Japan is still a smoker's paradise?

Actually, I'm someone who has quit smoking completely. I used to need nicotine and caffeine to live, but of course, it was proven that I could live without them. Besides the known effects such as being good for your health or good for your skin, quitting smoking is very good with those effects also: No need to get outside on a cold day to buy the cigarettes, nicer toothpaste choices instead of "Zact Lion" which is for taking off nicotine stains, and I no longer find 100 yen lighters from every single one of my handbags any more.

Of course the smoking cessation rate is increasing every year, still around 30% of adult smoke in Japan, and in many restaurants and public place you can smoke. Then worst part is their manner, JT tries to improve the manners of smokers by their AD in TV Commercial or Posters, but many people litter tobacco and cigarette butts easily when they smoke during waliking. My job is in Shinagawa word, and they fine smokers who litter with tobacco. But I have never seen someone have to pay a fine for it. To decrease the smoking rate, I suppose JT sweeps away all vending machines, and raises the price of one package more and more, because it is very cheap(270yen - 300yen) in Japan even now. Many of my female friends smoke this PIANISSIMO one, this menthol one cost 300yen, this is the most popular brand in Japan, and this MILD SEVEN cost about 270yen.  Too cheap right?

Comments

[exsmoker]

Hello All,

I was reading around some of the posts here and I found interesting things that you guys talk about, I just made a blog about quitting smoking resources and ideas that you might want to check out.
If someone is interested in this topic just go to; http://endthehabitnow.blogspot.com and let me know what you think.
Thanks in advance.

[candy columbus store]

I haven't gotten much done , but it's not important. Not much on my mind lately. Today was a total loss, but so it goes.

[Albert]

Sometimes it's hard to believe the smoking rate is only about 30% in Japan. When you go to some restaurants (especially the izakaya variety) it seems like everyone is lighting up. Despite this, I see more and more non-smoking areas OUTdoors where it's needed the least.

[teejay]

the most annoying thing with smoking in japan is that most of the smokers, especially (young) women don't really seem to smoke but just hold the cigarette in a sexy pose right under your nose the whole time. then when they do smoke it seems that a tremendous amoung of THICK smoke comes back out, i guess some don't inhale??? so i find smoking even more annoying than here in europe, although there is this great (HUGE) cafe where I live in Holland but it is sooooooo smoky it is ridiculous. basically the main reason why i hardly go there.

i used to be a smoker but quit about 3 years ago. i guess they are right when they say that after you quit you become even more sensitive to it.

[Charles]

I quit smoking after my last trip to Japan. I went to one of the JT smoking lounges in Chiyoda-ku, it was so horrible that for days afterwards, I felt like my nose and eyes were on fire. But I recently caved in and started smoking again. I have to quit again, maybe this week. I feel like Mark Twain, who said "quitting smoking is easy, I do it several times a day."