It's Nose Blowin' Time Again...

Ah...spring is bursting out all over!

Temperatures are coming up, coats and hats are coming off, green leaves and flowers are coming out, and the sugi (Japanese cedars, though they aren't really cedars) are turning brown.



Everything is wonderful except that last tidbit. When the sugi turn brown, it means they are locked and loaded, ready to unleash their withering barrage of pollen on the general public. You see, cedar pollen is a natural WMS (Weapon of Mass Sneezing). It is a potent allergen, and there is a very good chance that, if you are not sensitive to it from the beginning, you will be in a matter of years.

I was immune for the first ten years I lived in these islands. My eyes and sinuses are grim evidence that I am no longer.


A replanted sugi forest near Kyoto.

The ironic thing is that there are apparently more sugi now than there were before the war. In old times, the tree, widely believed to have originated in China, was often planted around temples, palaces, and important roads, but it wasn't as widespread as it is today. During the militarization efforts of the early 20th century widespread forests of all kinds were clear-cut. Even more were hacked down in the years immediately following the war in order to rebuild devastated cities. Massive replanting efforts were then undertaken, but the focus was put on sugi because of both its commercial value and its rapid rate of growth. As a result, there are now many large stands of sugi that were of different kinds of trees before the war. Needless to say, the hayfever problem in modern Japan is many times worse now than at any other time in history.

I know I feel like shyte right now.

The drugstores aren't complaining. At this time of the year they set up whole aisles of allergy pills, nasal sprays, skin lotions, and pollen masks. Since one type of medicine only tends to be effective for a while before the body builds up a misguided tolerance to it, one often has to experiment with different kinds in order to find one that works. Needless to say, the drug companies make a killing.


Much more benign hinoki.

Unfortunately, the forest around Kashima Shrine is mainly a combination of hinoki (Japanese cypress) and sugi. Both hinoki and sugi are very fragrant (in fact, they are both used for their fragrance), but...since ye olde academy is right next door to and partly surrounded by that forest, I think you can guess how it is here at work. Not even air conditioning helps completely. Wouldn't you know it; our campus is even ringed by a line of gorgeous sugi. I think they did it on purpose just to make us suffer...

Sniff sniff...