10/25/13

Smoking, now too uncool for school | The Japan Times

Smoke free: Tokyo's Minato Ward discourages people from smoking while walking.
LANGUAGE | BILINGUAL

Smoking, now too uncool for school

BY MINORU MATSUTANI STAFF WRITER

ARTICLE HISTORY SEP 1, 2013 Kitsuen (, smoking) could become an obsolete habit in Japan in the near future, as youngsters apparently now consider smoking dasai (, uncool). PRINT SHARE

A recent survey by the monkash (, an abbreviation of monbukagakush, or the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) shows that only 9 percent of ksan danshi (3, high school senior boys) want to smoke in the future. The survey was conducted in December last year and was the third such survey, after 2000 and 2006. In 2000 the percentage was 30 percent, and 17 percent in
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Smoking, now too uncool for school | The Japan Times

2006. The percentage of girls who expressed a desire to smoke was 11.5 percent in 2000, 7.5 percent in 2006 and 3.4 percent in 2012. The survey also shows that the number of those who agreed to the statement s hito wo kakkoii to omou (I think smokers are cool) was the lowest ever. A similar survey was carried out in February 2011 by the Japanese unit of Pfizer, a major pharmaceutical company. In that survey, Pfizer asked men and women in their 20s to 40s questions regarding their view on dating smokers. The results showed that 62 percent of men and 43 percent of women surveyed (both smokers and nonsmokers) would prefer a nonsmoking partner. For nonsmokers alone the figures were 84 percent of the men and 74 percent of the women. The survey also shows 77.3 percent of nonsmoking men and 72 percent of nonsmoking women have a negatibu na insh (, negative impression) of people of the opposite sex who smoke: Phrases used include, tabako kusai (, stinking of cigarettes),fukenk (, unhealthy), kakko warui ( , uncool) and jidai okure (, out of date). It also showed only 5.7 percent of nonsmoking men and 8.0 percent of nonsmoking women have a pojitibu na insh(, positive impression) of people of the opposite sex who smoke, with terms such as kakkoii (, cool), otonappoi (, adultlike) andjiritsu shiteiru (, independent) being used. If the trend against smoking continues, kitsuensha (
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10/25/13

Smoking, now too uncool for school | The Japan Times

, smokers) will become near-extinct. And the opinion of kenensha (, people who hate smoking) on the Internet seems to suggest that would be a welcome thing. A recent Internet posting on a 2-channel forum on the subject of smoking said, Tabako sutte kakkoiitte iwareru jidai wa tokkuni owattandayo ( The time that smokers were considered cool is long behind us). Its no secret that society has become much harsher for smokers. There are many kitsuen shitei basho ( , designated smoking areas) on Tokyo streets, discouraging people from smoking elsewhere. Some municipalities even outlaw aruki tabako (, smoking while walking on a street). A page regarding smoking on the Naver Matome Internet curation platform shows many people complain online about smoking while walking. A posting on the website displayed a photo of a burn on the ear of a young child, with the title of Issh nokoru yakedo no ato (A burn scar that will last for life). An argument that is often used by opponents of smoking while walking is that when smokers hold cigarettes with their arm hanging down it is kodomo no mesen ( , the same height as a childs eyes), and is therefore very dangerous. In a recent feud between nonsmokers and smokers, Nihon Kinen Gakkai (, Japan Society for Tobacco Control) and Kitsuen Bunka Kenkyuukai ( , Society to Research Smoking Culture)
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Smoking, now too uncool for school | The Japan Times

voiced their opinion over what the former calls excessive smoking scenes in director Hayao Miyazakis latest film Kaze Tachinu (, The Wind Rises). The film is about Japan in early 20th century and its theme is that war is cruel and human life is important. But the Japan Society for Tobacco Control released a statement complaining the film has a number of scenes of smoking. The society singled out a problematic scene of a man smoking while holding his wife who is ill withhaikekkaku (, lung tuberculosis). Naze kono bamen de tabako ga tsukawarenakute wa naranakatta no deshka Why must a cigarette be used in this scene?), the society asked in the statement. It also pointed out that a scene of a student asking his friend for a cigarette may miseinensha no kitsuen wo joch suru (, encourage minors to smoke) and may be a violation of the law banning minors smoking. Overall, the Society for Tobacco Control suggests the movie violates Article 13 of tabako no kisei ni kansuru sekaihokenkikan wakugumi jyaku ( , WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control), which prohibits tobacco advertisements. In response to the criticism, the Society to Research Smoking Culture said Japan in the 1920s and 30s, when the movie is set, had many smokers, as data in 1950 showed 84.5 percent of men smoked: Therefore, smoking scenes are kiwamete ippanteki na bysha (
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Smoking, now too uncool for school | The Japan Times

, extremely normal expression). Any complaints are unlikely to make a difference, however, as the movie is already a hit in theaters and as youngsters these days say, smoking is dasai.

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