Japanese Company Barred Smokers From Smoking During Work Hours & University Will Not Hire Smokers For New Positions

Last Updated on 2020-02-04 , 7:52 pm

For too long, Japan has served as the pioneer of multiple sectors:

• Technology
• Raw food
• Animations
• Production of Otakus
• Yellow electric mouses

But just when you think, “Oh, there’s no way Japan could possibly get even better”…

They’ve done it again.

In their latest revelation, it has been revealed that Japan’s cracking down on their smoking population…

And it’s as unconventional as you can get (maybe except for tentacles).

Japanese Company Barred Smokers From Smoking During Work Hours & University Will Not Hire Smokers For New Positions

Anti-Smoking Policy: Level 9000

In a bid to secure a smoke-free, clean and modern environment for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Japan has been hard at work cutting down its number of local smokers.

But just how hard it hard? Well, according to Daily Mail...

It’s pretty hard.

Apparently, a Japanese film named SoftBank (yes, that one that invested heavily in Uber) will be barring its workers from smoking during working hours, regardless of whether they’re within company premises or not.

The new company policy will commence with it being incorporated on the last Friday of each month. And from October onwards, Wednesdays too will be included as non-smoking days.

Though if there’s any consolation, it would be that the company has no plans to penalise those who disobey rulebreakers. Offenders will, however, likely receive a firm warning from management.

As of the current moment, employees who need a smoke break are still permitted to light up in allocated spaces.

And guess what? It’s not alone

Elsewhere in modern Japan, another Japanese company will only be chartering non-smokers for new positions, and applicants will need to disclose whether they smoke.

This effort, according to reports, is to assist the Japanese government with the reduction of the number of smokers from the current 17.7% to 12% by 2020.

And perhaps in the most startling move to date (for this article anyway), a University has announced that it will not be hiring professors or teachers who smoke.

Yes, Nagasaki University has just announced the move, though they did make an exemption: smokers can be hired, but that’s only if they promise to quit after.

“Our job as a university is to nurture human resources, and we feel obliged to discourage people from smoking as some companies have begun not to recruit smokers,” Shigeru Kono, president of the university said.

For the record, the policy is unheard of, and it’s a move that has never been practised by state-run universities before.

And so… what now?

Well, for Singaporean smokers, I’m sure their minds are filled with one singular thought right now:

“Please, Japan, keep that to yourselves.”

Though judging by how Japan has a knack for being a serial influencer…

Just watch out just in case la hor, Singaporeans. 😉