I must say, it is very nice to walk into a restaurant and not be asked the question, "Smoking or non?" While it is now a given that one can walk into any restaurant or bar in Massachusetts and eat in a smoke-free environment, that is not the case at all in Japan. There is a very slow trend toward smoke-free food, but most restaurants still offer only very small no-smoking sections, often with tables directly abutting the smoking sections. On top of that, bars don't offer smoke-free seating at all! It kills me to see little kids eating amid clouds of cigarette smoke.
Japan has started a nominal anti-smoking movement, but it is halfhearted at best, consisting primarily of stick figures and generalized captions about how smoking is inconvenient to other people. No. Talking in the library is inconvenient to other people. Smoking is DANGEROUS to other people. With all due respect to you smokers out there, moving to a state with strict tobacco laws is one bit of culture shock that I'll happily accept.
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