Tokunaga H
Wakahisa Hospital 5-3-1, Wakahisa, Minami-ku, Fukuoka 815-0042, Japan.
Fukuoka Igaku Zasshi. 2001 Aug;92(8):285-91.
Tobacco is one of the major preventable causes of death and disability. This is widely known in both Japan and the USA, and although the smoking rate in the USA is decreasing, that in Japan remains high. The tobacco histories of these two countries, which provide the background to this difference, are herein compared. The antismoking movement is becoming more vociferous in both countries. Publicity regarding of the dangers of smoking, warning signs on tobacco packages, the introduction of antismoking devices, a ban on commercials for tobacco-related products on TV and the radio, no-smoking seats on airplanes, and litigation against the tobacco industry have all been introduced. However, major differences remain between these two countries. The tobacco industry in the USA has been a private company since it was first established. Courts have ordered the tobacco industry to pay compensation for damage to health resulting from tobacco. Smoking is strictly restricted inside buildings. Advertisements for nicotine gum and nicotine patches and reports on the dangers of smoking are regularly broadcast. In the case of Japan, the government at first nationalized the tobacco industry, and then made it a private company, although the government still holds two-thirds of its stock. Moreover, it established the Tobacco Business Law to support the company. The main purpose of antismoking campaigns in Japan is a partial ban on smoking. On the basis of these differences between the two countries regarding the history of tobacco, the antismoking movement in Japan has yet to choose which path to take.
烟草是主要的可预防死亡和残疾原因之一。这在日本和美国都是广为人知的，尽管美国的吸烟率在下降，但日本的吸烟率仍然很高。本文比较了这两个国家的烟草历史，它们构成了这种差异的背景。两国的反吸烟运动都变得更加激烈。关于吸烟危害的宣传、烟草包装上的警示标志、反吸烟装置的引入、电视和广播上禁止烟草相关产品的广告、飞机上的无烟座位以及对烟草行业的诉讼都已实施。然而，这两个国家之间仍然存在重大差异。美国的烟草行业自成立之初就是一家私人公司。法院已命令烟草行业对烟草造成的健康损害进行赔偿。建筑物内严格限制吸烟。尼古丁口香糖和尼古丁贴片的广告以及关于吸烟危害的报道经常播出。在日本，政府起初将烟草行业国有化，然后将其变为私人公司，尽管政府仍持有其三分之二的股份。此外，政府还制定了《烟草商业法》来支持该公司。日本反吸烟运动的主要目的是部分禁止吸烟。基于两国在烟草历史方面的这些差异，日本的反吸烟运动尚未选择该走哪条路。
