Japanese companies offer pollen-allergic workers subsidised tropical trips in battle against hay fever

IT company Aisaac gives around US$1,300 to employees to temporarily relocate to areas of Japan where hay fever symptoms are less severe

More than 40 per cent of Japanese people suffer from hay fever that also negatively affects productivity

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A worker wears a battery-powered pollen protection hood in Tokyo. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:15pm, 5 Apr 2024

Some employers in Japan are offering “tropical escape” programmes, where workers with bad seasonal allergies get subsidised trips to regions with lower pollen counts, according to The Washington Post.

One example cited by the Post came from the IT company Aisaac, which provides around US$1,300 to employees to temporarily relocate to areas of Japan where hay fever symptoms are less severe.

Such programmes are seen as a way to enhance worker productivity in Japan, where hay fever is much more prevalent than in the US.

Naoki Shigihara, a 20-year-old engineer who struggles to focus on work because of his hay fever, told the Post that Aisaac funded his remote-work trip to Okinawa, the tropical region in southern Japan.

“When I talk to people from other companies, they’re all in agreement that it’s a great idea, and many are jealous,” he told the newspaper.

According to the Post, Aisaac allows employers to go anywhere with low pollen levels from mid-February to mid-April, Japan’s peak hay fever season.