyo last week to request bars and restaurants to shorten opening hours.

Japan's capital on Tuesday reported 372 new cases, the seventh straight day above 300, according to public broadcaster NHK.

A spokesman for the store said it had implemented measures to ensure that visitors didn't catch the coronavirus while shopping for masks.

(Reporting by Hideto Sakai; writing by Tim Kelly; Editing by Mike Collett-White)