Beating kafunsho season by working from home

One positive that came from the COVID-19 era was that working from home became a lot more accepted by many companies. Even before the pandemic, certain industries had already realized that most employees could do their jobs remotely as long as they had a computer and an internet connection, which brought so much more flexibility to many people's lives – mine included, as there's no way I could feasibly commute to Tokyo every day from Niigata.

Working from home – or heading to low pollen areas like Okinawa for a workation – were mentioned as a couple of ways to tackle hay fever season. Pic Credit: Vladimir Haltakov/ Unsplash

Another huge benefit of being able to work from home is in the war against kafunsho (hay fever) season, as noted by this recent article from The Japan News. There are several key reasons why a work from home setup helps to battle seasonal allergies, and perhaps quite simply it comes down to reducing one's exposure to pollens. If you're able to work from home you're not out and about in public places – plus, you've got the ability to set up things like air purifiers, keep doors and windows closed, and so forth. Last year I wrote about some research covering how pollen adheres to clothes, with certain fabrics faring better than others – but if you can eliminate being outside as much as possible it certainly makes things more manageable!

Being able to work from home also means you've got ready access to any medicines or other remedies that help deal with kafunsho symptoms. Whether it's things like antihistamines, nasal sprays, or eye rinses, these are (in my opinion) all a lot more comfortable to administer at home rather than in a shared office environment.

The article I mentioned above also mentioned that some people opt to jet out of where they're living and take something of a workation. Okinawa was specifically mentioned in the article as a popular spot for kafunsho sufferers with the ability to work from anywhere, since the pollen counts there are so much lower at this time of year. I certainly wouldn't mind some coastal views and beach walks in my lunch breaks to help get through the work day!

If you're an allergy sufferer, do you have the option to work from home, or does your job require you to be physically present?