Best Changes in Japan

This man is smoking in a designated smoking section outside Shinjuku station. Although it is not evident from the photo, all the other people around him are also either smoking, lighting up or just putting out their cigarettes.

Perhaps the best change I have noticed in Japan since my last trip is the emergence of smoking sections and non-smoking zones. I used to be angered that students in Japanese schools had to clean their teachers' ashtrays during o'souji, or cleaning time. Now, at least in Gifu prefecture high schools, teachers may not smoke anywhere on campus. Apparently at junior highs and elementary schools, teachers may still smoke on campus, but they have to go to separate smoking rooms. There are far fewer vending machines that sell cigarettes on the street. Now, both beer and cigarette vending machines are only located near shops that have a special license, according my my host Mr. Murai. Right now, I am in an Internet cafe and I was gｉｖｅｎ the choice of a smoking or non-smoking cubicle. Okay, so I still can smell the smoke from the first floor up on the second floor, but at least I don't feel like I am in an ashtray.

Another positive change I have seen in Japan is a greater concern for the environment. Next to the ubiquitous vending machines known as jidohhanbaiki now are special recycling bins. Nevertheless, Japan still goes crazy with wrapping up consumer goods, often with items getting wrapped up first before they get put into a plastic bag. But I am convinced even this will change by the next by the next time I return to Japan ... the green movement is growing!