Japan’s hay fever (kafunsho) season is at its very worst this week, leaving chemists rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of thousands of red-eyed Tokoites buying-up face masks, anti-histamines and all kinds of herbal remedies to unclog those tubes. To be quite honest I had no idea hay fever struck so early in Japan – growing up, I thought it was strictly a summer thing that afflicted the weedy kids. Evidently I was wrong.Apparently it’s all down to cedar and cypress trees, of which Japan has millions. Most were planted in the aftermath of World War II to supply the nation with timber, and while the national timber industry had waned, the trees – and their pollen – gained strength.
For those hay fever suffers looking for a relief from the misery, the Japan Times has a handy article on how to deal with it the natural way, here.
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