Trends on smoking in Japan- a topic of interest to me for many reasons.
Public smoking remains commonplace in Japan but total or partial bans are spreading and the number of people smoking is steadily declining, due largely to health concerns.
The percentage of Japanese adults who smoke fell below 30 percent for the first time in an annual survey released last year by Japan Tobacco, the nation's sole tobacco producer.
Japanese men continue to be much heavier smokers than women. The survey showed 46.9 percent of adult men smoked compared with 13.2 percent of women.
The overall smoking rate was 29.4 percent, compared with 30.3 percent a year earlier. It was the lowest rate since the survey began in 1965, when public smoking was widely accepted at the start of Japan's rapid post-war industrialization.
ha ha ha ha ha!
Sorry, Gen, I almost fell off my chair reading that. Public smoking bans may be spreading, but NO ONE TAKES ANY NOTICE OF THEM. Minato-ku instituted the first, very public, ban on smoking in public a year or so ago. The most popular places to smoke in the Shiodome area remain the areas right next to the non-smoking signs. This is one habit which will take a LONG time to change.