Years ago, I was given a bottle of homemade tea by a neighbor. After drinking one cup a day, my husband, who had severe allergic reactions to sugi pollen, asked me to go back to that neighbor and ask for another bottle.
I got more from that neighbor that just the tea. I asked for the recipe, and though it was too late that season to make, I began early the following year. After just three years of drinking that tea, my husband's allergy was completely cured, and it is so simple.
Around the end of January, I cut male flowers from the tips of the branches on sugi trees, rinse and boil them in a big pot for about five minutes. Let the liquid cool, strain it, then store it in large PET bottles.
For my husband, the results were instant and the cure permanent. Sugi trees (Cryptomeria japonica) can be found even in city parks. It may be hard to understand that the cause of the suffering is also the solution, but I have passed this free cure on to friends over the years and it works. But please always be mindful of the possibility of an allergic or other negative reaction.
January is not here yet, but it will be soon enough. Now is the time to spot those sugi in your area and watch the tips of those branches within reach for the clusters of male flowers to form.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.