I wholeheartedly agree with the idea in the editorial "Close passive smoke loopholes" (July 21).
I'm a Japanese citizen living in the U.S. and enjoy smoke-free air in all public places. In public discussions about smoking in Japan, most concerns are about secondhand smoking that customers experience in restaurants or nonsmoking colleagues in company office spaces. Not much is being written about servers and clerks who are at risk of secondhand smoke from customers. This may be because of a lingering Japanese idea that "customers are gods." In the U.S., I sometimes see pregnant women working as waitresses and feel good at least about the fact that they can work in a smoke-free environment. We should protect all citizens from the harmful effects of passive smoking.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.