TOKYO — As COVID-19 spreads in Japan with rising number of confirmed cases, overseas Chinese in Japan continued their support for the country's fight against the epidemic by distributing masks amid a shortage of protective supplies.

Mask Panda Action, a volunteer group initiated by overseas Chinese after the outbreak in Japan, is one of the examples in Tokyo. The group handed out masks to the Japanese at Tokyo's Ikebukuro station in late February.

The volunteers stuck slogans in Japanese on their jackets, reading "Thank you," "Be strong, Japan," "China and Japan in joint efforts," and so on.

"We are glad to give our remaining stocks of masks to help some Japanese people who are in dire need but cannot obtain masks … We stand by the Japanese people without hesitation … We will continue distributing masks as long as we still have stocks," the group said in its poster.

In Nagoya, Chinese volunteer groups also started actions to help the local people. Deng, one of the volunteers, went to great lengths to collect 5,000 masks with her group and handed them all out near Nagoya station in late February.

Many Japanese were very touched when they received the masks. One of them, who was on a business trip in Nagoya from Tokyo, expressed his gratitude to the volunteers, saying that he was troubled as masks were almost out of stock in Tokyo.

"The Chinese repay kindness. China and Japan should face the difficulty together and help each other. I hope we will overcome the epidemic as soon as possible," Deng said.

Some overseas Chinese acted on their own to help the Japanese and show support.

A Chinese girl, who held a cardboard box with the Japanese words "Gratitude from Wuhan" on it and distributed masks on the street of Tokyo, has recently received great attention on social media.

"I hope that by handing out the masks, I can call attention to the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak and draw the attention of the international community to the situation in Japan," the girl named Tiantian told Xinhua.

Tiantian said she was touched when some Japanese, taking the masks, said "Thank you" or "Be strong" to her in Chinese.

"I was wearing a headgear and couldn't see very well, but in my limited view, I saw smiling faces," she said.

Yang, mother of a Chinese student studying in Japan, has recently donated 5,000 masks to Japanese institutions. "I feel that as a Chinese citizen, I should return a debt of gratitude to the Japanese people for helping us when we were in the most difficult situation in Wuhan," Yang said.

"I sincerely hope that the friendship between the two peoples established during the course of fighting against the epidemic will continue in the future," she said.