Calls for PM Fumio Kishida to eliminate ‘national disease’ as pollen from cedar and cypress trees makes life miserable for 40% of population

Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has vowed to fight the scourge of hay fever, calling the pollen allergy a health issue that requires urgent government action.

As pollen levels in Tokyo surged to their highest in a decade, Kishida told a parliamentary committee this week that hay fever had become a “social problem,” adding that he would work with ministers to devise a response. “We want to get results,” he said, according to local media.