Spring is in the air and that means only one thing – not sakura (cherry blossom) or rather hanami (flower viewing) but kafunshou (hay fever or more specifically pollen allergy).
In fact, I have never suffered from kafunshou all my life not until I arrived in J-land. I did manage to combat it for more than 3 years but my body somehow gave up and surrendered this year. Having moved to Aichi last August, I noticed that the pollen count especially in the countryside is much stronger. As I just found out, there are two main types of kafunshou – sugi (cedar) and hinoki (cypress). And from my source, I heard long ago J-peeps needed to produce more (umm…) wood so to cater for its demand they planted sugi and hinoki trees. They probably grow faster than bamboo trees – dunno why exactly. But as a result, (bingo!) pollen allergy. Whoay!
The only natural way to combat this pesky allergy is to wear a mask and hope for the best that you won’t suffer badly. There is no 100% way to avoid this thing but there are numerous medications available in the market. In truth, the pharmaceutical industry makes hefty dosh from it as well as from many flu – or influenza, as the J-peeps love to be specific, medications in winter. Anyway, it’s also my first time to wear a mask. Hence, dubbed its image from SAR (an influenza-like illness in Hong Kong) from the Western viewpoint. And I can confirm, there's nothing to be a shame of when wearing one as it really helps you and certainly ease you to avoid as well as spread germs around your surroundings. It's the norm here and therefore peeps won't give you any funny look.
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