In September, the story of a male passenger who boarded a flight from Kushiro airport in Hokkaido to Kansai airport without wearing a mask made the news. A cabin attendant asked the man to put a mask on, but the man refused stating that it was not compulsory to wear one. In Japan, people are asked to exercise self-restraint, but are not obligated to wear a mask. Because of this, there are no penalties for failing to do so. However, in consideration of others, Japanese people generally wear a mask in public places. Therefore, the attitude of this male passenger made many people uncomfortable. Worried about the uneasiness of the other passengers, the cabin attendant asked that the man move to another vacant seat, but he refused. As nothing else could be done, the passengers around him were moved to other seats, but the man, dissatisfied with the cabin attendant’s actions, continued to argue. After taking off, the man asked to be shown a written document stating that the wearing of a mask was compulsory, whereupon the cabin attendant handed him a written warning from the captain that stated that his attitude was disruptive. Then the plane made an emergency landing at Niigata airport. A policeman got onboard and the man disembarked. The plane arrived at Kansai airport more than two hours late, a delay that was partly due to fog. The underlying cause of this commotion is the fact that the Japanese have a strong urge to consider the needs of others before the rights of the individual. On the other hand, there are so called “Virus Vigilantes” going around towns telling people off for not wearing a mask, which some people see as going too far.