Correspondent Akiko Fujita tells us about a cafe in Japan that caters exclusively to smokers…and has anti-smoking advocates fuming.
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LISA MULLINS: Now after partaking of fine cuisine, some folks like to have a smoke. Of course, those folks are finding fewer and fewer cafes and restaurants that allow them to light up. Here’s an exception to the “No Smoking” trend though, Akiko Fujita takes us to a cafe in Japan, where smoking is not only allowed, it’s required.

AKIKO FUJITA: A “smokers only” sign greets visitors at Tokyo’s Café Tobacco.

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AKIKO FUJITA: The counter where customers order their daily cup of coffee isn’t any different from a local Starbucks, but walk upstairs and you smell the customers puffing away. A giant ceiling fan sucks in the smoke as businessmen in suits light up one cigarette after another.

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AKIKO FUJITA: Customer Tatsuo Yoshinaga calls the café a pleasant surprise. He adds you can’t even smoke in some coffee shops these days. Store manager Kazuhiro Kawano says his café became “smokers-only” after neighboring restaurants at Café Tobacco’s original store went “smoke free.” Smokers started seeking refuge at Kawano’s store. Business picked up so much, Café Tobacco opened its second store this spring in Shimbashi, a business district teeming with salary men dressed in dark suits.

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AKIKO FUJITA: Kawano says he wants this to be a place of relaxation for smokers at a time when the habit is increasingly frowned upon. Smoking rates in Japan are declining, but the numbers remain high. Japan Tobacco, the country’s only cigarette maker says 40 percent of men still light up. That number is just 12 percent for women. Local governments have successfully pushed for smoking-bans on streets, train stations, and taxis, but there’s still no wide-ranging law that keeps cigarettes out of restaurants. Many place non-smoking sections right next to seats for smokers.

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AKIKO FUJITA: Anti-smoking advocate Buganku Watanabe blames the lack of smoking bans on the government’s hand in Japan Tobacco. He says the country owns half of the private company. And concerns over profits trump those over public health. Watanabe insists most smokers want to quit, and that places like Café Tobacco aren’t doing them any favors. So long as the ashtrays stay out, he says the habit won’t go away. For The World, I’m Akiko Fujita in Tokyo.

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