Smoking rates in Japan have declined considerably in the last 20 years.
Smoking in Japan, though historically less restricted by law than in many other nations, has significantly changed in recent years. Tobacco use has been in nearly constant decline since 1996 and the decline has been mainly accelerating in recent years.[1] Per capita consumption in 2015 was 1,618 cigarettes, roughly 46% of the peak figure in 1977 and a number last seen in 1956.[2] In 2015, the adult smoking rate was 19.3%, 29.7% of Japanese men and 9.7% of Japanese women.[3] This is the lowest recorded figure since Japan Tobacco began surveying in 1965. As of July 2016, just over 20 million people smoked in Japan, though the nation remained one of the world's largest tobacco markets.[4]
i’m really not sure why you are using pollution as a defence for smoking. I’m not aware of any study anywhere that says smoking is the sole cause of cancer or that breathing in pollution over a long period is not extremely harmful to health.
Several points. Smoking isn't, as you seem to be now acknowledging, the only thing associated with lung cancer. As an adult I'm quite capable of deciding whether I should smoke or not, just as people decide whether to drink too much or overeat.
As far as I can see, smokers are the only group to have been singled out and bullied. GP's are paid to report how many of their patients smoke, so every time I visit them I'm questioned, regardless of why I'm there. Children bully their parents to stop. Passing strangers think they're entitled to glare at a smoker. Some even comment. I find all that unacceptable when I'm not breaking any laws. Not only that, but the 'science' on which it's all based isn't able to prove that smoking causes lung cancer. Even if it could, the decision is still mine.
Japan's smoking rates have only recently fallen. Their lung cancer rates have been falling in line with their measures to clean up their air, which began much earlier than other countries.
