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Japan is one of the countries where people smoke literally everywhere. As for marijuana, it's highly illegal, it's one of the remnants of the colonial history t

Japan is one of the countries where people smoke literally everywhere. As for marijuana, it's highly illegal, it's one of the remnants of the colonial history there as everything apart from smoking and drinking is considered evil due to how China was devastated with opium.

naishoya 12d ago
Maybe 20 years ago, not so much today. There are a few places around town and a few indoor restaurants where public smoking is still permitted, but this is no longer true in most public spaces. Not on train platforms, not indoors in the vast majority of public spaces, it's just not that common and the number of smokers in Japan has significantly diminished over the last several decades. There are 'smoking boxes' on some train platforms, but I rarely see those in use by more than a few people out of the several hundred who may be waiting. Marijuana is also 'highly' illegal but also not exactly hard to find for people who are 'hip' and it's also not aggressively enforced, much like speeding. Also, Japan doesn't actually have a 'colonial history' having never been colonized by another nation. I'm thinking you have just heard about Japan by rough description?
- stryan 12d ago
  > Also, Japan doesn't actually have a 'colonial history' having never been colonized by another nation. It was never colonized but I've often heard it talked about in a similar way due to the effects of the Commodore Perry and the post WWII occupation (i.e. see their infamous pornography laws), as well as neighboring affects from China's colonial history.
  - naishoya 12d ago
    The infamous 'anti-pornography laws' actually predate Perry by a significant period of time. Those were a Tokugawa era law originally. Post WWII occupation has had very little actual impact on Japanese culture, no matter how impactful the occupiers think they were.
    - sampullman 12d ago
      It's the first time I've seen this put forward, I thought the effects of occupation were obvious and undeniable. To me at least there is a clear influence in art/music/cinema, technology, and food. Though over time, it fuses to the point of being its own thing.
      - naishoya 11d ago
        Certainly the impacts of American culture from Hollywood and Elvis are impactful, but that effect has reached nearly every corner of the world. One memorable point is Richard Gere finding himself recognized as "Officer Gentleman" in one of the most remote jungle villages in Papua New Guinea that only had one TV set for the whole tribe. However, the Japanese social and legal reformation following the end of the war took as much influence from the greater western world as from the US. Half of the country used primarily German technology imports for developing it's power grid, and this legacy remains today, as there is a division into 60Hz and 50Hz regions of roughly equal size. Japan adopted a very English form of democracy, uses a similarly English approach to the division of public and private education, and while the Meiji Restoration did away with legal and formal caste divisions, there is still a strong hierarchy of culture which instead of feudalism, uses financial means as a basis for class. Much of the former Samurai class was in unique position to transition into the merchant class at the time of Meiji and thus the system changed but also stayed the same. The Japanese have been adept at both appearing to be influenced from the outside and remaining unchanged on the inside. There is a concept that is central to Japanese culture and consciousness, which is a duality of existence called Tatemae and Honne. This mistakenly gets conflated with Yin and Yang, but is wholly unrelated. This duality is the 'view from the outside' and the 'internal truth' and is the societal construct which underpins the strong tendency to reduce public conflict and direct contradiction. The Japan that is visible to the outside, between individuals and among nations, is highly influenced by this concept and is why Japan can appear to be influenced and changed, and can at the same time cling to traditions and customs which are rooted firmly and unchanged since the 16th and 17th centuries. It means that the same 'James Dean' lookalike rebellious youth groups in places like Shinjuku and Akihabara can exist, and yet most of them do 'grow up' and go to work in an office as a 'Salaryman' even if they still dress up and hang out on the one day off they get every week. The influence of foreign food is much in this same vein, Tempura being an excellent exemplar. Originating with Portuguese sailors centuries ago, it has been embraced and taken on such change as to become recognizably Japanese cuisine around the world. Ramen as well, unmistakably Chinese in origin, yet integrated and given a truly Japanese transformation until it is nearly wholly identified with the Japanese menu. These foreign influences do appear, but only when they are in tune with, and can be adapted to fit the underlying 'core truth' of Japanese culture. The Tatemae may shift and appear to have changed, the Honne remains stable and forms a durable foundation, for individuals and for society as a whole. And so, for the occupiers it may appear as if they have made a significant influence on the whole of Japanese society, and they may perceive themselves as somehow similar in effect to 'colonial influences' while at the same time, having had no more real impact to the formal and traditional activities of society than a new coat of paint or sponsorship label has on the driving characteristics of a race car.
- makingstuffs 12d ago
  Yeah I was going to say I don’t remember seeing smokers anywhere other than the ‘box of shame’
deleted 12d ago
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dboreham 12d ago
People definitely do not smoke everywhere in 2026.

naishoya 12d ago

Maybe 20 years ago, not so much today. There are a few places around town and a few indoor restaurants where public smoking is still permitted, but this is no longer true in most public spaces. Not on train platforms, not indoors in the vast majority of public spaces, it's just not that common and the number of smokers in Japan has significantly diminished over the last several decades. There are 'smoking boxes' on some train platforms, but I rarely see those in use by more than a few people out of the several hundred who may be waiting. Marijuana is also 'highly' illegal but also not exactly hard to find for people who are 'hip' and it's also not aggressively enforced, much like speeding. Also, Japan doesn't actually have a 'colonial history' having never been colonized by another nation. I'm thinking you have just heard about Japan by rough description?

stryan 12d ago
> Also, Japan doesn't actually have a 'colonial history' having never been colonized by another nation. It was never colonized but I've often heard it talked about in a similar way due to the effects of the Commodore Perry and the post WWII occupation (i.e. see their infamous pornography laws), as well as neighboring affects from China's colonial history.
- naishoya 12d ago
  The infamous 'anti-pornography laws' actually predate Perry by a significant period of time. Those were a Tokugawa era law originally. Post WWII occupation has had very little actual impact on Japanese culture, no matter how impactful the occupiers think they were.
  - sampullman 12d ago
    It's the first time I've seen this put forward, I thought the effects of occupation were obvious and undeniable. To me at least there is a clear influence in art/music/cinema, technology, and food. Though over time, it fuses to the point of being its own thing.
    - naishoya 11d ago
      Certainly the impacts of American culture from Hollywood and Elvis are impactful, but that effect has reached nearly every corner of the world. One memorable point is Richard Gere finding himself recognized as "Officer Gentleman" in one of the most remote jungle villages in Papua New Guinea that only had one TV set for the whole tribe. However, the Japanese social and legal reformation following the end of the war took as much influence from the greater western world as from the US. Half of the country used primarily German technology imports for developing it's power grid, and this legacy remains today, as there is a division into 60Hz and 50Hz regions of roughly equal size. Japan adopted a very English form of democracy, uses a similarly English approach to the division of public and private education, and while the Meiji Restoration did away with legal and formal caste divisions, there is still a strong hierarchy of culture which instead of feudalism, uses financial means as a basis for class. Much of the former Samurai class was in unique position to transition into the merchant class at the time of Meiji and thus the system changed but also stayed the same. The Japanese have been adept at both appearing to be influenced from the outside and remaining unchanged on the inside. There is a concept that is central to Japanese culture and consciousness, which is a duality of existence called Tatemae and Honne. This mistakenly gets conflated with Yin and Yang, but is wholly unrelated. This duality is the 'view from the outside' and the 'internal truth' and is the societal construct which underpins the strong tendency to reduce public conflict and direct contradiction. The Japan that is visible to the outside, between individuals and among nations, is highly influenced by this concept and is why Japan can appear to be influenced and changed, and can at the same time cling to traditions and customs which are rooted firmly and unchanged since the 16th and 17th centuries. It means that the same 'James Dean' lookalike rebellious youth groups in places like Shinjuku and Akihabara can exist, and yet most of them do 'grow up' and go to work in an office as a 'Salaryman' even if they still dress up and hang out on the one day off they get every week. The influence of foreign food is much in this same vein, Tempura being an excellent exemplar. Originating with Portuguese sailors centuries ago, it has been embraced and taken on such change as to become recognizably Japanese cuisine around the world. Ramen as well, unmistakably Chinese in origin, yet integrated and given a truly Japanese transformation until it is nearly wholly identified with the Japanese menu. These foreign influences do appear, but only when they are in tune with, and can be adapted to fit the underlying 'core truth' of Japanese culture. The Tatemae may shift and appear to have changed, the Honne remains stable and forms a durable foundation, for individuals and for society as a whole. And so, for the occupiers it may appear as if they have made a significant influence on the whole of Japanese society, and they may perceive themselves as somehow similar in effect to 'colonial influences' while at the same time, having had no more real impact to the formal and traditional activities of society than a new coat of paint or sponsorship label has on the driving characteristics of a race car.
makingstuffs 12d ago
Yeah I was going to say I don’t remember seeing smokers anywhere other than the ‘box of shame’

deleted 12d ago

[deleted]

dboreham 12d ago

People definitely do not smoke everywhere in 2026.