Do you have hay fever? 花粉症ですか？

ENTRY

2019.03.06

カテゴリー：ブログ

Hello everyone,

It’s March and I can feel the spring warmth in the air already. It was rainy for the last few days, and that means the seasons are changing. Many people here dislike this time of the year because of hay fever. There is a lot of pollen in the air now, and many of our students are wearing masks to protect themselves. Hay fever is much more common in Japan than Ireland because there are many cedar and cypress trees here, which release large amounts of pollen. These trees are used in construction, so large forests of them were planted in the 1960’s. As the Japanese economy developed in the 1970’s and 1980’s, cheaper imported building materials decreased the demand for cedar. This resulted in even bigger forests and older trees so hay fever has become more common in Japan since then. I don’t feel the effects of hay fever much, but I notice it on pollen heavy days. Now that people have finished wearing masks to protect from influenza in January, they have to wear them again for hay fever!

Last Sunday was the Doll Festival, or “Hina Matsuri”. Every year on March 3rd, families with girls put out ornamental dolls to celebrate. It is sometimes referred to as “girl’s day”, and children’s day on May 5th is when we celebrate “boy’s day”. The dolls represent the Emperor, Empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court dress of the Heian period. Traditionally, the dolls were supposed to be put away by the day after Hina matsuri, the superstition being that leaving the dolls any longer will result in a late marriage for the daughter, but some families may leave them up for the entire month of March. Many families pass the dolls from generation to generation to the girls of the family. My wife still has her set of dolls that we use for my daughter.

Next week we’ll celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day! So please wear something green to Hario if you can, and we’ll celebrate Irish culture. See you then.

Alan

みなさんこんにちは、アランです。

3月になりました。空気が温かくなったのを感じます。ここ数日は雨でした。これは季節の変わり目だからです。

多くの人が花粉症のため春が嫌いです。近頃は空気中に花粉がたくさん飛んでいるので生徒たちの多くも予防のためにマスクを着けています。シダの木や杉の木がたくさんあるのでアイルラドより日本のほうが花粉症が流行っています。これらの木はたくさんの花粉を飛ばします。建築に使われる木で、1960年代にたくさん植えられました。1970年代、1980年代に日本の経済が成長するにつれて、より安い建築材料が輸入され、シダの木の需要が減少しました。この結果これらの木はますます増え、成長し、花粉症が日本で一般的になりました。

私はあまり花粉症の影響はありませんが、花粉の量が多い日は感じることがあります。いまや1月のインフルエンザ予防のマスクは終わり、今度は花粉症予防のマスクをつけなければなりません！

先週の日曜日はひな祭りでした。毎年3月3日は女の子のいる家庭ではお祝いのためにひな人形を飾ります。時々”女の子の日”として取り上げられます。5/5は「こどもの日」で「男の日」です。人形は平安時代の伝統衣装をまとった天皇、皇后、従事者、楽隊を表しています。