Japan Top 10

It has been windy but clear in the Kanto area (surrounding Tokyo) for several weeks, and when this happens in Spring, there is a danger to traffic that I only became aware of recently myself.

What happened was I turned a corner – and suddenly my windshield was completely opaque. Could not see a thing.

Luckily, it disappeared when I used the wipers with a few good squirts of washing fluid. But for a few sevonds, I was a traffic danger. As this happened in the middle of traffic, there could have been an accident.

Anyone with an allergy will be familiar with the reason: Pollen.

In early Spring, around the time of the ume blossom but long before the cherry trees break out, the winds from the west carries pollen from the sugi trees down to the plain. If you live in the northern hemisphere, you may be familiar with the pines smoking. They give off so much pollen that it looks like they are smoking. Quite beautiful. If you are not allergic.

And so do the Japanese cedars, or sugi trees. In early Spring, the amount of pollen is so large that it literally coats cars and other things with a layer of yellow powder. This is different from the yellow powder you get at the end of winter, by the way. That is caused by dust storms in Mongolia.

The sugi pollen is invisible when it coats your windshield. But when the sun is low, it suddenly becomes visible – and turns the windshield opaque.

So the lesson is: In spring, if there has not been rain for several days, check the windshield before you set out. If there is anything on it, wash it off quickly. And you will be less of a danger to other traffic.

By the way, I wrote about the danger of the sun in your eyes a couple of times before, and rain may wash away the pollen but it is no fun to drive in.

And of course, by now you know that I wrote an entire book about how to handle the quirks and intricacies of Japanese traffic. It can be quite helpful in preparing for your Japan trip, if I may say so myself.