Hay fever sufferers and forest managers face a direct policy shift after Tokyo set a 2023 target to remove 20% of sugi, the conifer responsible for much of the country’s allergenic pollen. The goal is framed as a public-health response: more than 40% of Japan’s population suffers from seasonal allergies, locally called kafunsho, a prevalence the draft links to the landscape legacy of postwar planting.
Planners who rebuilt Japan’s timber supply after World War II favoured two fast-growing conifers, sugi, or Cryptomeria japonica, and hinoki, Chamaecyparis obtusa. Forests now cover roughly 70% of the country, and 41% of that area is planted rather than natural. Sugi makes up about 40% of planted forests, and hinoki roughly 25%, meaning the two species together account for about two thirds of managed tree cover. Removing 20% of sugi therefore implies changes across a major share of plantation area, not isolated clearances.
The government presents the 20% target as a direct response to the public-health cost of widespread pollen exposure. Researchers cited in the draft link a lengthening pollen season in many areas to warming temperatures, which prompt sugi to release pollen earlier in the year. That shift is a regular experience for sufferers. "Right after the New Year in January, my nose starts to get a little itchy," said Mariko Aoki, a secretary at the National Diet. "It peaks in March, and the sneezing, runny nose, itchy throat and itchy eyes are really bad. It lasts all the way until just before Golden Week."
How much the 2023 target reduces pollen counts and the medical burden will depend on implementation. Because sugi and hinoki dominate planted stands, officials will need to change plantation composition and management at scale, and to track pollen outcomes over multiple seasons. The announcement sets a clear policy aim; the next steps are operational decisions and monitoring that will show whether felling 20% of sugi translates into measurable relief for the country’s large population of allergy sufferers.
