Hay Fever in Japan - Government Response

Government Response

As the impact of the allergy season on the population has mounted, the Japanese government has increasingly focused attention on the issue. In 1990, the Ministry of Agriculture started a series of annual Hay Fever Conferences to coordinate among government institutions involved. The Liberal Democratic Party (the governing party at the time) submitted a motion on Anti Allergy and Hay Fever Measures in 1995, greatly influenced by increasing lobbying. The government budget for addressing pollen allergies has greatly increased since then. The 2002 budget for hay fever issues was 7,372,000,000 yen, 27 times the amount of seven years earlier. Administrative measures include basic research, improved forecasting and the development of therapies, as well as research to develop low pollen producing cryptomeria and Japanese cypress varieties. However, devastation of the forestry industry and the diminishing number of forestry workers as result of cheap and high quality imports has made actual implementation of measures in forest plantations slow. In 2005, the Forestry Agency announced plans to plant 600,000 low pollen-producing cryptomeria trees over the following five years. Nonetheless, cryptomeria forests in Japan cover a total of 45,300 square kilometres so a meaningful migration to such varieties proves to be a considerable challenge.