Kanji Cheat Sheets

Kanji Cheat Sheets
Kanji Cheat Sheet: Buying Hay Fever Medication in Japan
March 24, 2020

My favorite season in Japan is definitely spring. You’ve got cherry blossoms, fair weather, and the official end of winter. The only problem is that with spring comes hay fever. You know the deal, constant sneezing, a runny nose, and itchy eyes that that can only come from an overabundance of pollen.

After using this guide you’ll be able to enjoy all the good things about spring minus that nasty hay fever.

So with hay fever hell just around the corner, it’s time to stay ahead of the curve with some potent hay fever medicine. The only problem? Navigating through all those labels. After all, drugstores literally have entire sections dedicated to fighting off that pesky pollen.

Know the basic language surrounding hay fever

Here are some kanji found on over-the-counter medicine to look for depending on your symptoms.

EnglishJapaneseRomaji
Hay fever花粉症kafunshou
Cedar-tree pollenスギ花粉sugi kafun
Sneezingくしゃみkushami
Runny noses鼻水hanamizu
Itchy eyes目がかゆいme ga kayui
A general word for anti-allergy treatments抗アレルギー薬kouarerugiyaku
Medicine for itchy eyes花粉症 目薬kafunshou megusuri
Non-drowsy medicine眠くならない薬nemukunaranaikusuri
Medicine for stuffed nose鼻炎薬bienyaku
Anti-histamine抗ヒスタミン薬kouhisutaminyaku
Herbal medicine 漢方薬kanpouyaku

Should OTC not be enough to relieve your symptoms, Japan has a whole host of hay fever products that help with those itchy eyes.

Looking at the package

One thing that I never appreciated before coming to Japan is that there are many different ways to take your medicine. After all, not all of us are okay swallowing pills the size of a reasonably big beetle. Here are a few different types.

EnglishJapaneseRomaji
Tablet form~錠剤~jyouzai
Swallow 飲み薬nomigusuri
Liquid form 液体ekitai
Nasal drops 点鼻薬tenbiyaku
Eye drops点眼薬tenganyaku
For internal use only 内服naifuku
Containing fexofenadine hydrochlorideフェキソフェナジン塩酸塩fekisofenajin ensanen
Containing epinastine hydrochlorideエピナスチン塩酸塩epinasuchin ensanen

Medicines that contain fexofenadine, are mainly used to alleviate allergies related to skin conditions like dermatitis or eczema. Those with epinastine hydrochloride are used to treat bronchial asthma or food allergies. 

These may be joined with the kanji り, meaning inside the packet, so don’t be confused if you see this mark next to any of these.

Paying attention to dosage

While it can be tempting to take as much of the medicine as possible to get rid of the symptoms, it’s wiser to know your dosage and take accordingly. On the package, 日 indicates how many times per day to take the medicine while にちぶん shows how many days’ worth are included. 

A dosage of three pills a day, one in the morning, noon, and night will look like this on the package: 1日3かい1じょうずつ. Also, look out for あさゆう which means that you take one in the morning then one in the evening.

Parents out there should also be aware of whether the dosage is suitable for an adult (せいじん), or a particular age range. Often these ranges are written with じょう for the youngest age that can take it and まん for the maximum age.

For example, 7さい以上15歳未満 means children from 7 to 14 years old can take the medication and 4歳以上7歳未満 means the medicine is suitable for children from 4 to 6 years old.

EnglishJapaneseRomaji
How many days worth of medicine you have~日分~nichibun
Take one pill three times a day1日3回1錠ずつichinichi sankai ichijyou zutsu
Take one in the morning then one in the evening朝夕asayuu
Adult成人seijin
More than~以上~ijyou
Less than~未満~miman

Hopefully, after using this guide you’ll be able to enjoy all the good things about spring minus that nasty hay fever. Just remember that few suffer alone in this season, so don’t be afraid to ask your coworkers for their recommendations. Get out there and enjoy the season! If you have any recommendations for fighting the fever, let us know in the comments.

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