Up in Smoke

One of the annoyances I have with Japan is the lack of a smoke-free environment. While most other countries in the world seem to be moving to pass legislation to make restaurants and bar areas smoke free, this is one area in which Japan is definitely behind the times.

Every morning on my way to work, I stop at the local coffee shop in the train station. During the time it takes me to walk inside, order a takeout coffee, pick up my coffee and leave, the smell of the smoke from the smokers inside the café has attached itself to my clothes and hair. I therefore turn up to work every morning smelling of smoke. Not the professional image I was hoping for.

Restaurants are worse. Where in other cultures, the smoker – being in the minority – would go outside, or move away from the table to have a cigarette, in Japan it is certainly not uncommon for the smoker to request an ashtray and light up a cigarette during the meal, oblivious to those around him or her.

Most offices here are equipped with smoking rooms as well. Whilst I understand that these prevent employees from wandering outdoors or around the building to smoke, one has to wonder if it doesn’t actually encourage people to smoke by making it all the more convenient.

One has to wonder why, with an aging population and a low birth rate, the Japanese government isn’t doing more about this issue. With a packet of cigarettes priced at a very accessible price of around 300 Yen, the government will be faced with skyrocketing healthcare costs as generations of smokers start to age.

The East Japan Rail Company has made one recent step in the right direction. In March, East Japan Rail Company moved to prevent smoking on all shinkansen, abolishing the smoking cars on shinkansen trains. I sincerely hope this encourages other organizations to follow suit.