For both alcohol and cigarettes, Japan is quite the opposite. Let’s find out why this is and learn more about all the little kids running around drunk in the land of the rising sun.

Being Of Legal Age

Now that we’re 20 we can drink and smoke, lol!

Ironically in 1900, Japan was the very first country to create a law that banned underage smoking. It’s kind of like those “ridiculous laws” articles that you see from time to time. For example, in Louisiana “Fake” wrestling matches are prohibited. Or, how in Washington the harassing of Bigfoot, Sasquatch or other undiscovered subspecies is a felony punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment. The underage drinking and smoking laws in Japan are just like that. Laws that nobody upholds, and laws that nobody cares about.

But, let’s just pretend that people care for a moment. The minimum drinking and smoking age is 20 years old, the age when people are considered to be “adults” in Japan. There are laws against consuming, selling, or giving cigarettes or alcohol to minors, but nobody listens. In 1996, the average number of cases brought to prosecutors for underage smoking, for example, was five. Of course, none of the accused were punished in any way. Underage drinking just isn’t considered a big deal, though God forbid you give someone else a ride on your bicycle (that’s a 20,000 yen fine I’ve seen given to several unfortunate people).

Drinking Underage In Japan

The kind of thing I would have liked had I been drinking in high school

The Japanese underage drinking law came into affect in 1922. It has been ignored ever since. Most nations decreased their alcohol consumption since WWII. Japan has managed to increase it. Alcohol on a whole is pretty big in Japan. With children it’s increasing as well.

Here is a summary of results on a survey translated by the authors of “Young People’s Drinking Behavior in Japan” (see sources below).

1. Despite the law prohibiting underage drinking, around 50% of junior high school and 70% of senior high school students reported some experience with alcohol.
2. As in other countries, instances of alcohol consumption, regular drinking, and alcohol-related problems show a constant and dramatic increase with age.
3. Differences are not too wide for drinking patterns of boys and girls. However, boys still exhibit more drinking problems such as fighting, vomiting, hangover, and blackouts.
4. The major source of beverage alcohol for junior and senior high school students was their own homes, followed by convenience stores. Percentage of students obtaining alcohol from vending machines decreased in both junior and senior high school students, as fewer vending machines selling alcohol became available.
5. The choice of alcohol beverage appeared to be gender-linked. Male students preferred beer, while female respondents preferred sweet or fruit-flavored cocktails.
6. Drinking behavior did not change dramatically between 1996 and 2000. It was noted however, that, while overall alcohol consumption appeared to decrease, drinking problems in female students increased during this period.

This wasn’t just one year of surveys, though. They ran follow-ups over the course of five years. By the fifth year, 70% of students were still filling out the survey. Here’s the summaries they came up with regarding the five-year span.

1. Drinking behavior changes dramatically during junior and senior high school years.
2. Over the 5-year period, the percentage of young people consuming alcohol doubled. Drinking in the family tended to be replaced by drinking with friends.
3. The prevalence of alcohol-related problems increased sharply since students were first surveyed in 1997. For example, the percentage of problem drinkers, identified according to the Japanese version of the Quantity-Frequency Scale (Suzuki et al., 1994), increased more than 100 times over the 5-year period, as students progressed from junior to senior high school.
4. Risk factors found to be associated with drinking problems were: earlier age of the first drink, susceptibility to peer pressure, and lack of communication with parents.

There are a few big-picture points we can glean from this. First, there are junior high school students drinking, which boggles my mind. Second, a lot of girls are drinking. Third, a lot of high school students are drinking, which is less surprising, but there’s still quite a bit of this going on.

So Why Are The Kids Drinking?

So we have to ask ourselves, why are all these underage kids drinking? I think there are several reasons, though please note that a lot of this is just my opinion and experience talking.

1. People Will Sell You Alcohol: Shopkeepers will sell to underage kids most of the time. The closest thing to carding I’ve ever seen was a screen that shows up in convenience stores that asks “are you 20 or older?” then has a “yes” button but no “no” button.
2. Vending Machines Vend Alcohol: Although alcohol vending machines are decreasing in numbers, there are still quite a few out there. You can easily buy alcohol from vending machines, and of course they don’t card you. If getting alcohol is this easy, then why wouldn’t kids buy from them? As one great beer mogul once said, “if you build it, they will come.”
3. The Taste Of Japanese Alcohol: Japanese alcohol is easy to drink. Even for kids. There is chu-hai, which mostly tastes like carbonated lemon soda, and if I was a kid I would have loved it (it was developed to be more “womanly” after all). Then there’s the regular beer as well. Asahi Super Dry, Japan’s most popular beer, which is also a lot like drinking a lightly beer flavored soda. After that there’s sake, which unlike sake outside of Japan, actually tastes really good (and is super smooth). Pretty much every Japanese alcoholic beverage is really easy to drink, and this makes it easier for the kids too. I didn’t like the taste of alcohol until my early to mid twenties. If I had been given basically any Japanese alcohol, I may have had a different opinion on the matter.

I can also confirm a lot of the summaries put forth above as well. Despite going to one of the best high schools in the Nagoya area, at least one third of my friends would drink on a somewhat regular basis. I didn’t see it much (unless we were at karaoke), but they were open about their habits. I had one friend who would have a beer every night “to help him to fall asleep.” I suspect he was just getting ready for salaryman life.

Smoking Underage In Japan

Unlike alcohol, I’ve seen firsthand the decrease in consumption across the board. Smoking in Japan is becoming slightly more taboo every year that goes by, and now they’re being corralled into smoking pens. Restaurants even have non-smoking sections or no-smoking rules, which feels unheard of considering how things were ten years ago.

Still, underage smoking is still prevalent, as Japan still is a very smoking culture. In 1999, 19% of 15-20 year old men and 4.3% of 15-20 year old women identified themselves as smokers. 42% of male smokers and 35% of female smokers reported going habitual before 20, the legal age limit. While a lot of time has passed between then and now, I imagine the numbers are fairly similar but slightly better (just guessing based on my own experience).

To back up these numbers, I have a similar experience (though a very small data-set) from high school times in Japan. Amongst my core group of six friends at the time, two of them smoked, though never at school. It wouldn’t be a lot (maybe one or two packs a week), but definitely enough to call them smokers. Of course, both of them are heavy smokers today, well into their twenties.

Just like alcohol, smoking is really easy in Japan. Tobacco Vending machines are much more prevalent compared to alcohol vending machines. If you don’t have a convenient vending machine, shopkeepers and convenience stores will sell pretty much anyone cigarettes. If you want them you can have them, and with the number of people who smoke still, there just isn’t that pressure not to smoke, so kids get started early.

But Is It Right?

That, I’m not so sure about. It’s easy to do in Japan, but I can’t really say what’s right or wrong (that’s up to you in the comments). Kids aren’t driving anywhere, because while it’s easy to get a beer when you’re 15 it’s impossible to get a driver’s license. So, nobody’s going to hurt anyone that way. Also, Japan is a lot safer than most places too. You can get drunk and fall asleep in front of a train station like this guy, and you don’t have to worry about your bag getting stolen.

Then, there is the whole “getting prepared for business life thing.” While I feel like it’s a dumb excuse (those salarymen drink way too much), there is some truth in this statement. Friends would tell me this in regards to their drinking, because if you’re not prepared both mentally and physically for the brutal nomikais that await you, you’re going to have a hard time.

But drinking can also help people to relax. With the intensity that is the Japanese school system, it’s (almost) hard to blame anyone who wants a way to calm down and relax for once. Alcohol is a way that people do that, and while it’s a bad excuse, I almost want to compare teenage drinking in Japan to teenage (pot) smoking in America. Marijuana in Japan is very hard to get (and the punishment is steep). Both aren’t right, technically, though many would argue otherwise, I think. Alcohol, compared to marijuana, is very easy to get, and there’s no punishment for breaking the alcohol law, just like marijuana and kids in America. When a kids wants to let go and escape testing hell for a few hours, this is how they’re going to do it (this and karaoke).

I’m not going to come out and say what’s right and wrong, because I really don’t know, but these are my observations. While I never partook in these activities myself in Japanese high school, I had plenty of opportunities. I guess my upbringing in America taught me that drugs are bad and I should always refuse, or something like that. If I was given a 5yen coin for the number of times I was offered alcohol at home / a matsuri / a restaurant… well, I could buy a lot of beer, though not as much as I would have got if I had accepted every alcohol-related offer. It’s easy to get alcohol and cigarettes in Japan and sometimes hareder to say no. Japan is a very group oriented culture, and alcohol (more than cigarettes) is one way to become closer with said groups. Alcohol opens you up and allows you to express your feelings, something that doesn’t come up very often in Japanese society (at least when alcohol isn’t involved). With the ease of getting alcohol and tobacco in Japan, as well as the lack of harder drugs, it’s no wonder there are so many cases of underage drinking and smoking.

Now it’s your turn. Is this right? Is it wrong? Let me know what you think.

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Update: Turns out, a lot of tobacco machines require an ID to show you’re of age. Times are-a-changing it seems. That being said, buying cigarettes from a person and not a vending machine seems quite easy, much like alcohol. So, while it’s more difficult than I thought to get cigarettes when you’re below 20 years old, it’s still fairly easy to get cigarettes. Apologies for the incorrect information, though the message is still pretty much the same, I think. Also, thank you for those of you who let me know in the comments, I need to get into smoking so I know these things!

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Sources

Japan: Streets Unsafe as Machines Prey on Children, by Mark A. Levin
Tobacco Control , Vol. 9, No. 2 (Jun., 2000), pp. 132-133

Young People’s Drinking Behavior in Japan, by Susumu Higuchi, Kenji Suzuki, Sachio Matsushita, and Yoneatsu Osaki.

Walking While Talking

Just like it is on trains in Japan, having loud conversations on your cell phone while out and about is kinda rude. While those on vehicles will usually resort to the much more polite act of texting, if one gets a call on a busy street, it’s not unusual for them to take it aside to a more secluded area as to not bother others with their babbling.

I’ve always thought this was kind of strange though. It’s not very different from if you were just walking down the street with a friend and chatting it up with them. Maybe it’s just the idea that everyone around you only hears one side of the conversation and that is viewed as rude. It makes sense to me when people are on the train though because usually the trains are super quiet, so anyone talking loudly really stands out.

Walking While Smoking

One of the most profound discoveries I made while in Japan was how clean their streets and sidewalks were compared to those in America. One of the biggest offenders as far as litter goes in the US is cigarette butts. They’re everywhere. I never really noticed it until I got back from Japan and actually started paying attention to them. In most cities you can’t go more than a few steps without seeing another discarded cigarette. It’s sad, really. However this is not the case in Japan.

Smoking and walking is one of the biggest taboos while out and about in Japan. In some places, it’s even illegal. When you think about it though, it really makes sense. How many times have you been walking down the sidewalk and someone in front of you lights one up? You can either keep walking at your normal pace and deal with the fallout from the chimney in front of you, or you can speed up and overtake them. Either way, it’s kind of annoying. Now imagine this situation in a crowded area like Tokyo. Secondhand smoke all over the place.

Another reason is that with it being so crowded it becomes easy to accidentally bump into someone with your lit cigarette. If you bump into another adult, you might burn a hole in their clothes, or scorch the skin on their arms. And it’s even worse if you happen to bump into a small child. You run the risk of burning their face or getting hot ash in their eyes. Definitely not a pleasant experience.

So part of the reason that there are so few discarded cigarettes in Japan is because people are highly discouraged to smoke while on the move. Another reason is because of the many designated smoke areas that exist in Japan. They are places away from traffic where smokers can light up, smoke, and discard their cigs in special containers. I know we have things like this in the States as well, but how many people will really take the time to use them for smoking a cigarette? Not many.

While this is great and all, Japan unfortunately forgot to do anything about controlling smoking while indoors. Unlike Europe and the United States, smoking is perfectly accepted in most all Japanese bars and restaurants. Maybe one day they’ll fix that too.

Walking While Eating or Drinking

While not as dangerous as smoking while in public, eating and drinking while walking is also considered kind of a low class thing to do in Japan. You’d think it would be just the opposite with the abundance of vending machines they have over there, but it is quite the contrary.

It’s not quite as rude as it used to be, but it’s still considered to be kind of lousy. More often than not, when people use a vending machine they will just hang around the machine until they are done with their drink or snack and then continue on their way. Makes sense that a lot of these machines have started to implement free Wi-Fi.

When my friends and I were studying abroad in Kobe, we would head down to the local Lawson, one of Japan’s many fantastic convenience stores, get some breakfast foods, and eat them on our way back to the dorm. It was far from unusual for us to get some strange looks from the locals while doing so.

So what do you think about these social conventions in Japan? Think your country would benefit from any of them? I know I’d sure love it if America was more polite with their public smoking habits. Let us know in the comments!

[Header Image]

Everyone knows that smoking is pretty unhealthy – even in Japan people are smoking less and less. But for me, when it comes to my debilitating addiction to cool gadgets, I’d be happy to carry highly radioactive cell phones, stare at staring women, or put one of these in my mouth. That is, as long as it’s only a Vitamin C cartridge inside.

I found this product via Flutterstream’s Twitter feed (Yes, you can buy this). The one being sold is the “Vitamin C” one, though it exists in “Coenzyme Q10″ and “Tarless Nicotine” (for you cigarette addicts out there) flavors as well. Mmm, I can finally throw out the Airborne.

Here’s how it essentially works:

• There’s an LED light so that you can look just as cool as other smokers around you (who’s second hand smoke is much worse for you than if you were smoking an actual cigarette).
• You breath in moisture from the air which gets turned into a smoke-like mist which you can breath out (presumably so you can continue to look as cool as all the other smokers you’re sitting outside with).
• Inside is a replaceable cartridge (the three types that were listed above).
• It doesn’t smell like anything, which means you can smoke indoors and have fun explaining to every other person you run into that “no, it’s not an actual cigarette, it’s just mist… no, see, it’s not a… no… right, but I’m telling you… right… it’s mechanical… and it… ugh, fine, I’ll put it out. See? Switch. Not fire. I just turn off a switch.”)

You do have to charge your fancy cigarette, which apparently takes 3-4 hours to do. C’mon, if they wanted to make it like a real cigarette (which it seems like they’re really trying to do with the LED light and the mist and stuff), then they should make it charge faster, so you can take a break every hour and take advantage of the extra breaks you should get (and deserve). Right?

And, while you’re at it, hanging out with the rest of the smokers, why not take a look at this company’s other product, “NoseMint”?

It’s just one home run after another for this company, isn’t it? So are you like me? Does smoking sound awesome if you get to use a fancy gadget to do it?

P.S. If you think your nose could smell better, you should follow me on Twitter.