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[MinaiMinai]

Hello! I have a question for y'all- A family member of mine who flies to Japan regularly told me that during the time when the trees bloom in the Spring, the pollen permeates the air to such an extent that a person wearing a white shirt will end up with a yellow one at the end of the day. According to some random person in Japan, the face masks that one sees people wearing everywhere (which I always assumed was to avoid/prevent the spread germs) are actually worn to avoid inhaling pollen. Since I'm considering teaching in Japan in the future, I became worried about the pollen levels there! I could see myself turn into a sneezing, eye-watering mess come Spring, lol. Has anyone who's lived there found it to be an acute problem? Are there decent allergy medicines in Japan, or would it be best to bring some from home? Did any of you wear the infamous "face masks"?

[kdynamic]

People DO wear mask to avoid inhaling pollen (in addition to avoid spreading disease). I have never used one. But the pollen situation is pretty grim here. I never had allergies until I moved to Japan. It's worse in the countryside than the cities (more trees). Pollen allergies is one of the main arguments against the widespread sugi (Japanese cedar) forestation policy, since sugi pollen is pretty harsh.

[seoulmon]

HI!

I have allergies too. I lived in Austin Texas and at first I didn't have a problem. The more you are exposed to pollen (as I was later to find out) the worse your allergies become. In Austin my allergies were really bad, but here in Osaka it's OK. I still have problems (itchy eyes, sneezing, runny nose..) but nothing like I experienced in Austin. back in America I used to take these natural medicines that worked really well. I am not a big fan of over the coutner stuff. If you hear of any tips on dealing with allergies in please do tell. At any rate..good luck!

[earthmonkey]

Yes, depending on where you live, the pollen is a problem. I live in Tokyo, and it's pretty bad. I also never had hay fever until I came to Japan. You'd think that with few trees and lots of concrete, that the pollen wouldn't be bad in Tokyo. The problem is that the pollen which floats down from the mountains has nowhere to be absorbed, i.e. earth, grass. So, it recirculates until it finds our noses.

Yes, there is a lot of medicine available. Some good, some not strong enough in my opinion.

I've never worn a mask. Yes, the masks are worn for 3 reasons. One is to prevent hay fever in the spring. The other two are to avoid spreading or inhaling viruses. This is typically in flu season or whenever one catches a cold.