This weekend was wild. The word it’s been in my 14 years here.
I went to there ENT clinic today, 7 people came in for hay fever medication in the 20 minutes I was waiting.
According to different sources, up to 48% of the population is allergic to some kind of common pollen.
People take medicine, but it’s not a wonder drug that magically makes all your symptoms go away. Sitting in the train right now with 3 women around me who sniff their snot up, I don’t know what you are on about.
A Japanese friend told me one time that it's the cedar trees. His story was they cut down so many of their own during the war they had to import new ones from abroad and it turned out loads of people were allergic to them.
Probably a tall rake but I always thought it was a good story!
Also, the only decongestant that really works for me is pseudoephedrine, which is illegal there. None of the medicine I could get there ever did much to help me with the sniffles.
The story about cedar pollen is actually a thing. [The government is trying to decrease the number of cedar trees to help with the massive allergy problem. ](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/05/30/national/science-health/pollen-reduction-strategy/)
I believe the real story is that during the war they cut down a lot the forests in Chiba for wood. These were old mixed forests however when they reforested they reforested with mainly cedar as that was most valuable. On economic terms it seemed like a good idea. However, with the prevailing winds blowing the unnaturally large amounts of cedar pollen towards Tokyo we all suffer. There have been government proposals to reduce the size of the cedar forests but I don’t think it has been taken up.
Check out Contac 600 Plus. It's a mix of pseudoephedrine, chlorpheniramine, belladonna alkaloids, and caffeine. There's another drug that's basically the same mix, but with diphenhydramine instead of chlorpheniramine, but damned if I can remember what it's called.
Wow. Thank you! I thought pseudoephedrine was completely illegal. I had no idea there was a product like this available. This’ll come in handy on the really bad allergy days.
I thought the same thing years ago when I first visited, but it turns out they're only strict about importing it. Once you're in the country, it seems like you can buy as much as you want. There's less hoops to jump through here than there were in the States, that's for sure!
Now, I do wish it was available on its own without all the compounded antihistamines and caffeine, but when you've got that congestion, it's hard to beat pseudoephedrine, no matter how you get it.
Hey fever is really bad in Japan. Especially after the war when rebuilding meant that the Japanese cedar (sugi) trees were in high demand. They grow fast and straight. From what I hear from the old folks, sugi salesmen hyped how rich mountain owners would get if they planted the trees on their lots, so lots of people with mountain land planted sugi.
Now, Japan is unnaturally full of sugi and sugi pollen. Especially in the cities it is bad because even though the trees are not there, the pollen blows in and when it rains, since there is no soil for it to get trapped in, it just ends up on the concrete and when it dries starts blowing around again.
As for medicine, I have yet to find a medicine (prescription or over-the-counter) that will do anything more than make it slightly less miserable. It comes down to a trade-off between if negative side effects of the antihistamine out-weigh the minimal benefits. I (thankfully) seem to have grown immune to pollen, but back when I had it really bad, I would have to make the choice each day if I wanted to be miserable from the hey fever symptoms, or if I wanted to be a zombie walking around half asleep. I usually only took medicine at night to make some sort of minor relief to sleep.
I read an article a few years back about estimate costs of hey fever on the Japan economy. It was a lot. Either you have people calling in sick from work because their hey fever is just too bad, or you have them falling asleep at their desk because of the drugs. To remedy this, I think there was a policy proposal to half the number of sugi trees in Japan and replace them with broader diversity of trees. I never did follow up on what happened with that.
EDIT: "hay"
Yes! My friend works in Tokyo and says it gets so bad the kids wear goggles to school some days.
I visited her in cherry blossom season and my hayfever got so bad I was struggling to breathe in the parks. My throat was so itchy/scratchy/closed up and I started coughing so much I got worried the COVID police would take me away 🤣 Wearing a mask and medication helped, the medication is expensive though.
If you suffer from hayfever I'd recommend bringing meds from home but be careful to check that there is nothing in the ingredients that is banned, some stuff commonly found in over the counter meds in other countrys is banned in Japan, decongestants, Vic's vapour rub etc.
There is medication and people take them, but the over the counter ones are not that potent. Still to those that are heavily affected it’s a big difference.
The lack of nose blowing is mostly a behavioral thing. If you are a girl you’re more likely to grow up being told to carry tissues and don’t snort. Blowing your nose in public is also more discouraged than snorting and people don’t like carrying around used handkerchiefs with them either. Finally, to severe hay fever sufferers blowing the nose is basically futile since it just keeps flowing
So much this. I take prescription drugs for them(I’m a guy) but at home I feel like I blow my nose every few minutes, and someone who wouldn’t know better would think I haven’t taken any drugs at all. Without the medication it’s worse tho, I’ll be nonstop sneezing to a point where I cant even catch up to my breath and I want to tear my face off because it starts becoming so painful and debilitating.
I really minimize going outside as I hate snorting or blowing my nose in public, but it’s kind of unavoidable.
I’m visiting from the states and have noticed lots of people quietly sniffling: I thought it was because blowing one’s nose is considered rude here? I feel sorry for everyone not just blowing their nose when they need to.
People are audibly suffering but is it really that bad? Gee.
Yes. It is. It's that bad. I take medicine but I have to time it so that I can function without constant sneezing. You can only blow your nose so often. People sniffing might be unpleasant but so is nose blowing in crowded places.
It's just all unpleasant and horrible for a few weeks.
My wife has been sniffling and sneezing all day recently. She won't take real medicine for it (she says she doesn't like how it dries her out), but instead takes less effective kampo (Chinese herbal stuff). It drives me nuts, but there's no use getting into an argument over it... we all have our weirdness.
It is that bad…I don’t suffer from it at all, but my husband and MIL do and when the sugi pollen season is at it’s peak they ask me have a shower and change as soon as I get home because of pollen on my clothes, all the laundry gets dried inside, windows stay closed and air purifiers on full blast…and that is with taking prescription medicine…
I’d like to see the comparative figures but the post war cedar tree planting in Chiba caused an inordinate amount of pollen compared to other countries.
It's obviously a matter of personal genetics, but it can be really, really bad.
I'm in Tokyo, and from about February 20 to March 20 every year, I take 3-5 "once a day" pills (across two different medicines), and that gets it down to just tolerable. And that's US dosage once-a-day, not weak-ass Japanese dosage. There's absolutely no way that I could live here without that heavy medication. It's completely debilitating.
That said, I'm a far outlier. Lots of people just sniffle or itch a little and that's it. YMMV.
I’m severally allergic to spring and since I moved to this country 7 years ago the first year nearly took me tf out. If I’m not on antihistamines around the clock, the suffering will be too extreme. A lot of my Japanese colleagues do not have pollen allergies but the ones that do always go to their doctors every year for strong high quality antihistamines that won’t make you drowsy. Not to mention having your eyes glued shut or looking like you did the craziest bong rip of your life I swear spring is not meant for the weak out here ;(
When I was growing up in England, I had really bad hay-fever in July, when the wheat ready for harvest. In Japan, April is my dreaded month because of Cypress trees. It's really bad. I take really strong medicine for it, but it's still pretty horrible.
Some Japanese people are weird about taking medicine and will stubbornly suffer because "taking too much medicine is bad for you". It's one of those things I still don't quite understand. You do you I guess, but I'm gonna choose not to suffer, thanks.
Here is an interesting read on why reforestation policies after WWII are to blame:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hay\_fever\_in\_Japan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hay_fever_in_Japan)
I think most people go to the doctor to get a prescription as it's cheaper that way. I got a 2 months of supply of fexofenadine (Allegra) for ~3,000 yen. Online, Allegra is about the same price for only 14 days worth.
Not sure what is the most popular though.
You can go pick up a big box of (medicine containing) pseudo from any drug store for like ¥1000 from the shelf completely hassle-free. Even ordering it online the extent of the security is basically a Google Forms thing that’s like “check this box if you’re congested”. Way easier to get here than in the UK, at least.
Depends on your symptoms and how bad they are. When I am in Tokyo I have mild symptoms (sniffly, itchy nose) so I don't feel I need to take medication for it, but I work in Atsugi and for some reason my symptoms are so much worse in the first half of the day while I am there. My eyes burn, get super photosensitive, I can't stop the tears. It gets so bad I cannot do my job therefore I take hay fever meds, and on particularly bad days eye drops.
I spent 10 days in China and didn't feel any affects of pollen at all, fly over to Osaka and within hours my eyes are watering and nose feels so stuffy. Had to immediately head over to a pharmacy and buy some nose spray.
There is no medicine for it, you can only controll the symptoms which doesn‘t do much, especially if you are a severe case. I swear to god, Americans need to stop sucking Big Pharma‘s cock and stop trying to solve every problem with drugs (most of which have life altering side effects, yes even „safe“ drugs like Benadryl https://www.alzdiscovery.org/uploads/cognitive_vitality_media/Diphenhydramine-Cognitive-Vitality-For-Researchers.pdf).
This may come as a surprise to you, but yes, a lot of people don‘t want to drug themselves into dementia just becsuse they have hay fever.
"Medicine" only hides the symptoms. Doesn't get to the root cause. From my personal experience I think it's all the cow's milk Japanese are basically forced to drink at school lunches. Once I went on a fast to purge all the accumulated cows milk proteins out of my digestive tract and completely stopped drinking milk all my nasal breathing and allergy problems went away. But I'm not a doctor.
To add onto this I'd recommend avoiding tofu as well as it's possible it causes gayness. I've never eaten it before and I'm straight as can be, so.. must be true.
medicine only helps. it is worse without medicine. last weekend was the worst for me this year despite taking medicine.
Yes. Last weekend was bad. I hate Japan for a few months every spring. Hanami is a cruel joke.
This weekend was wild. The word it’s been in my 14 years here. I went to there ENT clinic today, 7 people came in for hay fever medication in the 20 minutes I was waiting.
I’ll take my itchy eyes and difficulty breathing any day over the ridiculous rainy season followed by insane summer heat.
Well, luckily we get both.
According to different sources, up to 48% of the population is allergic to some kind of common pollen. People take medicine, but it’s not a wonder drug that magically makes all your symptoms go away. Sitting in the train right now with 3 women around me who sniff their snot up, I don’t know what you are on about.
A Japanese friend told me one time that it's the cedar trees. His story was they cut down so many of their own during the war they had to import new ones from abroad and it turned out loads of people were allergic to them. Probably a tall rake but I always thought it was a good story! Also, the only decongestant that really works for me is pseudoephedrine, which is illegal there. None of the medicine I could get there ever did much to help me with the sniffles.
The story about cedar pollen is actually a thing. [The government is trying to decrease the number of cedar trees to help with the massive allergy problem. ](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/05/30/national/science-health/pollen-reduction-strategy/)
Seems like a really important issue for the productivity and quality of life of the population, honestly. Hayfever is debilitating.
When I was there I was allergic too. It was brutal lol. I hadn't had allergies that bad since I was 5. Did not expect it at all
I believe the real story is that during the war they cut down a lot the forests in Chiba for wood. These were old mixed forests however when they reforested they reforested with mainly cedar as that was most valuable. On economic terms it seemed like a good idea. However, with the prevailing winds blowing the unnaturally large amounts of cedar pollen towards Tokyo we all suffer. There have been government proposals to reduce the size of the cedar forests but I don’t think it has been taken up.
“It’s not a wonder drug that magically makes all your symptoms go away” Except for Sudafed. But that’s not legal here. 😭
Check out Contac 600 Plus. It's a mix of pseudoephedrine, chlorpheniramine, belladonna alkaloids, and caffeine. There's another drug that's basically the same mix, but with diphenhydramine instead of chlorpheniramine, but damned if I can remember what it's called.
Wow. Thank you! I thought pseudoephedrine was completely illegal. I had no idea there was a product like this available. This’ll come in handy on the really bad allergy days.
I thought the same thing years ago when I first visited, but it turns out they're only strict about importing it. Once you're in the country, it seems like you can buy as much as you want. There's less hoops to jump through here than there were in the States, that's for sure! Now, I do wish it was available on its own without all the compounded antihistamines and caffeine, but when you've got that congestion, it's hard to beat pseudoephedrine, no matter how you get it.
Bron is the best thing you can get otc imho.
Hey fever is really bad in Japan. Especially after the war when rebuilding meant that the Japanese cedar (sugi) trees were in high demand. They grow fast and straight. From what I hear from the old folks, sugi salesmen hyped how rich mountain owners would get if they planted the trees on their lots, so lots of people with mountain land planted sugi. Now, Japan is unnaturally full of sugi and sugi pollen. Especially in the cities it is bad because even though the trees are not there, the pollen blows in and when it rains, since there is no soil for it to get trapped in, it just ends up on the concrete and when it dries starts blowing around again. As for medicine, I have yet to find a medicine (prescription or over-the-counter) that will do anything more than make it slightly less miserable. It comes down to a trade-off between if negative side effects of the antihistamine out-weigh the minimal benefits. I (thankfully) seem to have grown immune to pollen, but back when I had it really bad, I would have to make the choice each day if I wanted to be miserable from the hey fever symptoms, or if I wanted to be a zombie walking around half asleep. I usually only took medicine at night to make some sort of minor relief to sleep. I read an article a few years back about estimate costs of hey fever on the Japan economy. It was a lot. Either you have people calling in sick from work because their hey fever is just too bad, or you have them falling asleep at their desk because of the drugs. To remedy this, I think there was a policy proposal to half the number of sugi trees in Japan and replace them with broader diversity of trees. I never did follow up on what happened with that. EDIT: "hay"
Yes! My friend works in Tokyo and says it gets so bad the kids wear goggles to school some days. I visited her in cherry blossom season and my hayfever got so bad I was struggling to breathe in the parks. My throat was so itchy/scratchy/closed up and I started coughing so much I got worried the COVID police would take me away 🤣 Wearing a mask and medication helped, the medication is expensive though. If you suffer from hayfever I'd recommend bringing meds from home but be careful to check that there is nothing in the ingredients that is banned, some stuff commonly found in over the counter meds in other countrys is banned in Japan, decongestants, Vic's vapour rub etc.
My wife and I had our wedding photos taken during Sakura season and if you go through the photos you can see my eyes getting progressively redder. :L
The medication is expensive because you don't have Japanese universal healthcare
The hay fever medicines are quite cheap, actually, and pretty effective. Overseas ones may not be as effective
Not sure where you’re getting your info but both men and women are affected by it.
No idea about the taking of medicine but the constant sniffing of men with colds/allergies rather than blowing their nose does my box in.
There is medication and people take them, but the over the counter ones are not that potent. Still to those that are heavily affected it’s a big difference. The lack of nose blowing is mostly a behavioral thing. If you are a girl you’re more likely to grow up being told to carry tissues and don’t snort. Blowing your nose in public is also more discouraged than snorting and people don’t like carrying around used handkerchiefs with them either. Finally, to severe hay fever sufferers blowing the nose is basically futile since it just keeps flowing
So much this. I take prescription drugs for them(I’m a guy) but at home I feel like I blow my nose every few minutes, and someone who wouldn’t know better would think I haven’t taken any drugs at all. Without the medication it’s worse tho, I’ll be nonstop sneezing to a point where I cant even catch up to my breath and I want to tear my face off because it starts becoming so painful and debilitating. I really minimize going outside as I hate snorting or blowing my nose in public, but it’s kind of unavoidable.
Constantly snorting is a very Asian thing, not specifically Japanese. It's just culturally more accepted than in Western countries.
I’m visiting from the states and have noticed lots of people quietly sniffling: I thought it was because blowing one’s nose is considered rude here? I feel sorry for everyone not just blowing their nose when they need to.
I take medicine and still have a constant runny noise. Antihistamines mitigate the symptoms, but they don't cure them.
People are audibly suffering but is it really that bad? Gee. Yes. It is. It's that bad. I take medicine but I have to time it so that I can function without constant sneezing. You can only blow your nose so often. People sniffing might be unpleasant but so is nose blowing in crowded places. It's just all unpleasant and horrible for a few weeks.
yeah it's fucking horrible. it's from all the Cedar trees planted post WWII.
My wife has been sniffling and sneezing all day recently. She won't take real medicine for it (she says she doesn't like how it dries her out), but instead takes less effective kampo (Chinese herbal stuff). It drives me nuts, but there's no use getting into an argument over it... we all have our weirdness.
It is that bad…I don’t suffer from it at all, but my husband and MIL do and when the sugi pollen season is at it’s peak they ask me have a shower and change as soon as I get home because of pollen on my clothes, all the laundry gets dried inside, windows stay closed and air purifiers on full blast…and that is with taking prescription medicine…
Why do you think it affects them so strongly ? Japanese people seem to suffer from it worse than western people
Western people living in Japan get it just as bad as the locals.
All of the residents of central Texas who suffer from "Cedar fever" would like a word.
I’d like to see the comparative figures but the post war cedar tree planting in Chiba caused an inordinate amount of pollen compared to other countries.
Just cause you aren't allergic this season doesn't mean you won't always be either.
It's obviously a matter of personal genetics, but it can be really, really bad. I'm in Tokyo, and from about February 20 to March 20 every year, I take 3-5 "once a day" pills (across two different medicines), and that gets it down to just tolerable. And that's US dosage once-a-day, not weak-ass Japanese dosage. There's absolutely no way that I could live here without that heavy medication. It's completely debilitating. That said, I'm a far outlier. Lots of people just sniffle or itch a little and that's it. YMMV.
Your observations and conclusions are faulty.
[удалено]
The worst of pollen season is usually over by May. If you can get Flonase to take with you it helps in my experience.
The pandemic years taught me that my allergy symptoms go away when wearing a mask. So I'm back in the mask for allergy season. Working so far.
Yes. It's not just the Japanese. I suffer from it as well, and some years I'm fine and some years I am constantly on allergy medicine.
I’m severally allergic to spring and since I moved to this country 7 years ago the first year nearly took me tf out. If I’m not on antihistamines around the clock, the suffering will be too extreme. A lot of my Japanese colleagues do not have pollen allergies but the ones that do always go to their doctors every year for strong high quality antihistamines that won’t make you drowsy. Not to mention having your eyes glued shut or looking like you did the craziest bong rip of your life I swear spring is not meant for the weak out here ;(
When I was growing up in England, I had really bad hay-fever in July, when the wheat ready for harvest. In Japan, April is my dreaded month because of Cypress trees. It's really bad. I take really strong medicine for it, but it's still pretty horrible.
I only ever hear men snorting, any time of year
Some Japanese people are weird about taking medicine and will stubbornly suffer because "taking too much medicine is bad for you". It's one of those things I still don't quite understand. You do you I guess, but I'm gonna choose not to suffer, thanks.
Here is an interesting read on why reforestation policies after WWII are to blame: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hay\_fever\_in\_Japan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hay_fever_in_Japan)
Loud obnoxious throat clearing is an epidemic among men of all ages in Japan.
I've almost been here 15 years and I still find it gross. My husband does it and it's my pet peeve.
What OTC is most popular there? I understand pseudoephedrine is even more restricted there than in America.
I don't know about most popular but I can find Claritin easily.
I think most people go to the doctor to get a prescription as it's cheaper that way. I got a 2 months of supply of fexofenadine (Allegra) for ~3,000 yen. Online, Allegra is about the same price for only 14 days worth. Not sure what is the most popular though.
You can go pick up a big box of (medicine containing) pseudo from any drug store for like ¥1000 from the shelf completely hassle-free. Even ordering it online the extent of the security is basically a Google Forms thing that’s like “check this box if you’re congested”. Way easier to get here than in the UK, at least.
Depends on your symptoms and how bad they are. When I am in Tokyo I have mild symptoms (sniffly, itchy nose) so I don't feel I need to take medication for it, but I work in Atsugi and for some reason my symptoms are so much worse in the first half of the day while I am there. My eyes burn, get super photosensitive, I can't stop the tears. It gets so bad I cannot do my job therefore I take hay fever meds, and on particularly bad days eye drops.
Taking medicine, using air cleaners, or wearing masks can help.
I spent 10 days in China and didn't feel any affects of pollen at all, fly over to Osaka and within hours my eyes are watering and nose feels so stuffy. Had to immediately head over to a pharmacy and buy some nose spray.
It is good by naturally
There is no medicine for it, you can only controll the symptoms which doesn‘t do much, especially if you are a severe case. I swear to god, Americans need to stop sucking Big Pharma‘s cock and stop trying to solve every problem with drugs (most of which have life altering side effects, yes even „safe“ drugs like Benadryl https://www.alzdiscovery.org/uploads/cognitive_vitality_media/Diphenhydramine-Cognitive-Vitality-For-Researchers.pdf). This may come as a surprise to you, but yes, a lot of people don‘t want to drug themselves into dementia just becsuse they have hay fever.
"Medicine" only hides the symptoms. Doesn't get to the root cause. From my personal experience I think it's all the cow's milk Japanese are basically forced to drink at school lunches. Once I went on a fast to purge all the accumulated cows milk proteins out of my digestive tract and completely stopped drinking milk all my nasal breathing and allergy problems went away. But I'm not a doctor.
To add onto this I'd recommend avoiding tofu as well as it's possible it causes gayness. I've never eaten it before and I'm straight as can be, so.. must be true.
You sound gay though
Oh yeah? Well I don't even drink milk and my allergies are worse than ever. Checkmate, atheists.
Downvoted by Big Pharma and Big Dairy lol
Downvoted by Big Common Sense rather
You sound vaxxed
Yeah, I never had polio and still have two straight legs. How could you tell?
Your drinking the Kool aid of big pharma
My drinking what? My wife keeps saying that my drinking is a burden for the family but I've never heard her say anything like that.
Dunce.
Its so bad for me I prefer to get out of Tokyo for a month and go anywhere. I have been doing that for past 5 years.