Forget the cherry blossoms, springtime in Japan means gearing up for allergy season

As many as one in four of the nation’s 127 million residents experiences sneezing, wheezing and itchy eyes every year when the season hits

Japan’s longer than usual pollen season this year, has seen companies rush to market new products they claim will keep irritants at bay – a US$2.6 billion market

2-MIN READ2-MIN

An employee of Japan’s novelty electronics shop Thanko wears a battery powered pollen protection hood or “kafun blocker” in Tokyo. Spring in Japan is beautiful, but it also heralds a mass outbreak of face masks and speciality goggles intended to fend off clouds of pollen that make noses stream and eyes itch. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:37pm, 18 Mar 2019Updated: 5:37pm, 18 Mar 2019

In Japan, masks, nasal sprays, eye drops and over-the-counter medicines are being snapped up by the millions of people who suffer from kafunsho, or allergies brought on by pollen – with this year’s springtime epidemic the worst in at least six years.

As many as one in four of the nation’s 127 million residents experiences sneezing, wheezing and itchy eyes every year, with the peak period of allergies taking place between late February and mid-March for pollen from cedar trees, and again from late March to mid-April for cypress trees.

“As a child, I never used to get allergies but it has steadily got worse in the last few years,” said Kanako Hosomura from Yokohama.

“I’ve been to the doctor and she said that a lot of people are having the same problem this year. I have medicine for my son and my husband, but he has had it really bad.

“I saw some special glasses in a shop at the weekend and they are more like swimming goggles to stop the pollen getting in your eyes. I said he should get them but he just said they would look silly. But he’s still complaining about his eyes itching.”

Tokyo-based Weathernews cautioned as early as January that levels of pollen in the atmosphere across Japan would be higher than usual this spring as a result of the relatively warm and dry winter months.