With the stock market hitting 20-year lows and the economic outlook getting worse, Japan's smokers have even more excuses to light up. Yet, in a country which has long been tolerant of tobacco use, a growing antismoking trend has made life for addicts more difficult.
To stem the rising tide, the nation's sole tobacco maker heated up its own campaign Wednesday, opening its second smokers' lounge in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, where a ban on lighting up on the street in designated neighborhoods took effect in October.
The new lounge, "Smokers' style," is in the Akihabara electronics district, and Japan Tobacco Inc. officials say they are considering opening more such facilities in the future.