Japan's Allergy Crisis: A Legacy of Post-War Reforestation
Wednesday, 2026/05/20101 words2 minutes674 reads
Japan has a big problem with allergies. Every spring, many people wear masks because of pollen from trees. About 43% of Japanese people have hay fever now.
After World War Two, Japan's mountains had no trees. The government planted two types of trees everywhere: sugi and hinoki. These trees grow fast. Now these trees cover 20% of Japan's land.
The problem is these trees make a lot of pollen. The pollen flies into cities and makes people sick. Now Japan wants to cut down these trees and plant different ones. But this is very difficult because there are so many trees.
