Smoking in Japan

It was interesting to see that smokers have to smoke in specific places like that semi-enclosed space in the picture. It is raining, but the smokers who desperately need their fix, are braving the rain under their umbrellas to have a puff.

I realised that I never saw someone walking and smoking, something you can see in almost any other place.

And perhaps this is good public policy. smoking while walking almost certainly leads to littering (the butts).

And while cigarette vending machines are readily available, beer vending machines are not. There are beer vending machines, but these are usually only found in hotels (as far as I have found). Cigarettes vending machines are more readily available and it would seem that children could easily access cigarettes.

But I have not seen any children smoking. Perhaps these rules work together.

If you can only smoke in designated areas, then it is very obvious if a child is smoking in the smokers corner. But I don't know if underaged smoking is an offence or even a problem in Japan.

Just an observation.