Video Debut

For all SWYers,

A week before the departure ceremony of SWY20, I was invited to show up for a Fuji TV interview about the Ship for World Youth.

Sure, it was a promotional video, but I had fun doing it... there you go

禁煙 X 喫煙 - A filthy habit

Since I came to Japan, people often ask me if there is anything that I don't like about the country. Right there, on the spot, it is hard to think of an answer, so I usually say that I don't like the fact that all trains stop running around midnight, so we can't party until late at night, or I usually say that I don't like not having a car in Japan, because it makes me have to worry about rain and cold when getting out of the house or something not so meaningful like that.

However, as I was having dinner today, I had a revelation of sorts. I went to Hard Rock Cafe in Ueno Station in Tokyo, around 6pm, which is a bit after rush hour, but is usually the time when restaurants and cafes in Japan are really crowded and I realized that I hate the fact that Japan doesn't have stricter rules towards tobacco. Most restaurants still have "Smoking" and "No-Smoking" areas, but in some places that distinction doesn't exist.

My "beef" is not with the people who smoke. Most of my best friends do smoke, and smoke quite heavily, but they are still my friends! However I hate that I stink cigarettes when I come back home, I hate that I have to immediately wash my clothes if I don't want the whole place to stink cigarettes, or if it is a jacked or a scarf, I have to hang outside for a few hours until the smell goes away.

My cousin lives in the US, a country in which I witnessed the arrival of the Phillip-Morris' "Promotion Team" to a bar, and I was asked to show my passport to the guy and get my cousin a couple of extra packs of free cigs. The company employees just scanned everyone's driver's licenses, and gave away 2 packs each. Because I was holding a passport, which didn't have the barcode required for scanning, the guy just said to me - "Here, I will give you 2 packs". Incredible

That very same cousin came to Japan last July and went for a coffee and a smoke in a Tully's Coffee in Tokyo. After 30 minutes, he left the coffee shop feeling a bit intoxicated with the smoke. A couple of days later, he was in bed for a good 25 hours feeling completely sick...

Makes me wonder why a country that has people who have never seen a joint and walk freely with a Marijuana leaf pendant or T-Shirt, completely oblivious of its meaning, doesn't have stricter rules against tobacco!

As a friend once pointed out to me - "Dude, if I ever woke up and realized that I was Japanese, I would definitely need some sort of inebriating substance to make me feel a little better".

I don't agree with that, but I am sure that the strict Japanese social standards make life a lot harder, that people only escape route is smoking and alcohol!