The core idea: which tree, and how much
Kafun (花粉) is literally flower powder, the pollen itself, and kafunshō (花粉症) is literally pollen illness, the allergy. The verb for pollen travelling is tobu, to fly, and forecasts use the noun hisan (飛散), literally flying and scattering. Everything else in the season answers one of two questions: which tree is flying now, and how much is in the air today?
Hay fever is so common that it is ordinary small talk. The Environment Ministry's manual cites a survey in which 38.8 percent of respondents had cedar pollen allergy in 2019, which is why a sneeze in March often gets a sympathetic kafunshō? before anyone thinks of a cold. Two colleagues talk by the office window.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 花粉症ですか。 | Kafunshō desu ka. | Do you have hay fever? |
| はい、毎年この時期はつらいです。 | Hai, maitoshi kono jiki wa tsurai desu. | Yes, this time of year is hard for me every year. |
| 今日は花粉がすごいですね。 | Kyō wa kafun ga sugoi desu ne. | The pollen is terrible today, isn't it? |
| 今年はスギ花粉が多いらしいですよ。 | Kotoshi wa sugi kafun ga ōi rashii desu yo. | Apparently there's a lot of cedar pollen this year. |
| 私はヒノキのほうがひどいです。 | Watashi wa hinoki no hō ga hidoi desu. | For me, cypress is worse. |
| 風邪ですか、花粉症ですか。 | Kaze desu ka, kafunshō desu ka. | Is it a cold, or hay fever? |
Sugi first, then hinoki: the season by region
After the war, Japan planted cedar and cypress on a vast scale for timber. Cedar forests now cover around 4.4 million hectares, most heavily in Tōhoku and Kyūshū; cypress grows mainly from Tōkai westwards, and from Kantō westwards some years bring more cypress pollen than cedar. Hokkaidō has few cedars but many birches, and Okinawa has almost none of the three, which explains the shape of the calendar below.
Timing follows the winter. Cedar buds need a cold spell and then warmth, so the season starts first in the warm south-west and on the Pacific side and moves north. The official start, hisan kaishibi, is not the first grain: it is the first of two consecutive days on which at least one grain lands per square centimetre, so some pollen flies before the start is declared.
| Plant | Reading | When it flies | Where it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| スギ | sugi | February to April | Honshū to Kyūshū, heaviest from Tōhoku to Tōkai |
| ヒノキ | hinoki | March to May | Kantō and westwards; less in Tōhoku |
| シラカバ | shirakaba | Late April to June | Hokkaidō |
| イネ科 | ine-ka | Spring to early autumn | Grasses by rivers and fields |
| ブタクサ | butakusa | Late summer to autumn | Ragweed, literally pig grass, on waste ground |
| ヨモギ | yomogi | Late summer to autumn | Mugwort on roadsides |
Reading the pollen forecast
Pollen forecasts in Japan are made by private weather companies, using data from JMA and the forestry and environment ministries. The Environment Ministry's manual gives the classic four ranks, measured by counting grains that land on a greased slide in a day: sukunai, yaya ōi, ōi and hijō ni ōi. Yaya is literally somewhat, and hijō ni extremely.
Scales vary by provider. The Japan Weather Association's forecasts add kiwamete ōi, exceptionally many, for 100 grains or more; other services use icons, colours or hourly counts from automatic samplers. A level in one app does not match the same word in another, so compare days within one service.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 今日の花粉の飛散量は非常に多いでしょう。 | Kyō no kafun no hisanryō wa hijō ni ōi deshō. | Today's pollen count will be very high. |
| 関東でもスギ花粉が飛び始めました。 | Kantō demo sugi kafun ga tobihajimemashita. | Cedar pollen has started flying in Kantō too. |
| 晴れて風が強い日は、花粉が多く飛びます。 | Harete kaze ga tsuyoi hi wa, kafun ga ōku tobimasu. | On sunny, windy days, a lot of pollen flies. |
| 雨の翌日は、花粉が多く飛びやすくなります。 | Ame no yokujitsu wa, kafun ga ōku tobiyasuku narimasu. | The day after rain, pollen tends to fly in large amounts. |
| ピークは3月上旬から中旬の見込みです。 | Pīku wa sangatsu jōjun kara chūjun no mikomi desu. | The peak is expected in early to mid-March. |
Symptoms: the words and the sounds
Hay fever symptoms have precise words, and in conversation people add onomatopoeia that carry the feeling better than any noun. Muzumuzu is the tickle before a sneeze, guzuguzu the thick, sniffly nose, shoboshobo eyes that are tired and watery. General illness vocabulary has its own post; these are the season's words. A student explains to a teacher why she keeps leaving the room.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| くしゃみが止まりません。 | Kushami ga tomarimasen. | I can't stop sneezing. |
| 鼻水がずっと出ています。 | Hanamizu ga zutto dete imasu. | My nose has been running all day. |
| 鼻が詰まって、夜眠れません。 | Hana ga tsumatte, yoru nemuremasen. | My nose is blocked and I can't sleep at night. |
| 目がかゆくてたまりません。 | Me ga kayukute tamarimasen. | My eyes are unbearably itchy. |
| 鼻がムズムズします。 | Hana ga muzumuzu shimasu. | My nose is tickling. |
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| くしゃみ | kushami | Sneeze |
| 鼻水 | hanamizu | Runny nose, literally nose water |
| 鼻づまり | hanazumari | Blocked nose, literally nose clogging |
| 目のかゆみ | me no kayumi | Itchy eyes |
| 目の充血 | me no jūketsu | Bloodshot eyes |
| のどのイガイガ | nodo no igaiga | Scratchy throat |
Beyond the basics: masks, glasses and laundry
Everything people do about pollen is called kafun taisaku, pollen countermeasures, and it has its own household vocabulary. Masks, masuku, are the most visible. Heyaboshi, literally room drying, means drying laundry indoors instead of sotoboshi, outside drying, and forecasts in spring often suggest it on heavy days, as does the ministry's manual. People also brush pollen off coats before going in, kafun o harau.
Shops sell kafun-yō megane, pollen glasses, and a whole aisle of goods; the ministry's manual notes that evidence for many such products is limited, so treat the words as vocabulary rather than recommendations. Two housemates negotiate the morning routine.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 今日は洗濯物を部屋干しにしよう。 | Kyō wa sentakumono o heyaboshi ni shiyō. | Let's dry the laundry indoors today. |
| 入る前に、コートの花粉を払ってね。 | Hairu mae ni, kōto no kafun o haratte ne. | Brush the pollen off your coat before you come in. |
| マスク、忘れないでね。 | Masuku, wasurenaide ne. | Don't forget your mask. |
| 花粉用のメガネを買ってみた。 | Kafun-yō no megane o katte mita. | I bought some pollen glasses to try. |
At the pharmacy: asking for hay fever products
The drugstore counter is where your Japanese does the most work in spring. Tell the pharmacist or registered seller what you need, answer their questions, and let them choose; this article teaches the phrases, not the medicine. Box labels use a few recurring words: nomigusuri, oral medicine; tenbiyaku, nasal spray, literally drip-nose medicine; megusuri, eye drops; and nemuku narinikui, less likely to cause drowsiness. The general pharmacy routine is covered in a separate post.
If you go to a clinic instead, hay fever is usually seen at jibika, ear, nose and throat. You may hear a doctor use the term shoki ryōhō, literally early-stage treatment. A customer at the counter might say the following.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 花粉症の薬を探しているんですが。 | Kafunshō no kusuri o sagashite iru n desu ga. | I'm looking for hay fever medicine. |
| 眠くなりにくいものはありますか。 | Nemuku narinikui mono wa arimasu ka. | Do you have one that is less likely to make me drowsy? |
| 今、ほかの薬を飲んでいます。 | Ima, hoka no kusuri o nonde imasu. | I'm currently taking other medication. |
| これを飲んだあと、運転しても大丈夫ですか。 | Kore o nonda ato, unten shite mo daijōbu desu ka. | Is it all right to drive after taking this? |
| 目薬もお願いします。 | Megusuri mo onegai shimasu. | Eye drops too, please. |
Confusable pairs: kafun or kafunshō, kaze or kafunshō
Most of the season's confusions come in pairs. The last one matters in spring because forecasts often mention yellow dust, kōsa, blown in from the Asian mainland, alongside pollen.
| Pair | Reading | The difference |
|---|---|---|
| 花粉 / 花粉症 | kafun / kafunshō | The pollen itself versus the allergy it causes |
| スギ / ヒノキ | sugi / hinoki | Japanese cedar, earlier, versus Japanese cypress, later |
| 鼻水 / 鼻づまり | hanamizu / hanazumari | A running nose versus a blocked one |
| 点鼻薬 / 点眼薬 | tenbiyaku / tengan'yaku | Nasal spray versus eye drops, usually called megusuri |
| 風邪 / 花粉症 | kaze / kafunshō | A cold versus hay fever; kaze? kafunshō? is the usual question |
| 飛散 / 飛来 | hisan / hirai | Scattering from plants versus arriving from afar, used for kōsa |
Common mistakes with hay fever Japanese
Answering kafun desu when asked about your sneezing. Listeners will understand, but it literally says it is pollen. The cause is English it's the pollen. Say kafunshō desu, or kafun ga hidokute, the pollen is so bad.
Reading 花粉 as hanakona. The cause is that 花 and 粉 are first learned as hana and kona. In the compound they take their Chinese-derived readings: kafun.
Saying me ga itai for itchy eyes. The cause is that itai is the first body word learners reach for. Itchy is kayui: me ga kayui, and for the nose, muzumuzu suru.
Comparing levels across apps. The cause is assuming one national scale. Hijō ni ōi in one service may not mean the same count in another, so stick to one forecaster through the season.