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Wednesday, May 23

Just How Prevalent is Smoking in Japan

We heard all sorts of stories before we moved to Japan. One such story involved how restaurants would be shaded with the hazy gray ringing the heads of everyone in the joint, all with a lit cigarette. While there is definitely a large part of the population that smokes here, I haven’t felt the need to bolt from many public places. There are the occasional times that you are walking down the street and the person in front of you is puffing away, sending little clouds back into your face. Just walk slower and it goes away.

Yesterday as I was cruising down a stretch of busy road, I came to a stop at a red light. Pulling up next to me was a young guy on the ever prevalent motorbike. I didn’t pay any particular notice until I saw him drop something and bend over to pick it up… only to put it in his mouth.

Is a cigarette really that necessary while you are operating a motorbike on a busy road that, should you drop it, you would still pick it up and smoke it?

Just wondering.

3 comments:

Mike S said...

Smoking on a bike at any time is rather iffy in the opinion of this old Harley nut:)

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Unknown said...

Maybe they are viewed as food.
And food can't be wasted.
Then theres the 5 second rule thing, its still good if they pick it up within 5 seconds =D