Go Smoking!

by Anna Kunnecke

Japan used to be a haven for cigarette fiends.  You could pretty much smoke anywhere, anytime:  hotel lobbies, conference rooms, tour buses, theaters.  You couldn't technically smoke in the commuter trains, but you could smoke on every platform.  You couldn't smoke on the airplane itself, but you could smoke right up to the gate.  Smoking was practically obligatory in most coffee shops and bars; you needed your own fragrant cloud to do battle with everyone else's noxious fumes.  

Tokyo was a fabulous place to be a smoker.   I adored it. 

But for my many many friends who didn't swoon at the glorious scent of that first sharp inhale, it was awful.  There was no respite from the smoky air, the clinging stench, or the tattered cigarette butts littered everywhere.  Kids would pick them up, they'd float in public fountains, and I have to admit that they were pretty disgusting.  Even as a devoted smoker myself, I was horrified to see smoking happening in tiny sound recording studios, in enclosed spaces that included pregnant women and infants, and even in hospitals. 

In the old days most restaurants had a 'nonsmoking section,' but it was just a few tables plunked down in the blue haze.  No divider, no air filter, no ventilation.  The only place that you could be assured of totally smoke-free air was a ubiquitous American coffee shop chain.  All of its branches were 100% smoke-free, and I always wondered whether that hurt their numbers--but maybe cornering the market on expats and health junkies was pretty lucrative. 

That's all changed.  Smoking is now illegal on most public streets.  Many restaurants and coffee shops are now completely smoke-free.  It's gotten so bad for the smokestacks among us that there's an unofficial campaign against the backlash.  It's called "Go Smoking." 

Restaurants post a "Go Smoking" sign in their window to signal to poor beleaguered smokers that they won't be shoved into dark corners or lashed with critical stares.  There are Go Smoking matchboxes that read, "Warning: Avoiding smoking too much can be dangerous to your mood."  You can find their hilarious website at www.go-smoking.net; even though I don't smoke anymore, I felt a little smug whoomp of solidarity.  The tobacco giants make one hell of an underdog. 

In the American TV show The West Wing, two politicos talk about what would happen if smoking were to be banned or made illegal.  They predict that it would be like the disastrous American experiment, Prohibition, that drove the alcohol trade underground for a while and unintentionally lent booze a dark, dangerous glamour.  Maybe the day of tobacco speakeasies is not as far off as we think. 

Knock twice and ask for Joe.

Password: you got a light?

I'll see you there.  I'll be the one with the ebony holder and the red satin gloves.