Today, there’s no more debate about the value of the use of facial masks to protect yourself (and others) against the COVID-19 virus. Even before the current pandemic, a lot of Japanese people use to wear a mask, specially in public transport, when they feel sick.
As you probably know, the state of emergency in Japan has recently been lifted and people are starting to go out more and more as the number of new cases hit record low levels.
One of the remaining challenge people face went they go out for dinner is to keep wearing a mask when they eat or drink. Some just put off the mask when they are seated. Others keep the mask all night long and put it on and off when they eat or drink.
To make the life of people easier, the famous luxury hotel chain Hoshinoya came up with a new concept: the lantern dinners!
As you can see, they equipped their dinning rooms with lantern-type partitions to isolate each individual. With this set up, people can see the face of each others as they don’t need to wear a mask anymore.
To make it even easier to see the face of the people at your table, they added a small light on top of the lantern. It’s also a great way to better see your food.
Hoshinoya said that they used lantern-shaped partition because they are already an important part of Japanese culture. People will feel familiar with the design of these new equipments as they will remind them Japanese traditions.
These lanterns were actually produced by Kojima Shoten in Kyoto, a lantern company founded during Edo period.
Read More: 10 Surprising Edo Period Facts
The lantern dinners are available from the 13th of October at Hoshinoya Tokyo Resort in Otemachi.
What do you think about this new concept? Is it a good idea or is it going too far? Let us know in the comments!
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