Smog

Just a short post: Ikoma city (where I work) has issued warnings about "photochemical smog" for the second time in a week. We should avoid going outdoors and wash our eyes or throat if they start becoming irritated. It feels just a little surreal as we're sitting in a rural backwater, surrounded by fields and forested hills. But of course, this entire part of Kansai is pretty densely populated so the air is probably just as polluted here as in the urban areas the next valley over.

I wonder why you never hear about this in Osaka. It's feels unlikely that central Osaka avoids this problem while small Ikoma does not - of course, Osaka lies along the coast, not in a mountain range, so perhaps not enough pollutants accumulate to cause smog. Or there could be plenty of warnings, but I just manage to miss them; I never listen to radio or watch TV in the daytime after all.