I recalled the times of timber shortage after World War II. The indiscriminate carpet bombing of the U.S. deprived commoners of their houses, which ended up being a shortage of timber for the construction of houses. People who had a trying time at that time thankfully planted lots of Japanese cedar and Japanese cypress for their descendants.
However, since a few decades ago, cheap timber from Canada or the U.S.A. has been overshadowing the Japanese forestry industry and consequently the considerably vast forest in Japan is left maintenance-free. As a matter of fact, the pollen from those trees is now a social issue. Too much cedar and cypress forest became a root of modern illness.
Lots of people in Japan wear a mask to prevent pollen from invading from February to May. When an accident occurred in Fukushima Daiichi Atomic Power Plant in March 2011, I laughed at German journalists, who were reporting that most Japanese wore a mask to avoid nuclear effects. Some people might do as they said, but most people did it due to pollen allergy. The reporting was totally inaccurate, but this sort of thing often happens. I learnt the risk of swallowing stories without questioning.
(Vocabulary)
forestry 林学, 営林, 林業
As a matter of fact 実を言うと
swallow ; to accept without questioning 鵜呑みにする
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