During the war, oil and gas shortages led Japan to turn to the nation's most abundant natural resource – forests – as a source of fuel for home and industry. The result was widespread deforestation of natural forests, with the mountains around major cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Kobe completely stripped bare of trees.
"After World War Two, many of Japan's mountains became barren, causing disasters in various regions," says Noriko Sato, a professor and forestry researcher at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan. (Bare mountains can increase the incidence of landslides and flooding). "Large-scale afforestation was carried out by public works, funded by tax revenues, to prevent soil erosion."
Aiming for rapid reforestation, the government chose to plant reams of only two different native, fast-growing evergreen species that could quickly reforest landscapes and provide wood for future use in construction: the Japanese cedar, sugi, and the Japanese cypress, hinoki.
The problem is, sugi and hinoki trees also produce large amounts of lightweight pollen which can easily drift into cities. It's this pollen, often released all at once from the monoculture plantations, that is responsible for most seasonal allergies in Japan. The issue has become all the worse since these trees release ever more pollen after maturing at 30 years of age – now the case for nearly all of them.
"Pollen allergies have become a national health issue in Japan," says Sato. "Addressing this problem is urgent."
In 2023, Japan declared allergies a national social problem and the central government set out an ambitious plan – reduce pollen by 50% in 30 years. As a first step, it aims to reduce the forest areas planted with sugi trees by 20%.
But swapping out forests covering over 2% of Japan in 10 years is a massive endeavour. Plus, simply cutting these trees down won't be enough – they also need to be replaced with new forests to avoid soil erosion or accidentally undercutting Japan's own climate targets.
[...]
Still, even before the 2023 government declaration, some local actors and non-profits had begun efforts to turn these forests into biodiverse ecosystems, and some are already seeing the benefits. The small town of Nishiawakura, Okayama, for example, has created an entire economy around reducing the 84% of its forests made up only of hinoki and sugi, turning wood into heat for eel farms as well as chopsticks and timber.
In 2020, Kobe, a larger port city in central Japan with a dense urban core and vast forests within its city limits, began an effort to turn more than 180 hectares (445 acres) of plantation back into natural broadleaf forests in a 15-year cycle.
[...]
Similar projects are beginning in other parts of Japan. One project in Hotani, Osaka, is now restoring wetlands and grasslands. And the largest effort aims to turn 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of plantation forests in Gumna prefecture to meadows and mixed deciduous woodland.
Most of these forests are quite inaccessible and combined with a decrease in the numbers of skilled forestry managers and budgets to remove and replant trees, the problem isn’t going away anytime...
Most of these forests are quite inaccessible and combined with a decrease in the numbers of skilled forestry managers and budgets to remove and replant trees, the problem isn’t going away anytime soon.
What's kind of crazy to me is that they've never seriously pursued or encouraged immunotherapy. Most environmental allergens are straightforward to permanently treat through carefully titrated...
What's kind of crazy to me is that they've never seriously pursued or encouraged immunotherapy. Most environmental allergens are straightforward to permanently treat through carefully titrated allergen injections!
Changing trees across a whole country is pretty challenging and not a short-term solution though. In comparison, allergy shots can start working within a year!
Changing trees across a whole country is pretty challenging and not a short-term solution though. In comparison, allergy shots can start working within a year!
Sure but it's allergy shots for X% of the population over the lifetime of the trees (and their offspring if it's a sustainable forest situation) vs fixing what sounds like an ecological misstep...
Sure but it's allergy shots for X% of the population over the lifetime of the trees (and their offspring if it's a sustainable forest situation) vs fixing what sounds like an ecological misstep and no longer best practices when it comes to reforestation.
Even if allergy shots work the environmental change is worth doing.
But it's also possible, given the alternative treatments mentioned being in development that shots aren't developed or effective for this type of allergen. I have personally mostly seen them used for pet allergies in the US with daily pills being more common for tree/grass/mold allergies from the outdoors. But also our healthcare system is trash so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It seems like they're looking at immunotherapy though just not focused on in this article.
Immunotherapy is actually better for environmental allergens than pets afaik. In the US, allergy shots are fully covered by every health insurance plan (except maybe catastrophic plans). I'm...
Immunotherapy is actually better for environmental allergens than pets afaik. In the US, allergy shots are fully covered by every health insurance plan (except maybe catastrophic plans).
I'm mostly discussing how individuals' problems can be treated in less time than it takes to reforest a country.
Citation? Fully covered suggests not having to pay my deductible or the office visit copays, and as someone who's had to stop doing Physical Therapy due to the copays, and maintains therapy by the...
In the US, allergy shots are fully covered by every health insurance plan (except maybe catastrophic plans).
Citation?
Fully covered suggests not having to pay my deductible or the office visit copays, and as someone who's had to stop doing Physical Therapy due to the copays, and maintains therapy by the skin of my teeth I don't know that this tracks.
And yes, individually it's faster, but since correcting the improper reforestation is a national goal that does seem to be the focus of the article
As for whether they do shots in Japan, it seems like they absolutely do, as well as sublingual meds, but this study makes it clear to me why they're acting on an environmental level for long term relief.
But idk why they didn't talk about it in the article. You'd have to ask them. They're still treating individuals they're just fixing the root cause also
Full coverage in the US doesn't mean it's free. It only says that insurance will pay after the deductible is hit, and it'll be free after the out-of-pocket max is hit. Same as full coverage...
Full coverage in the US doesn't mean it's free. It only says that insurance will pay after the deductible is hit, and it'll be free after the out-of-pocket max is hit. Same as full coverage (comprehensive) car insurance still having a deductible. For people with regular healthcare needs, it's necessary to financially plan around hitting the deductible.
Regarding immunotherapy, I hadn't heard about the sublingual tablets. That's really cool—thanks for the link!
Sure that is one interpretation but in my experience saying it's "fully covered" suggests to folks that it is more akin to wellness checks or birth control or other things that are actually co-pay...
Sure that is one interpretation but in my experience saying it's "fully covered" suggests to folks that it is more akin to wellness checks or birth control or other things that are actually co-pay free. Even if thats not what you meant. It flattens a lot of potential hurdles into "it's fully covered."
Even so, it's administered by a doctor so it's probably medical and not prescription insurance, but it's (apparently) a compounded drug. So insurance companies may require things like pre-auths or trying other cheaper options first.
Stating unequivocally it's covered fully by every (non-catastrophic) plan is a statement that would benefit from citation, something that I am genuinely asking for.
From the article:
[...]
[...]
I’m not sure why I expected this to be the all male tree thing that exists in the US, it wouldn’t have been a very Japanese thing to do.
FWIW I’ve heard that’s mostly a myth
My guess is that some areas did it and some didn’t, which causes it to look like it didn’t happen to some folks.
Most of these forests are quite inaccessible and combined with a decrease in the numbers of skilled forestry managers and budgets to remove and replant trees, the problem isn’t going away anytime soon.
That sounds tangentially similar to the “cedar fever” issue here in Austin. Cedar pollen season destroys everyone I know who’s lived here long enough
What's kind of crazy to me is that they've never seriously pursued or encouraged immunotherapy. Most environmental allergens are straightforward to permanently treat through carefully titrated allergen injections!
That is true, but I still think addressing the trees is better long term.
Changing trees across a whole country is pretty challenging and not a short-term solution though. In comparison, allergy shots can start working within a year!
Sure but it's allergy shots for X% of the population over the lifetime of the trees (and their offspring if it's a sustainable forest situation) vs fixing what sounds like an ecological misstep and no longer best practices when it comes to reforestation.
Even if allergy shots work the environmental change is worth doing.
But it's also possible, given the alternative treatments mentioned being in development that shots aren't developed or effective for this type of allergen. I have personally mostly seen them used for pet allergies in the US with daily pills being more common for tree/grass/mold allergies from the outdoors. But also our healthcare system is trash so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It seems like they're looking at immunotherapy though just not focused on in this article.
Immunotherapy is actually better for environmental allergens than pets afaik. In the US, allergy shots are fully covered by every health insurance plan (except maybe catastrophic plans).
I'm mostly discussing how individuals' problems can be treated in less time than it takes to reforest a country.
Citation?
Fully covered suggests not having to pay my deductible or the office visit copays, and as someone who's had to stop doing Physical Therapy due to the copays, and maintains therapy by the skin of my teeth I don't know that this tracks.
And yes, individually it's faster, but since correcting the improper reforestation is a national goal that does seem to be the focus of the article
As for whether they do shots in Japan, it seems like they absolutely do, as well as sublingual meds, but this study makes it clear to me why they're acting on an environmental level for long term relief.
Current status of sublingual immunotherapy for allergic rhinitis in Japan - ScienceDirect
But idk why they didn't talk about it in the article. You'd have to ask them. They're still treating individuals they're just fixing the root cause also
Full coverage in the US doesn't mean it's free. It only says that insurance will pay after the deductible is hit, and it'll be free after the out-of-pocket max is hit. Same as full coverage (comprehensive) car insurance still having a deductible. For people with regular healthcare needs, it's necessary to financially plan around hitting the deductible.
Regarding immunotherapy, I hadn't heard about the sublingual tablets. That's really cool—thanks for the link!
Sure that is one interpretation but in my experience saying it's "fully covered" suggests to folks that it is more akin to wellness checks or birth control or other things that are actually co-pay free. Even if thats not what you meant. It flattens a lot of potential hurdles into "it's fully covered."
Even so, it's administered by a doctor so it's probably medical and not prescription insurance, but it's (apparently) a compounded drug. So insurance companies may require things like pre-auths or trying other cheaper options first.
Stating unequivocally it's covered fully by every (non-catastrophic) plan is a statement that would benefit from citation, something that I am genuinely asking for.