Cultural Study

Hay Fever (Ceder Pollen Allegy) スギ花粉症 Sugi-Kafunsho In Japan today, an allegy caused by ceder pollen , simply called as "hay fever" in general, is an annoying physical reaction that more than 1/3 of all Japanese people have in common mainly from February to April. Many suffer from such symptoms as sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, and so on. It's often considered a "national disease" originated in a cirtain situation after World War II in Japan. Now, the Japanese government has set an official goal to adress the problem. Although there are so many kinds of plants that can cause allegic symptoms, the rate of Japanese people who are allegic to ceder pollen is as high as 38.8% out of 42.5% allegic to any kinds of pollen, according to the research conducted in 2019. Therefore, "hay fever" generally refers to ceder pollen allegy in Japan.  The allegic reactions coincide with the pollen's disperser of sugi, Japanese ceder, usually between February and...

Mongolian Spots 蒙古斑 Moko-han Moko-han, or Mongolian spots , are mole -like blue spots often found on some part of infant's body such as  buttock or backside of waist that is common in Japan. They are one of the genetic features of Asian people first clearified by a German doctor Erwin Bälz in 1885. There are also a few expressions with this feature in Japanese language. More than 99% of Japanese newborn babies are said to have Mongolian spots. The same feature is also observed in other Asian racial groups such as Mongolian, Chinese, Korean, Native Americans, and so on. The cause of Mongolian spots is melanocytes , melanin-producing cells existing in the dermis under the epidermis exclusively in childhood. Generally, the spots gradually disappear by the age of around 10 and do not need treatment. This feature was found out by Erwin Bälz, a German  internist  invited to Japan by the Meiji government, in 1885. Until then in Japan, it was a mystery among people ...