[Nyororin]

The number of smokers has gone down a LOT in the past few years. It`s starting to gain an "oyaji" image, so the younger the guy the less likely he is to see smoking as a good thing.
In my husband`s company, I`d say 80% of the men over 50 smoke, about 50% of those over 40, about 25% of those over 30, and only maybe 10% of those in their 20s.

As far as I know, for the 10 years I`ve been here, it`s never been fashionable for women to smoke. When I first came over here, I knew a female smoker who only hid to have a cigarette - What would people think if they saw her? What if her mother found out?? (She was almost 30 at the time)
It`s pretty rare to see women smoking.