Smoking Cigarettes in Japan

[ViciousBrutality]

I'm 17 years old and I am going to japan on an exchange program. By this time next week I'll be in Japan. Anyway, the company thats sending me sent me a pamphlet that said you must be 20 years old to drink and to smoke cigarettes there. As someone who drinks and smokes I'm a bit curious. I've heard about lax drinking policies in some cases, but I have no idea about buying cigarettes or smoking them, especially cause I'll be going to school and whatnot. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[Carlson]

you can buy both cigs and beer in vending machines so i doubt you will have a problem buying them. they will most likly not even card you if you act grown up when buying either.

that being said smoking is bad for you. lol

 

[nice gaijin]

You're in America, where it is also illegal for you to drink and smoke, yet you do anyways. If you were to get caught, you would probably find yourself in at least a bit of trouble. I would expect the same for Japan, but I wouldn't promise more or less enforcement of the rules. I would say that if you are planning on breaking the rules, try to have some tact about it and don't get caught. See what the other students do before you go out on your own committing minor crimes.

Though I will say that foreigners seem to be older than they really are to Japanese, and the likelihood of you being carded even at an izakaya is probably slim unless you look very young. Not that I wish to encourage the corruption of a minor or anything

 

[GaijinPunch]

Dude, you're about to be in drinking and smoking heaven, although I thought there was a general lack of good places to drink in the afternoon when you got off of school.

Smoking? Forget about it. Your done. You'll smoke more there than you ever dreamed of in the US.

Oh, yeah -- you should quit and all that. I smoked from 19 to 29. Loved it, but damn, it felt good to quit. Smoke up, boy!

 

[JimmySeal]

In all likelihood you won't get caught, but if you do, you'll rue the day you decided to take up smoking. When they do crack down, the police aren't particularly kind to criminals.

 

[ArmandV]

I've noticed during my last trip to Japan that smoking has gotten more restrictive. The Narita Express is now smoke-free. There are fewer smoking areas at train stations, and the ones there are enclosures filled with people packed in like sardines. Japan is starting to get as bad the U.S.

 

[Mike Cash]

The folks who run the exchange program here will be more likely to turn a blind eye to your smoking, if you do them the courtesy of at least pretending to be sneaky about it.

Drinking? Personally, I'd worry about being booted off the exchange program and bundled off back home wondering if the thrill of the illicit booze was worth ruining the Japan visit. There's also the aggravation and embarassment it would cause the folks responsible for you while you're here. Lay off the hooch until you get back home again; it won't kill you to go without for a while.

 

[JimmySeal]

Japan is starting to get as bad the U.S.

That all depends on what one considers "bad." Personally I don't think anyone has the right to give others lung cancer.

 

[Mike Cash]

That all depends on what one considers "bad." Personally I don't think anyone has the right to give others lung cancer.

Our families give us heart attacks, strokes, ulcers, and premature gray hair without our permission.

 

[JimmySeal]

What our families do is one thing. What inconsiderate strangers do is quite another. If someone were dumping toxic waste into a water supply, people would surely get up in arms and one would hope that the powers that be would step in. So why should the air on a train or in a station/restaurant/bar be any different?

 

[DoctorP]

Yeah, but my family is closer to killing me than some 17 year old that wants to visit Tokyo and clog his lungs. I hate smokers as much as anyone, but I'm not to the point of putting them outside in the rain to smoke or shoving them into a cubicle in the airport. I just ask that they be a little more considerate on where they blow the stuff.

Ever notice that people who smoke in their cars do it with the window open so the smoke goes out? Why are you sucking it into your body if you don't want it in the car with you?

 

[ArmandV]

That all depends on what one considers "bad." Personally I don't think anyone has the right to give others lung cancer.

And you don't have a right to restrict my freedoms.

You're relying on "junk science" if you think second-hand smoke causes lung cancer. There's no real proof.

 

[JimmySeal]

And you don't have a right to restrict my freedoms.

You only have freedoms as far as they don't infringe on the rights of others, and my right to breathe clean air trumps your right to give yourself emphysema in my immediate vicinity.
Would you also assert that you have the right to wave a handgun around in a bank, or walk naked down the street in broad daylight? None of those poses an immediate hazard to anyone, so if you're so enthusiastic about exercising your freedoms, I recommend you try one of those things some time.

 

[ArmandV]

You only have freedoms as far as they don't infringe on the rights of others, and my right to breathe clean air trumps your right to give yourself emphysema in my immediate vicinity.
Would you also assert that you have the right to wave a handgun around in a bank, or walk naked down the street in broad daylight? None of those poses an immediate hazard to anyone, so if you're so enthusiastic about exercising your freedoms, I recommend you try one of those things some time.

You first, since you like to promote idiotic comparisons.

 

[DoctorP]

And you don't have a right to restrict my freedoms.

Funny, I don't remember smoking being listed anywhere as a guaranteed freedom.

You're relying on "junk science" if you think second-hand smoke causes lung cancer. There's no real proof.

Hmmm? Junk science? Millions of people who smoke contract lung cancer, many millions who don't smoke, but live with smokers contract lung cancer, many millions who don't smoke and don't hang around smokers do not contract lung cancer.

I'll take my chances with the junk science on this one.

 

[ArmandV]

Funny, I don't remember smoking being listed anywhere as a guaranteed freedom.
Hmmm? Junk science? Millions of people who smoke contract lung cancer, many millions who don't smoke, but live with smokers contract lung cancer, many millions who don't smoke and don't hang around smokers do not contract lung cancer.
I'll take my chances with the junk science on this one.

There's millions of people who smoke and don't contract lung cancer.

There's millions of non-smokers who don't live near smokers who contract lung cancer.

Sorry, but those are facts.

Until smoking is absolutely outlawed, it is a legal product and, therefore, people can legally smoke. Naturally, some consideration should be made. But there's some troublemakers out there who go out of their way to pick a fight.

A good example occurred this last weekend. A co-worker was at a car wash and sitting outside in the open air waiting for his car to be done. He was sitting on a bench alone enjoying a cigarette. There were other people sitting on benches but they were away from my smoking co-worker. Plus there were empty seats there the others were.

A gentleman of the gay persuasion came out and sat right next to my smoking co-worker. Within a minute, he said to my co-worker, "I would appreciate it if you would put that out!" This set off my co-worker and he cussed the guy out. The guy's response was, "You are only saying that because I'm gay!'' Lord knows how that got into the mix, unless the dude was wearing a big sign that announced he's gay. (I only mentioned this because it was part of the story.)

So to make a long story short, while some consideration should be made, there are those who go out of their way to cause trouble for smokers.

 

[DoctorP]

I would think that a situation like that is rare. What is not rare is to be seated somewhere and have a smoker light up right next to you and blow his/her smoke right at you. If you love the smoke so much, keep it inside your body! (joke)

 

[ArmandV]

I would think that a situation like that is rare. What is not rare is to be seated somewhere and have a smoker light up right next to you and blow his/her smoke right at you. If you love the smoke so much, keep it inside your body! (joke)

Heh! Unfortunately, situations like that aren't as rare as you may think.

Naturally, I don't advocate being rude and blow smoke in someone's face, but some of the tactics used against smokers are bordering on fascism.

 

[GaijinPunch]

Our families give us heart attacks, strokes, ulcers, and premature gray hair without our permission.

Isn't that the truth! I somehow think my wife would punch me if I used this on her. She did put up with my smoking, virtually complaint free, for quite a while though.

 

[JimmySeal]

Until smoking is absolutely outlawed, it is a legal product and, therefore, people can legally smoke. Naturally, some consideration should be made. But there's some troublemakers out there who go out of their way to pick a fight.

News flash: In many areas of the US, smoking is illegal, and that's precisely what you were whining about not too long ago. Furthermore, private institutions such as bars, restaurants, stations, trains, have all the authority to make and enforce no smoking policies. I'll never walk up to a stranger out of the blue and tell them to stop smoking and nobody is entitled to do that. In the case of your friend, spewing vitriol at the fellow who accosted him was much more obnoxious than what the other guy did. If your friend had simply told him that he didn't have to put the stick out if he didn't want to, he'd have a lot more of a leg to stand on as far as being the more rational of the two people involved.

 

[ArmandV]

News flash: In many areas of the US, smoking is illegal, and that's precisely what you were whining about not too long ago. Furthermore, private institutions such as bars, restaurants, stations, trains, have all the authority to make and enforce no smoking policies. I'll never walk up to a stranger out of the blue and tell them to stop smoking and nobody is entitled to do that. In the case of your friend, spewing vitriol at the fellow who accosted him was much more obnoxious than what the other guy did. If your friend had simply told him that he didn't have to put the stick out if he didn't want to, he'd have a lot more of a leg to stand on as far as being the more rational of the two people involved.

This piecemeal approach to gradually restricting smoking is really dishonest. First smoking was banned in restaurants and workplaces, followed by bars and beaches. If the government were really serious about doing something about cancer and other lung diseases, they would ban the manufacture, sale, possession and use of smoking material (cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobaccos, etc.). But they won't. Why? Because the federal and state governments need the tax revenue. Plus it wouldn't work either. If smoking were totally banned, the same thing would happen as when alcohol was banned during Prohibition. It'll just go underground.

 

[JimmySeal]

The worst part is the politicians filling their pockets with handouts from tobacco companies, but at least something's starting to happen. Going to concerts in New York became a significantly more pleasant experience when they banned smoking and likewise New York bars are much nicer to frequent than New Jersey bars.

I'm not completely against the government's stance: harm yourself with cigarettes if you want, but don't harm others, especially not in enclosed spaces where the smoke just builds up. Smoking's probably not much more unhealthy than eating McDonald's every day, but there's no such thing as second-hand hamburger.

 

[itchygomey]

Funny, I don't remember smoking being listed anywhere as a guaranteed freedom.
Hmmm? Junk science? Millions of people who smoke contract lung cancer, many millions who don't smoke, but live with smokers contract lung cancer, many millions who don't smoke and don't hang around smokers do not contract lung cancer.
I'll take my chances with the junk science on this one.

Everyone who ever drinks water dies

You'll never get out of this life alive. Ya know what people call someone who eats right, exercises, and takes care of their body when they die -

Dead.

 

[blade_bltz]

Smoking is flat out considered unnattractive to most. Sure I've smoked a few times with my friends...outside and far away from other people. It's a nasty thing. I am very pleased with the way it is regulated in America.

 

[nice gaijin]

Ya know what people call someone who eats right, exercises, and takes care of their body when they die -

A beautiful corpse.