Anti-smoking country
Well, actually... not so much. Here are a few facts from the World Health Organization
About 51% of men smoke in Japan - this figure has dropped from the 1980s, but it is still very high for a developed nation.
This is slowly dropping, but the amount of females is increasing
Prevalence of smoking among women, once considered almost taboo, has risen dramatically in the last decade to nearly 10%.
I believe now it is somewhere in the 25 - 30% range
Japan's Finance Ministry is a major shareholder in Japan Tobacco, a multinational.
A survey in the early 1990s found that 44% of male physicians smoke in Japan.
With 500,000 cigarette vending machines, the young can easily buy cigarettes.
This is the biggest reason the smoking percentage here is so high. Pre-teens and teens can both buy cigarettes anytime and anywhere because of the amount of vending machines. Although! Next year they are implementing an ID scanning mechanism in the tobacco and alcohol vending machines. This card will be issued to people of legal age and must be scanned before you can buy from the vending machine (think of like a security card at work).
It's estimated that about one in eight deaths is due to smoking, (about 100,000 deaths a year). Smoking may also contribute to four of the five leading causes of death.
Lung cancer is the leading cancer, with more than 50,000 deaths a year.
More Japanese men die of lung cancer than suicide. The rate of lung cancer deaths is 46 per 100,000 people while the suicide rate is 30 per 100,000.
Japan has some of the weakest anti-tobacco laws for a developed nation, with few smoke-free public areas.
Although, this is slowly changing. For examplge, all Starbucks locations are non-smoking. Mc.Donald's now has non-smoking times and non-smoking floors. The major cities have law against walking through the streets and smoking. If you want to smoke in one of the bigger cities you have to stop at a smoking station, or bring a portable ash tray.
I am a smoker myself. I have been for around 4 years now and I can tell you now that I am really happy Vancouver (and Canada) has such strict laws on buying tobacco. Although, it is ridiculous with the prices of Tobacco in Vancouver. A pack a 20 cigarettes in Vancouver is anywhere from $8 - $10 depending on which brand you buy. In Japan, the average for a pack of cigarettes is ３００円 ($3CDN) and the highest I have seen is around ３５０円. So obviously more people smoke here than Vancouver, it's cheaper, easily accessible no matter your age, and well, generally accepted here.
Here are some shots of the "public awareness" type posters on the front of the giant ashtrays around the major cities. At least they are thoughtful and designed well!
The first one says, "Every time I finish smoking a cigarette, I realize that I should have brought a portable ashtray with me." When with the illustrations used, it's a great poster.
The second says, "I carry a 700degree fire in my hand with people walking all around me." This is one of the major reasons for the 'no smoking while walking' law in major cities. A lot of people get little burns, or their clothing get burned from people smoking and not paying attention to where their hand is going.
