Kafunsho

After talking to some of her co-workers, the wife discovers the cause of my allergies: sugi trees! A bit of Google research later and I learn that it's hay fever season here in Japan and that I'm not the only one suffering from kafunsho (pollen sickness). Sugi trees hit their peak pollination period in late February, and just as it dies down in late April, hinoki trees hit their stride, so it's basically pollen hell from late January to May.

Which explains why we've been seeing so many people walk around with face masks (more than normal, anyway). We'd assumed it was because they were sick, but apparently it's a very effective way of limiting how much pollen you're exposed to. When it gets really bad, kafunsho sufferers also wear goggles to keep it out of their eyes. Live and learn, but since I'm leaving tomorrow, it's a bit too late for this trip.

The irony is that the high pollen count is man-made. Right after WWII, some seven million hectares of sugi and hinoki trees were planted nationwide to resupply Japan with lumber. By 1997, Japan had replanted 43% of it's woodland with them. According to the Forest Agency in 2008, almost 20% of Japan's land mass is planted with sugi and hinoki.

Unfortunately for the rest of us, the logging industry has declined due to cheaper imports, allowing the trees have survive long enough to mature and produce pollen. And because sugi trees are long-lived, they will continue to do so for another 300+ years.

As a result, kafunsho, which was virtually unheard of a few decades ago, now affects some 16% of the Japanese population and almost 30% of Tokyo's population, and these numbers are increasing annually.

The solution? The Forestry Agency plans to fell the trees in future and reforest them with new strains that were developed to release less pollen.

Look here for my source for the stats above.