Quote:
Originally Posted by MMM
Your statement "EVERYONE smokes weed" is simply not the case in Japan. Marijuana is considered a hard drug, and culturally it is very taboo. It is considered dangerous and risky behavior.
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Seconding this. A lot of people there don't even know much about it. There's a lot of general ignorance about drugs in Japan, compared to England where mostly everyone knows about them regardless as to whether they have ever taken anything or not; indeed we are openly taught about drugs in school.
Case in Point:
I owned a hemp handbag for several years and took it to japan with me. The key-ring on it had an image of a marijuana leaf sewn onto it, which I was so accustomed to (and hemp is quite common material in my town, so it's not even that closely associated with drugs in my mind, i more commonly see it on clothing labels) I didn't even think to take it off. In Japan, if and when it was noticed by curious friends, it was frequently confused for a green maple leaf. Even more oddly, more than one person responded to it with a smile and 'hey, did you get this from America?', thinking it was some lesser known national symbol of the USA. To be honest I was pretty surprised by this as a lot of the Japanese students I knew were quite culture savvy.
When I did (inevitably) have to explain why the leaf symbol was on my bag and what it generally meant, the general reaction was shock and/or recoil. Actual physical recoil, I mean. This was information that made my Japanese friends sit back and re-evaluate their whole opinion of me; that's how socially strong this kind of issue is.
And remember, this is just a harmless hemp handbag. I'd already categorically stated that I don't and have never used marijuana or any other drug and it was just a symbol of the material; not even the same plant. It still really pulled the carpet out from most peoples feet. The fact that a) I knew about drug culture and b) I knew people from school who had at some time taken drugs, all singled me out. And emphatically NOT in a positive light.
Lucky for me I find the idea of drugs revolting, or else I think I could have swiftly ended up something of a social pariah. Certainly if you do take or have taken drugs, even just marijuana, I'd keep that very quiet.