Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida yesterday vowed to tackle an insidious enemy that causes enormous economic damage and misery for the nation’s citizens each year: pollen.
Japan’s spring season might be best known for the blooming of its famed cherry blossoms and the good cheer of flower-watching picnics, but for many it is mostly synonymous with sneezes.
Each spring, the nation’s vast tracts of cedar trees in particular release potent clouds of pollen that prompt many to seek relief through prescription medication, masks or even special glasses.
Photo: AFP
‘WORST’ SEASON
This year’s season has been described as the worst in about a decade by experts and sufferers alike, prompting Kishida to convene the nation’s first ever high-level meeting to tackle it.
“Hayfever is a national problem for Japan that troubles many people,” he said at the meeting, urging officials to develop measures to address the scourge by June.
Among the proposals are cutting down cedar trees to replace them with species that produce less pollen, and using artificial intelligence like supercomputers to “fundamentally improve” Japan’s hayfever forecast system, Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Tetsuo Saito told reporters.
The problem is so endemic it afflicts about 40 percent of the Japanese population, according to one nationwide survey.
ECONOMIC LOSSES
Moreover, the economic impact is sizable, because of productivity losses from workers affected by hayfever.
A survey last year by electronics giant Panasonic estimated that the nation incurs an economic loss of more than ￥220 billion (US$1.66 billion) each day during the worst of pollen season.
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