How to Fight Hay Fever in Japan

March has just begun, which means spring is almost here!! As I think to myself, “FINALLY!!,” my boyfriend cries out in despair after a sneezing fit… Hay fever, or kafun-sho, season has also begun.

Spring!! Picture from www.pexels.com 

Okay, so this may seem like an exaggeration and to me that is what it feels like. DISCLAIMER: I luckily only suffer from a few sneezes and sniffles. However, my boyfriend suffers from much worse, so I am just chronicling his seeming successful efforts to lessen his suffering. I figure that my boyfriend isn’t the only one that suffers during this season, so hopefully some of these ideas can help everyone enjoy spring as much as I do! 

During the span of one week we have already been breaking out tried and true methods to help, as well as making some new purchases from the drug store. 

1. One tried and true favorite, of my boyfriend (Ren), is a special eye wash set from the drug store. On the lid is an application tool to help you apply the medication to your eyes. I haven’t tried it since I don’t need it and I don’t particularly like putting things into my eyes, but he claims that it washes the pollen out. It is not too expensive either! It was around 600 yen.

2. A new purchase we made this week that Ren loves is simply nose strips. As soon as he applied them to his nose, he immediately seemed happier. After a night of sleep, he used another one during the day because it was so helpful! He put a mask over it so that no one would know! Haha. They were also around 500-600 yen. 

Added bonus: it lights up!! 

3. Lastly, we have been running an air diffuser/purifier in his apartment. Since it is an air purifier I feel like it makes a lot of sense, but I chose to include this in my post because my boyfriend didn’t think about it. We didn’t start using it until I suggested it. That being said, sometimes the simplest solutions are harder to think of… Ironic, isn’t it? Haha…

So far, the solutions I listed above have been working, but we are still early in the kafun season. Fingers crossed that it doesn’t get worse. 

Do you suffer from hay fever? Or are you one of the lucky people, like me? Any other solutions or recommendations? What have you tried?

Good luck and may your sneezes be few and far between!