Higo Blog

Have a good Holiday Season Mr. Yoshida!

Hi,

I wasn't sure of how else to contact you, but I just stumbled upon your blog while researching for when I will be working in Osaka for 8 months. In one of your entries, you had taken a picture of a badge or a sign or something where a man was smoking and a women and her child were coughing. I'm concerned about smoking in Japan, and haven't been able to find any specifics about how prevalent smoking is in Japan.

I'm curious about what it's like in restaurants in Japan, for instance, or on public transit, or in shopping malls.

If you wouldn't mind, I would appreciate your advice.

Hello Ashley,
I'd be more than happy to let you know about smoking in Japan.

Unfortunately, smoking is a very popular habit in Japan. It is perfectly acceptable for one to smoke in public, whether it is in a restaurant, in natural areas, on the streets, or any other place you can think of where smoking does not pose a threat (other than second hand smoke).

Perhaps this example will better illustrate the extent to which smoking is not stigmatized like it is in California (where I'm from): Teachers often smoke during lunch, in between classes, and during break while talking to their students.

There are some movements going to stop smoking in certain areas of Japan. In Tokyo, I think you are not allowed to smoke at the train stations. Also, there are no smoking sections in many restaurants (though many times people will ignore the signs). However, you should mentally prepare yourself to face the reality of how much smoke you will encounter.

Walking down the street, you will come across many people who are not mindful of where their smoke drifts, and it will annoy you. Just remember that in Japanese culture, smoking is not necessarily though of as a bad thing, like in Los Angeles where smoking is almost as bad as doing illegal drugs in public.

If you want to know more on the issue, let me know and I'll see if I can point you towards some other information.

ah yes. it was bound to happen. I have mixed emotions about this. To elude man in any way, shape or form is an amazing feat for any animal. Just a matter of how much this most splendid of squids is exploited. Let's see how long it takes, before it makes it on somebody's plate.

The science nerds who already tried eating them said they taste like ammonia. Something about ammonia helping them adapt to the great depths, or perhaps a ceph version of massengill.

I read the same thing in Peter Benchley's book about the giant squid called "Beast". I believe that the ammonia helps the squid to maintain a neutral buoyancy, but that's something that may or may not be accurate.

Interesting. I've eaten the Humboldt squid - which are rather large units in their own right (6 to 8 footers). They also have a strong ammonia taste. Some of the folks on the boat said you have to soak the meat in milk for a time to alleviate this ammoniany taste. They do seem to lose the ammoniousness when they move into shallower water though.