All this talk about the Japanese and smoking and by coincidence, this article:


Japan Palace to Stop Giving Away Cigarettes

Thu Jun 9, 8:38 AM ET

Japan's imperial palace said Thursday it will end its century-old tradition of giving specially made cigarettes as gifts to employees, volunteers and others amid a nationwide anti-smoking drive.

Although Japan's smoking rate remains one of the highest in the developed world, smoking has been banned in public facilities, hospitals and a growing number of restaurants.

New laws require tougher warnings on cigarette packages, and Parliament is considering restrictions on outdoor advertising.

Japan's Imperial Household Agency said it will stop giving away the cigarettes as gifts beginning April, 2007. It cited a declining rate of smokers in the country.

But the palace will not be smoke-free, and the agency said it will continue offering cigarettes to visitors who smoke.

In a tradition going back more than 100 years, the palace has given soldiers, foreign guests and others gifts of cigarettes — usually in white boxes of 20 cigarettes, each imprinted with a gold chrysanthemum flower — a symbol of the imperial throne.

Japan Tobacco, then a government monopoly, started producing the imperial cigarettes in 1934, said Japan Tobacco spokesman Kei Koro.

The number of chrysanthemum cigarettes dropped to 1.4 million in 2003 from 280 million in 1944, Koro said.

Japan's overall smoking rate fell for the ninth consecutive year in 2004 to just below 30 percent of adult population, according to Japan Tobacco, which sells nearly two-thirds of the country's tobacco products.

The Finance Ministry holds a 50 percent stake in the company.

bmwracer wrote:

All this talk about the Japanese and smoking and by coincidence, this article:

i just read that article...haha...

Gah... cigarettes... yuck... You realize that they're only using low quality tobacco for cigarettes? None of the tobacco they use can be compared to what's in a real Havanna.

I stick to my pipe and cigars... mmmmm... then again, those take time to smoke, unlike cigaretts, which are basically nothing else but fast food. Yuck. No style, no quality, just for quick consumation *shakes head*

I also think that making laws and all that jazz about smoking is somewhat ridiculous. Agreed, kids shouldn't be allowed to smoke, but there are ways to get cigarettes even as child, it's easy (just as easy as to get alcohol btw). Also, the whole issue with "passive smoking" is overrated anyway. It doesn't seem to be that bad after all (I think I've inhaled more crap driving on the A 23 (the large highway through Vienna) daily for several years than my passive smoking over all my years).

Interestingly, you know what the most common cancer is in Germany? No, not lung cancer or any other cancer related to smoking. It's skin cancer. Since the 1950s the ammount of skin cancer cases in Germany has doubled ever 6-8 years. Now that's scary.

I think, if people want to kill themselves with cigarettes... let them. They should be old enough to know better though.

Though, there's one thing I don't get.... how can one like cigarettes? I've tried them... YUCK!!! The taste... ewwwwww... I rather chew on raw meat. And well, I can't inhale the smoke lol. I tried that twice... oi... I nearly threw up. I really wonder why people start with those. It can't be for the taste. It's cool? I duno, what's so cool with tobacco "fast food". For stress relieve? Duno, I can deal with my stress without having to inhale burned leaves.

No cigarette can beat a good, churchill-sized cigar and a lovely glass of real scottish single malt whiskey...

I love smoking however I know I should give it up. Getting old so I have to look out for my health more so.....
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Smoking is bad I know and too damn expensive these days, but I can't seem to quit. I tried once I remember some years ago, but then I went on vacation to London and they had these really cheap taxfree cigarettes at first I hesitated and ignored it but just before boarding I ran back to the shops couldn't leave it - it was half the price!

oh well, I'll quit when we decide to have kids..

Terryb wrote:

oh well, I'll quit when we decide to have kids..

That's the same thing I told my wife. I told her when she's pregnant, she can't smoke and so will I.
Hopefully it'll work!
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I quit smoking in 2001. I had smoked for over 25 years.
Longer than most of you guys have been alive!!

Anyway, I never regret quitting. THe smell is so evil.
Anyone who really wants to quit can.

The key is a good plan, it always takes a good plan to win at anything.


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But but! smoking - beer, beer - smoking: it's just not the same without either one I've been smoking for like 13years now, man I'd be rich if I never started. but then I would spend it on other useless stuff..

I know a couple, neither of them quit smoking when they had their baby, poor thing has astma. I got so mad at them, some people just don't know what they are doing...

ahochaude wrote:

I love smoking however I know I should give it up. Getting old so I have to look out for my health more so.....

Yeah, you should...I gave up a long time ago...it was hard but you get there if you really want to. My father had a stroke when I was small (due to heavy really heavy smoker) .... smoke kill you !!
When you stop smoking first thing you will notice is smell, taste.....and some people put it on weight .... but I was luckly, didn't put weight at all
Anyway if you are going to stop smoke alwasys support is here
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I'm special, so special. I got have some your attention give it to me.....

i smoke cloves, when i am out with friends, it literally takes me 2 months to finish a pack
i started last summerm i do it bcs im bored or bcs...it loox cool, and wierd as it sounds..i dont inhale, i puff and blow it out through the side of my mouth, the first time i smoked i did inhale and then it felt like my lungs were crying! i know that was all in my mind, but still..i made sure to never do it again.
both of my best friends smoke, and all of the guys that i have ever liked..have been smokers. i like guys who smoke and i like how it smells.

Bsalez wrote:

Yep hear dat befor an become one reason hard to quit...Gain weight ne Eat eat n eat

What you can do to stop put weight on is simple watch what you eat and exercise, dear
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I'm special, so special. I got have some your attention give it to me.....

in school the teachers told students to not smoke, they said because it can stunt your growth. don't know if this is true.

if it can help people to not gain weight, can it also stunt a kid's growth?

ahochaude wrote:

I love smoking however I know I should give it up. Getting old so I have to look out for my health more so.....

i rarely smoke these days, but one piece of advice...drink a shiet load of green tea...it's the best thing you can do for yourself to protect the ol' innards...

TANG wrote:

i like guys who smoke and i like how it smells.

you must be the 1 in a million

for non-smoking guys -- would you go out with a girl who smokes?

like you can smell the smoke on her all the time and at her place, everywhere you go, you can smell the smoke on her.

aishetru wrote:

for non-smoking guys -- would you go out with a girl who smokes?

No. Uh-uh. No way. Nein. Iye.

Terryb wrote:

you must be the 1 in a million

yeah i guess so,im a wierdo, and such a loser, this whole smoking interest, began when i saw spike spiegel of "cowboy bebop " for the first time.....its sick i know , but damn i cant help it, guys look so cool doin it

aishetru wrote:

in school the teachers told students to not smoke, they said because it can stunt your growth. don't know if this is true. if it can help people to not gain weight, can it also stunt a kid's growth?

I don't think it necessarily keeps weight down. It's just that when people quit, they tend to gain weight due to eating more for preoccupation. Oral fixation I guess

I smoke about a pack a day still I'm not ready to quit but I know I eventually have to. I know it has affected my health somewhat already after smoking for say....7-8 years?

KouSeiya315 wrote:

I smoke about a pack a day still

Aww, KS....

bmwracer wrote:

Aww, KS....

I know...I know