Tobacco in Japan?

[MMM]

Originally Posted by JoshAussie

this might sound bad, but what about the women when pregnant? do they get warned or anything about the health risks? or is smoking just a normal day thing which they dont really take notice too?

Of course women stop smoking when they are pregnant. They are well warned about smoking when pregnant and even more nowdays about second-hand smoke.

[Paul11]

Originally Posted by JoshAussie

this might sound bad, but what about the women when pregnant? do they get warned or anything about the health risks? or is smoking just a normal day thing which they dont really take notice too?

They don't do that.

MMM is quite right. I lived in japan in the late 90's and every restaurant was full of smoke. Lately things have changes, now that he mentions it.

[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.

[JoshAussie]

thanks MMM and paul, i thought they would have but wasnt sure. the only other country iv been to is England which is where my mum and dad and basically all my family are from. besides the younger generation in our family which is Australian, and proud ><.

[Paul11]

Originally Posted by JoshAussie

thanks MMM and paul, i thought they would have but wasnt sure. the only other country iv been to is England which is where my mum and dad and basically all my family are from. besides the younger generation in our family which is Australian, and proud ><.

Really, your avatar looks like your family are from Papua New Ginea.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by 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.

That has been my experience, too. Women will smoke openly in bars...but not all women go to bars.

[Sangetsu]

Women who are pregnant will be warned by their doctors of the dangers of smoking, or exposure to second hand smoke.

Here's an interesting statistic, about 85% of lung cancer victims are smokers. Of the remaining 15%, 90% of them lived with smokers, or were exposed to cigarette smoke on a regular basis. This is why they say that exposure to second hand smoke is just as, or possibly even more dangerous than smoking.

Japan has a national health care system, and the government here is working to reduce the number of smokers through the restrictions that have been enacted recently. I'm sure increases in cigarette taxes won't be far behind,

[MMM]

The price of cigarettes has increased dramatically in the US over the past 10 years. From less than 2 dollars a pack to now 5 dollars or so. Sadly, it still tends to be a habit of the lower class here. Rich people smoke at a much lower rate than poor people. Thankfully fewer and fewer school kids are starting to smoke. They just can't afford it.