Why is it that pollen always seems to know when it's exam time? In the UK, come May/June, out pops the pollen to torment all those poor examinees, as if they didn't have enough to worry about. Japan's academic year runs from April to March, with exams concentrated in February/March, and sure enough, that's also exactly when hayfever sufferers have to take cover. The main cause is the Japanese cedar tree, which covers more than 10 percent of the country, thanks to a government-backed scheme in the 1950s and 1960s (much criticised, not just for the unintended allergenic consequences but also because it replaced a more varied native mix, destroying wildlife habitats, hastening erosion and bringing road-building in its wake to harvest the timber).
1 in 5 Japanese people now suffer with hayfever, meaning that as well as a big nuisance it's also big business. Shops currently have whole corners devoted to anti-hayfever devices and symptom remedies: nose sprays, eyedrops, facemasks, tablets, homeopathic powders, positive ion generators, glasses, goggles, menthol-impregnated tissues, creams to dab inside your nostrils, clothes brushes designed to remove pollen from washing dried outside, clothes driers that clip to the corner of a wall so that you can dry washing inside - you name it, someone's thought of it. I have to say that I still find all the facemasks a bit spooky - they're now so hi-tech and structured, with several layers of filters, that they look rather like giant beaks. Standing in a subway train looking down on rows of human-sized vultures is slightly disconcerting. After the earthquake last March some TV stations in Europe showed pictures of crowded station concourses with people rushing round wearing masks: "Tokyo residents flee for safety from radiation cloud" was the headline - actually they were just hayfever-stricken commuters running for the train.
Watching TV and magazine ads change with the seasons is always interesting. Apart from antihistamines, the commercial breaks right now are full of adverts for school satchels and stationery (back to school), handy furniture packs (peak time for moving job and therefore house), moisturising hair conditioners (the air's really dry at the moment) and low alcohol beer (stock up for the office cherry blossom parties without fear of disgracing yourself in front of colleagues - and actually part of a wider trend to abstention among young people).
Understanding the rhythms of the local market and when best to launch, refresh or adapt your product, and how to angle your marketing, is always a challenge. I thought Globetrotter, the British luxury luggage-maker, had got it just right when they launched a new range of suitcases last week. This is the time of year when people start planning their Golden Week breaks (a run of public holidays in late April/early May), so travel is in the air. Not sure that many people will be planning to visit the South Pole though: Globetrotter's latest designs are inspired by the centenary of Captain Scott's Antarctic expedition and look very hardy, certainly more than equal to a week in Hawaii. They held the launch party in an underground concrete carpark in central Tokyo, where they tried to replicate the polar vibe - snow machine, bar made of ice, thumping club music (well, maybe that wasn't entirely authentic) and some rather perplexed-looking penguins. Exceptionally stylish - and no pollen down there, hurrah! - but it did get a bit wet underfoot.
Sue Kinoshita, Head Trade & Investment
UKTI Japan