Impressions of working in Japan: Sneezing

Now it is early spring. The pine trees, that Oita is full of, began to spread pollen (siitepöly or 花粉). I couldn't help noticing that many have trouble with their dripping noses also in our office.

Well-mannered Japanese carry tissue paper at all times, and visit the bathroom to discharge a nose-full of goo. So I imagined. But now it seems that people are just sneezing liquids back into depths of their noses. In other words doing the opposite of blowing. When 10 people sneeze once every five minutes it makes quite an orchestra in an office. Perhaps I could make a suggestion to place a tissue box to the middle of the office, so that everyone can have a relief.

As far as I'm concerned blowing one's nose is regarded embarrassing in Japan. And more precisely the noise it makes embarrasses not the action itself. Well, it understandable since the blowing sound may be hilarious. Yet, if blowing a nose is embarrassing, why isn't the inwards sneezing thing, I wonder?