December 01, 2004
Politeness indeed
The Japanese politeness is known all over the world. People are very friendly and always trying to help you out, whatever trouble you might run into. But there is one exception – the Japanese smoking.
A vast majority of the Japanese people seem to be heavy smokers. Leaving a train station you will immediately be surrounded by a big crowd puffing and blowing smoke in your face (not intentionally but still). In a restaurant you will probably get more smoke than food if you don’t sit in a non-smoking area (they are rare).
Smoking was probably the biggest culture shock I experienced when I got to Japan. Where I’m from the concern of people with allergies, children and people working in smoking environments (like waitresses) is very important. After all – we all need to breathe, where as smoking is a choice.
