Cigarettes banned of Tokyo's streets

[Maciamo]

From "Lonely Planet Online"

Asian Capitals Cleaning Up Their Acts
On the same day that central Tokyo banned smoking on its streets, Beijing has introduced strict new laws to put the clampers on spitting and littering in the Chinese capital. Japan's reputation as a tobacco addicts' paradise has been dealt a major blow with a new regulation to help keep Tokyo litter-free and cut down on the number of incidents where people are burned by passing smokers. While 50 uniformed 'cigarette patrol officers' will initially only issue warnings, as of next month anyone caught smoking on certain busy streets more than once will face a 20,000 yen (US$164) fine. An estimated 53 percent of Japanese men are smokers.

Beijing, meanwhile, has decided that spitting in public - a common practice in most of China where it is regarded as a natural and necessary bodily function - is out. The ban is part of a campaign to spruce up the capital, which plays host to a Communist Party congress next month and the Olympics in 2008. Litterers are also up for a fine, and anyone posting unauthorised leaflets or advertisements will be fined 1000 yuan (US$120). China has pledged to invest billions of dollars in preparations for the 2008 Olympics, including spending on a massive construction binge, an environmental clean-up and a campaign to teach taxi drivers English.

[thomas]

They must recruited their advisors from Singapore... ;)

[Twisted]

Send them to Amsterdam when they're done there.
Amsterdam has a major chewing-gum problem!

[Maciamo]

Originally posted by Twisted
Send them to Amsterdam when they're done there.
Amsterdam has a major chewing-gum problem!

And like Paris, dog turds, if I am right ?

[thomas]

Originally posted by Maciamo
And like Paris, dog turds, if I am right ?

As long as they don't smoke them, lolol...

[Hoyu]

What a ridiculous concept. OK... OK... maybe the stray ash or a puff of smoke might meet a passer by on the incredibly congested sidewalks of downtown Tokyo, but I hardly think that there are many cases of people being burned directly by cigarettes themselves.

The Japanese have always been so conscientious about smoking habits. Japan was the first place where I found portable pocket ashtrays that snap open and shut like a little change purse. They're really kind of neat, you simply put the lit cigarette in the pouch, seal and snap it closed, and the lack of oxygen puts it out before it gets too hot to melt the ashtray pouch itself.

Also the Japanese are one of the first to put instructions on the side of the pack of cigarettes that explains how to separate the cellophane from the empty pack and put each in the right recycle bins.

Read the article I linked from the Japan Times... it's pretty funny... "One woman caught by the ward's antismoking patrols threw 30,000 yen in disgust at the officials' feet."

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/...20021102a3.htm

[moyashi]

I think it was "The Japan that can say NO" Ishihara was pushing for this very strongly. But I thought that it was only in certain areas? Up in Sapporo you really don't see that many smokers walking but at night in the drinking district it seems like every body is light up.

@ clean up
After they clean up the dung in Paris, have them come out to Mt. Fujii where they can clean up the human version.

I wish they would nail the jiji's who pee along major roads.

[Hoyu]

OK... I have just read through the entire text of "The Japan that Can Say NO" document written by Ishihara & Morita. While this is clearly political and economy based commentary (border-lining anti-American propaganda), I cannot see how passing a law to keep people from smoking on the sidewalks of Tokyo has any viable correlation. One thing is for certain… "The Japan that Can Say NO" concept has absolutely nothing to do with the American anti-drug conceptuality of "Just Say No." And imported cigarettes from the USA are a very small minority of what tobacco is actually being consumed by business people on the sidewalks of Tokyo. Even Marlborough cigarettes are made of Japanese tobacco in Japan.

If it is true that this Ishihara character, as a Japanese politician, is trying to make waves in the pond just to direct some attention to his "The Japan that Can Say NO" campaign, then I guess by putting the bite on the busy salary-men who only have time to have a quick smoke while rushing from the JR (train station) to their office in the morning, is a good way to get attention (as negative as it most certainly will be). In agreement with Moyashi, Ishihara would have done better to fine those who choose to urinate along the roadways of Japan. Now that's legislation I am sure a great many young Japanese could get behind.

http://www.totse.com/en/politics/the...usa/japan.html

[moyashi]

@ Ishihara
Many know his book rather than him being the Mayor of Tokyo. I was making a joke about how he used "No" as a theme for his book and correlated that "No" idea to saying "No" to smoking on the streets.

Ishihara, if you here him on news shows and such, is pretty much Anti-US. And being a person with knowledge and who can use that knowledge to his benefit at times I feel he is dangerous. He's extremely well studied and can ripe apart opponents. Ishihara does need to recognized since when he speaks many run for cover.

A side note, his brother Yujiro is like Marlon Brando of Japan. An actor who even after his death XX years ago is still a legend to be surpassed.