Having just spent a few days in Japan, I was amused to see a posting on the Tokyo Times blog about smoking manners ads (I did not see any of the ads themselves).
Sure, a lot of people smoke in Tokyo, but as with anything the Japanese do they were always polite and considerate about it. I find it really hard to believe from what I saw that they need any kind of education related to manners! In fact, they would make the perfect teachers for the rest of the world in that regard.
The three ads in the posting are fun though. I’ve no idea whether the Japanese version is any clearer than the English translation under it, but in a way I kind of hope not. One of my co-workers from the Japan office did use one of the portable ashtrays advocated in the first ad, and I have to say I think they’re a great idea, although there were plenty of “public” ashtrays around too in case of need (pretty much every office building has one at the door, and there were even some alongside the street trash cans in some places).
