There are many benefits to living in Japan, including being able to enjoy a cold beer while riding the train home from work or having a full selection of onigiri rice balls stocked at your local convenience store 24-7. Still, there are a few downsides, too, including being in a country with houses that are not well constructed since it’s almost taken for granted that most people will have their homes torn down and rebuilt every 15-20 years, so they’re not built to last. Another problem is the pollen that plagues the country in the spring and fall. Due to a short-sighted postwar decision to standardize nearly all commercial forestry on the Japanese cedar (sugi) and cypress (hinoki), huge swaths of the country are covered with these trees, which naturally release their pollen at the same time. This has the effect of creating huge problems for the one-in-five Japanese who are susceptible to pollen allergies when the trees flower, forcing many to use health masks to keep the stuff at bay and generally be miserable. I had a terrible time with allergies when I got to Japan, but after about two or three years I somehow managed to develop a resistance, and now I’m not bothered at all.
