The hayfever season has arrived – do you have a mask?
February 12th, 2009 by James
The dreaded “kafunsho” (pollen allergy) season is beginning! Stores across Japan have put up displays of products aimed at protecting humans from exposure to cedar pollen.
Here is a clip from a Fuji TV news report about some of the newest anti-pollen products on sale at Tokyu Hands in Shibuya:
Just as in previous years, protective masks and safety glasses are the most popular items. Some of the masks and glasses have designs aimed at making them look stylish.
The reporter also tries a new product – “moe” chocolates containing an ingredient that supposedly helps people overcome hay fever. It’s a bit soft, but tastes pretty much the same as normal chocolate.
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That’s some pretty drastic measures…
I’m guessing that hay fever is worse in Japan than it is in America…
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I think you’ll find that the Japanese just make more of a fuss about it, while probably assuming that they’re the only people in the world who have to deal with pollen allergies.
For the next couple of months, people on trains will loudly snort, sniff, cough, splutter and sneeze over everyone and generally behave like dying swans (but without the dignity…)
I suffer from asthma and hay-fever yet I’m still startled every year by the fuss that’s made here in Japan.
Expect more emergency patients dying though lack of attention while clinics and hospitals are clogged with people who should instead be simply buying allergy remedies from their local pharmacies.
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an interesting nihonjn-ron
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It does seem more common than I remember it being in the States. It is also a different kind of pollen: cedar. When the trees really start letting loose I have seen everything covered in a fine, yellow powder. And that is in areas fairly far away from the trees themselves – the pollen really travels. While I saw an occasional pollen bloom in the States that would leave visible pollen on things really close to the source, I never saw anything like what happens here. If you are close enough to the mountains the trees are on (and you don’t have to be all that close, you can literally see clouds of pollen rolling down the sides of the mountains like some weird yellow fog.
Fortunately, while I get hayfever from ragweed, I don’t get it from cedar. Yet. The pollen sticks to the back of my throat and inside of my nose, but I don’t get an allergic reaction. Knock on wood, because you can become allergic to something if you are exposed to so much of it that your immune system goes nuts the next time you are exposed. And not just people – I’ve seen monkeys, deer, dogs and cats get hayfever here in Japan. It really can get brutal – and I just sail through drawing envious glances.
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is everyone is affected by this?
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I know it’s kind of strange. But I am very interested in this topic. Does anybody know any good websites where I can find masks from Japan with trendy designs and/or for other purposes such as pollution? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
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Why go to all that trouble with masks? – cut down the trees, turn them into hashi and cover the spaces left with concrete… everyone’s a winner!
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*cough* can’t breathe, need oxygen
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I just take the white ones and draw big, tooth-filled mouths on them with my children’s marker pens (a la 70’s goalie masks)
I always get my own seat on the bus that way – I guess no one wants to sit next to a sick gaijin
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kind of ironic, really; in a country where everyone is desperate to be the same as each other, everyone gets the same allergies as well. makes me wonder if it isn’t psychosomatic
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I feel bad for the Japanese people on this one. This is basically the fault of hideously poor planning on the part of the reforestation authorities. Good on them for being so aggressive in replanting what they cut down; but the problems caused by planting these fast-growing cedars are numerous: horrible hay fever, the total destruction of natural habitats of lots of animals (this is why you see bears attacking people a lot lately), soil erosion (leading to landslides), and so on and so forth. An example of good intentions botched in a magnificent manner.
(I’m not (yet) allergic to cedar pollen, thank God!)
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Spot on…..If that badly misguided project had not occurred, Japanese people would have a more balanced set of immune challenges through life and, much less of the serious (man-made) allergy issue we see now.
Cedar allergy, courtesy of the government bureaucrats. Maybe one more reason to vote against LDP?
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Don’t walk into a bank!
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I came down with hay fever allergies about 6 or 7 years ago when I still lived in the states. I was allergic to pine there but I have no idea what I am allergic to here in Tokyo. Could be cedar I guess but it feels just about the same as pine.
Honestly the whole wearing masks thing seems very silly to me. You can’t wear it 24/7, or at least I couldn’t. Besides they do actually sell Claritin here and that pretty much removes all of the symptoms of hay fever for me.
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Some people don’t like to use medicine. I for one only use it when my pollen allergy turns extreme for a few days. The rest of the time I just endure it and wear sunglasses a lot. It really helps.
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