今日吃瓜

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November 12, 2026
 

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SMOKING

A worker cleans up garbage including cigarette butts on Ebisubashi Bridge in Osaka's Dotonbori district early in the morning in September.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Nov 11, 2026
Osaka struggles to stamp out cigarette littering
Despite a citywide ban on smoking on streets, a deadly fire believed to have been caused by a discarded cigarette butt broke out there last year.
The logo of Japan Tobacco at its headquarters in Tokyo
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 6, 2026
Putin seizes Japan Tobacco assets, further straining relations with Japan
The order impacts four manufacturing plants and has drawn immediate protest from Tokyo.
A University of Tokyo research group’s multiyear survey found the nutritional quality of diets for people from their teens to early 20s in Japan was lowest among the age groups, possibly due to lifestyle changes associated with entering school or the workforce.
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2026
Nutritional quality of diets poorest among young people in Japan, survey finds
The research group that conducted the survey said developing good dietary habits early in life and maintaining them can lead to long-term health.
The revised health promotion law, which went into force in April 2020, bans indoor smoking at various facilities, including restaurants, in principle.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2026
Japan looks to strengthen rules in bid to curtail passive smoking
The panel, which has been reviewing measures against secondhand smoking, stopped short of strengthening regulations on heated tobacco products.
A view of the burnt-out building in Osaka's Dotonbori entertainment district in August 2025
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 14, 2026
Careless smoker accused of causing fatal Osaka fire in 2025
The police called for prosecutors to indict the man on charges of gross negligence resulting in an accidental fire.
The health ministry said that it will hold off on strengthening regulations against secondhand smoke emitted from heated tobacco products, citing a lack of scientific evidence concerning its health risks.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 9, 2026
Japan shelves beefing up regulations for heated tobacco products
Some public health experts have advocated for tougher measures against heated tobacco products, saying the ministry should apply precautionary principles.
Cigarette packages at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Tokyo in January 2024
JAPAN
May 31, 2026
Experts urge Japan to use pictorial warnings on tobacco packages
Many countries require cigarette packages to display images warning of health hazards related to smoking, such as a blackened lung.
Japan is a leading and growing market for HTPs, also known as heat-not-burn products. They use electronic devices to heat tobacco and create a nicotine-containing aerosol without burning it.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 21, 2026
Heated tobacco products may be more harmful than cigarettes, Japan panel review says
The literature review found that heated tobacco products may produce greater amounts of cancer-causing substances than regular cigarettes.
The Finance Ministry projected in December that revenue from tobacco tax increases would total ?44 billion for the 2026 fiscal year and ?116 billion in 2027.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 26, 2026
Tobacco and corporate tax hikes to help finance defense expansion
The new taxes are being introduced as the government is looking to secure over ?9 trillion in defense spending for the 2026 fiscal year, reaching 2% of GDP.
Nearly 1 in 5 of those who said they smoke also said they wanted to quit, a health ministry survey has found.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 3, 2025
Japan sees drop in regular smokers, national health survey finds
Nearly 1 in 5 of those who said in the health ministry’s annual survey that they smoke also said they wanted to quit.
Boxes of single-use e-cigarettes are displayed for sale on shelves in a shop in Gardanne, France
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 7, 2025
Surging numbers of children using e-cigarettes, WHO says
In countries that have the data, children are on average nine times more likely than adults to vape, the organization said.
Employees select sheets of Green Virginia tobacco leaves for processing at a Japan Tobacco cigarette plant in Senta, Serbia. While rivals have set ambitious targets for "smoke-free” products, Japan Tobacco has focused more on conventional combustible tobacco products.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 4, 2025
Japan Tobacco is doubling down on cheap cigarettes
While rivals have set ambitious targets for “smoke-free” products, Japan Tobacco has focused more on conventional combustible tobacco products.
The World Health Organization has backed tobacco taxes and price rises for decades, and has called for taxes on alcohol and sugary drinks in recent years, but this is the first time it has suggested a target price rise for all three products.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 4, 2025
WHO pushes countries to raise prices on sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco by 50%
The move by the United Nations health agency is the strongest backing yet for taxes to help tackle chronic public health problems.
A beachgoer smokes a cigarette at La Baule on the Atlantic coast on June 25. A nationwide ban on smoking is due to come into effect in France on July 1, at beaches, parks and outside schools to protect children.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 30, 2025
France imposes smoking ban on beaches and parks
The rule is being imposed one week before the beginning of the school holidays in France in a clear bid to immediately protect children from smoke on the beach.
Japan is the world's biggest market for Iqos, a heat-not-burn tobacco product marketed by its maker Philip Morris as a less harmful alternative to traditional cigarettes — a claim not backed by independent scientific research.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 6, 2025
Smoke and mirrors: How big tobacco manipulates science in Japan
In Japan, not only does the tobacco industry have close ties to government, but universities are also vulnerable to its influence. In this equation, public health loses out.
While governments have succeeded in reducing the number of smokers, they have yet to hit their 30% reduction target.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 3, 2025
Global crises disrupt effort to get millions to quit smoking
Governments had planned to reduce smoking rates among people over 15 by 30% between 2010 and 2025, but the timeline was extended an extra five years.
Nomura aims to reduce the smoking rate among its more than 14,000 employees in Japan to 12% by March 2026.
JAPAN
May 30, 2025
Nomura’s smoking ban leads to less staff lighting up
Close to 15% of staff at 今日吃瓜 largest brokerage were smokers in the fiscal year ended March 2024, down from 21.4% as of March 2018.
Tokyo police arrested five people on suspicion of buying some 2,800 boxes of heated tobacco products, worth about ?1.64 million, at a convenience store using the Apple Pay iD contactless payment service over 167 times from Nov. 8 to 10 last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 15, 2025
Five arrested for alleged credit card fraud over tobacco purchases
Offline payment, whose inappropriate use is unstoppable when smartphone signals are cut, was used for the crime.
People smoking in Yuxi, in China's southwest Yunnan province. China is home to a third of the world's smokers and tobacco-related diseases are a major cause of death in the country — a trend likely to worsen as its population rapidly ages.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 13, 2025
Tobacco town thrives as China struggles to kick the habit
China is home to a third of the world’s smokers and tobacco-related diseases are a major cause of death in the country.
The Supreme Court ruled that the man's conduct could undermine public trust in the system and the sound operation of the bus service.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 18, 2025
Japan bus driver steals $7, loses $84,000 pension
The city of Kyoto sacked the man after he was filmed by a bus security camera taking ?1,000 in 2022.
Man arrested over operation of rogue cellular base station in Tokyo
The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested Yu Hai, a 31-year-old Chinese national living in Tokyo's Kita Ward, on suspicion of operating an unlicensed base station from a vehicle in Tokyo's Ginza district on Saturday.
Government betting on language app powered by anime and AI
Japan plans to develop an AI-powered language-learning app that lets overseas anime and manga fans practice Japanese through conversations with popular characters.
Jensen Huang’s woes evoke sympathy and disbelief in his birthplace Taiwan
Hsiao Kui-yu, 68, owner of Yuchan Candied Fruit, stands in front of photographs of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang displayed at the shop, which Huang frequently visits during trips to Taiwan, in Taipei on Tuesday.
G7 diplomats speak out on Taiwan as China ramps up military drills
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi attends a working lunch focused on international crises and challenges during the Group of Seven foreign ministers' summit at the Quai d'Orsay in Paris on Monday.
今日吃瓜 Rapidus is said likely to miss mass production deadline
The Rapidus Analysis Center and the IIM-1 Innovative Integration for Manufacturing foundry in Chitose, Hokkaido
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ makes monster debut at the box office
Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus Zero” marked the highest single-day box-office gross for a live-action film in Japan with ?910 million on its opening day.
A toast to Naohiko Noguchi, sake’s first living national treasure
As a teenager, Naohiko Noguchi did not intend to spend his life as a sake brewer, but he has since become a paragon of the industry.
Few signs of thaw in Japan-China relations one year after Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks
Tensions between Japan and China flared after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Nov. 7, 2025, that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan could threaten 今日吃瓜 survival and warrant the use of collective self-defense.
Mariko Mori predicted the future. She’ll do it again.
Artist Mariko Mori is currently working to bring the translucent human-sized “Peace Crystal” sculpture to a cave in Ethiopia. It is part of her foundation’s goal to place a permanent sculpture on each of the planet’s six habitable continents.
A legend reborn: ‘Ocarina of Time’ remake improves on the Zelda masterpiece
The new remake of 1998's "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" manages to somehow improve on one of the greatest games ever.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Famima Park Azabudai is a concept store by FamilyMart that combines convenience store staples with branded apparel, merchandise and a landscaped outdoor space.
Convenience stores, toilets and the allure of everyday Japan
By Elizabeth Beattie

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