At the initiative of the Finance Ministry, the government has introduced a system to verify the age of anyone using a cigarette vending machine. But the system reportedly is not widely used.
Under the system, whoever wishes to buy cigarettes from a vending machine must pass an integrated circuit card called "TASPO" over the machine scanner. Smokers can get these cards by presenting a facial photo and a copy of their ID card to the Tobacco Institute of Japan.
Nationwide implementation of the system is scheduled for July. The card has already been introduced in Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures, but only 30 percent of smokers there are said to have a card because of complaints that obtaining it is too cumbersome or that they dislike having to disclose personal information.