One year since the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control went into effect, Japan's smoking rate still remains high compared with other developed nations. The government needs to create a strong momentum toward lowering the rate.
In 1990, the smoking rate among Japanese adult males topped 60 percent. It was down to 53.5 percent in 2000, went below 50 percent for the first time in 2001 and fell to 45.8 percent in 2005, according to Japan Tobacco Inc. The rate for Japanese adult females has hovered at about 14 percent for the past four decades; the 2005 figure stood at 13.8 percent.
Compared with the peak of 83.7 percent for Japanese males in 1966, the decline appears laudable.