I was doing my daily reviews and くしゃみ came up. Since its a fairly recent card for me and I had some spare time, I decided to investigate if its written like that or is there some kanji version and how popular it is (I sometimes do this for my pure kana cards to make sure I'm learning the most popular version). After browsing through JDIC, looking at occurrences on google I found tons of Japanese videos on youtube with people putting tissues?? into their noses and forcing a sneeze. Interesting as it is that's not the point, during my research/procrastination I found a site with a very strange title:

太陽とくしゃみ同盟

At first I thought I must have misunderstood it completely but after reading the explanation it was quite clear that I've found some kind of secret society for people that sneeze if they look at the sun...

Thing is thats an actual condition and its really common (according to this wiki article)!

Something to ponder about during the weekend.

I thought this happened to everyone?!

Photo-sneeze-reflex. My ex had this and I was like bullshit but it became fairly evident when driving in the car with her that it was true. I cracked up and still find it funny to this day.

Yes I have it a bit too, but don't tell anyone!

Yeah! That happened to my old roomate. You know how sometimes you think you're gonna sneeze, and then you don't, and somehow you have a dissatisfied feeling afterwards? Whenever that happened to him he would just open the curtains, look at the sun, and he'd immediately sneeze.

I tried it a few times after watching him do it, but it doesn't work for me.

I also suffer from this affliction(?).

I had a class in the morning with my friend and he pointed out that every time we leave the class I sneeze at the same spot (where I end up facing the sun). I also used to go grocery shopping with my roommate and every time we leave the grocery store there would be another sneeze location.

I think we all know what we have to do to stop this solar terrorist.

Nuke the sun.

Aijin Wrote:I think we all know what we have to do to stop this solar terrorist.

Nuke the sun.

It's nice to see that your time at Stanford has taught you American problem-solving strategies.

Happens to me too. Usually if I am inside and then go outside and it is super bright, not necessarily if I look at the sun.

Me as well, though it's not that often. Cool/weird.

bucko Wrote:Whenever I feel the need to sneeze I always glance very quickly (for less than a split second) at the sun or some other extremely bright object and it seems to bring the sneeze on. Been doing this for as long as I can remember.

Very much this. I thought it happened to everyone?

thurd Wrote:After browsing through JDIC, looking at occurrences on google I found tons of Japanese videos on youtube with people putting tissues?? into their noses and forcing a sneeze.

This must be what they mean by snuff films. I sneeze easily when using shakers of powdered spices, but I don't get the photic effect. I imagine that with the people it happens to, it's tied to the blink reflex and is meant to protect your sight.

So I assume it turned out to be an onomatopoeia?

The sun has no effect at all on my nose, would be kinda useful at times though.

It's called the photic sneeze response. It's a heritable trait - genetically passed from parents to children. Around 1/3 of people exhibit the trait. It's caused by a malfunction in nerve growth, leading to signals from optical nerves triggering potentials in the nerves responsible for sneezing.

edit: haha didn't read that you already knew what it was called, or that you linked the wiki article.

I have it too. It's not an inconvenience, as a periodic sneeze kinda feels good. I always sneeze lie clockwork whenever I get out of a movie theater.

A friend of mine who has this photic sneeze reflex told me it would be a problem if you wanted to be a fighter pilot. The wiki article explains that it's caused by a connection between certain nerves. I often find that if I eat something really cold, like ice cream, one of my eyes becomes cold and aches. My dad has it too. Again, hereditary and due to nerves linking I suppose.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexually-induced_sneezing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeymoon_rhinitis

Hmm.

magamo Wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexually-induced_sneezing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeymoon_rhinitis

Hmm.

lol talk about mood ruiner

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Cool, now I can put a name onto it. Thankfully I never really wanted to be a fighter pilot. I sneeze whenever I look up at the bright sky (has to be strong daylight), for as long as I can remember. That's pretty much the only times I sneeze these days. I got into the habit of pinching my nose or pressing on the side and it generally goes away. I find it often unpleasant and even painful to sneeze, maybe because of pneumothorax and/or asthma I had in the past.

Is it really useful to sneeze anyway?