picture of the day

Smoke-out

27 Comments

Workers smoke cigarettes on the emergency staircase of an office building in Tokyo.

© Japan Today

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

27 Comments
Login to comment

Leave them alone. They ain't hurting anyone but themselves...

0 ( +6 / -6 )

no one said anything kimuzukashiiiiii?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Stairway to heaven.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

"Extra Extra! Some humans still smoke!" The real story here is that Shizuo Kabayashi got PAID for this photo

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Filthy, stinking habit. I expect half of them stink out the train carriage with their stinky clothes and breath on the way home.

4 ( +15 / -11 )

They can always go to McDonalds...

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

they're not specifically having a smoke break... they're just taking a very leisurely approach to a fire drill.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

I preferred the Ministry of Defence that had nice leafy outdoors place for its workers to take a smoke break. Still, this staircase is better than smoking rooms on offer in some buildings.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Saw something similar three or four times a day from my one-room mansion's balcony in Wakayama ! I see a female amongst the crowd. It seems the number of female smokers in Japan was very small compared to home. (U.S.) I wonder if this has changed in the past ten years or so?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

“I have something to tell you non-smokers that I know for a fact that you don't know, and I feel it's my duty to pass on information at all times. Ready?. . . . Non-smokers die every day . . . Enjoy your evening. See, I know that you entertain this eternal life fantasy because you've chosen not to smoke, but let me be the 1st to POP that bubble and bring you hurling back to reality . . . You're dead too.”

(by Bill Hicks, who died of lung cancer)

-11 ( +6 / -17 )

Bilder, Don't be oversensitive. Or take a taxi. Or walk. Peter has got the right tone for this.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

One in 10 tobacco related deaths are caused by second-hand smoke.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

“[Lighting a cigarette] Well, I'm not here to impinge on anybody else's lifestyle. If I'm in a place where I know I'm going to harm somebody's health or somebody asks me to please not smoke, I just go outside and smoke. But I do resent the way the nonsmoking mentality has been imposed on the smoking minority. Because, first of all, in a democracy, minorities do have rights. And, second, the whole pitch about smoking has gone from being a health issue to a moral issue, and when they reduce something to a moral issue, it has no place in any kind of legislation, as far as I'm concerned.” ― Frank Zappa

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

No doubt second hand smoke is being inducted into the aircon units. So not only are these feeble pathetic addicts killing themselves, they are killing others as well that do not smoke. And where are used cigs going, hey look out below. Once they get their fix, its to the deck with cancer stick. Maybe one of them will start a fire, that happens everyday.

Smoking is a public health issue, for the losers who smoke and for the rest who breathe air. Smoking needs to be banned in all public spaces. Period.

3 ( +8 / -5 )

Exhaust smoke is also toxic. I think action should be taken against car and motorcycle drivers too.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Is it even a month since Japan Today last published a photo of people smoking? That photo of the semi-circle outdoor area, taken from above?

It is a bit tiresome and samey. Anyway, they're outside. They're over 20. They're legally allowed to smoke outside, and that's about all there is to it. No debate.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

I have absolutely no problem with people smoking. If they want to blow through their money by smoking, fine. I don't mind. What I do have a problem with, and I do not know if this is the case in Japan, is that smokers will often be allowed to take extra smoking-breaks whereas the non-smoking employees are required to continue working. That is simply unfair.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

@ReaperInc:

smokers will often be allowed to take extra smoking-breaks whereas the non-smoking employees are required to continue working.

Are non-smokers actually required to stay at their desk (or whatever their work location)?

If they stood up and took a stroll - around the floor, up and down the stairs, outside the building -for 5 - 10 minutes every hour (or whatever the equivalent would be), would management complain?

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Heck, every time my boss goes out to have a smoke, I go out for a quick chat with the nearby conbini staff, and I'm back at least a couple of minutes before him every time.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Where there's smoke, there's a Fire (Escape).

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The one standing on the top does not even need to light up. He could just breath in all the 2nd hand smoke.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

its been proven that smokers are less productive than non smokers, smokers should only be allowed to smoke in there own time, or companies should support them in taking quit smoking classes. plenty of other more healthy habbits to take up than smoking.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Where are all those whingers who were complaining about how workers would turn into unproductive drones if allowed to send personal emails or spend a little time on the Internet during working hours? Why is smoking an acceptable way to waste time?

wtfjapan: its been proven that smokers are less productive than non smokers, smokers should only be allowed to smoke in there own time

Let's not get carried away with the word "proven". There was one study done on 53 bank managers and even the person doing the study admitted that most of that was likely because smokers tend to have addictive personalities that carry over into other aspects of their lives, such as work. By that logic, we should be letting people drink, shoot up and snort whatever they like, as long as it keeps them going, right? Other studies contradict this by showing that smokers tend to call in sick more than non-smokers and to cost a company more in overall health care.

Personally, I could care less if a person smokes or not. Nor do I care if a person smokes at work in so far as I don't have to breathe their smoke and I am allowed to take an equal number of breaks. We all have bad habits and inevitably those habits cost someone else somewhere down the line. The thing is that if I overeat or just eat crap food, the immediate effect is on me and me alone. If you smoke and I have to breathe it or end up all stinky because of it, the immediate effect isn't just on you. As much as I love Frank Zappa and generally agree with him about how smoking shouldn't be a moral issue, it becomes one when other people impose their smoke on me. If smokers are okay with me shoveling crisps, cake and cola down their throats then we can call it even.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

smokers will often be allowed to take extra smoking-breaks whereas the non-smoking employees are required to continue working.

true!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

This photo is a great example of that! If you ask anyone if they want to be controlled by people or things -- the answer is always "no way".

Oh please, get off your high horse! (and Good morning!)

Everyone is controlled by something to some extent, be it addiction, appetite, love and the need to protect their loved ones, sexual urges, their anger, long-held grudges, insecurity, power, the need to be successful, in control, rich, or right...

The list could go on, but I'm trying to break the urge for excessive detail.

If you tell me that you will never allow yourself to be controlled, not by anyone or anything, then perhaps that is what controls you.

People's resentment towards smokers as shown in this thread - that's detrimental to their health, too, that resentment and anger.

Let it go.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

bilderberg_2015Jun. 18, 2013 - 02:54PM JST

Filthy, stinking habit. I expect half of them stink out the train carriage with their stinky clothes and breath on the way home.

Super Cool Biz in my office may also be contributing to the less-than-fresh commuter trains at the moment. As for breath issues, well, more middle aged men in Japan need to lay off the cigs and sweet coffee and get themselves to the dentist.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites