As the story goes, European ships that docked in Japan during the late 1500’s bore tobacco-smoking visitors, who appeared to be “making fire in their stomachs.” Astonishment gave way to curiosity, so that by the 1880’s, the tobacco habit had made itself at home in Japan. Who would have thought that the descendants of those astonished Japanese would today be numbered among the heaviest tobacco users in the world?

The Tobacco Scene

About 56 percent of adult Japanese men smoke, as compared with only 28 percent of American men 15 years of age or older. Japan’s 34,000,000 smokers include about 22 percent of its women, many of whom are young. Adult example and clever advertising have contributed greatly to the rapid increase in youthful smokers. Cigarette advertising on TV and radio, which was banned in the United States more than two decades ago, is now banned in Japan.

Furthermore, cigarettes are easily available from many street-corner vending machines in Japan. Once the pack is in the hand, few heed the rather weak and casual messages printed on it. The label may simply read: “Let’s not smoke too much; it may be harmful.” And in addition to the fact that ignorance of the grave dangers of tobacco often prevails, the bad example of a number of prominent people also encourages the Japanese to smoke, lulling them into a false sense of security.

No wonder that antismoking advocates deplore Japan’s delinquency in not getting more of its citizens to stop using tobacco. But educators are starting to see the importance of warning people that smoking threatens their health and life. Yes, Japanese smokers experience the same symptoms as smokers elsewhere—nausea, shortness of breath, nagging cough, stomachache, loss of appetite, susceptibility to colds, and perhaps, in time, a premature death due to lung cancer, heart disease, or other problems.

As of April 1, 1985, the Japanese tobacco industry was privatized, ending decades of government monopoly. Nevertheless, it still enjoys close government ties that hinder any real strides in discouraging smoking. This explains why antitobacco groups regard Japan today as a smokers’ haven. And it explains why The Daily Yomiuri reported that doctors here are bemoaning the fact that Japan is “a society which encourages smoking.”