Top Picks || Arts & Entertainment || Business & Economy || Education & Society || Science & Technology || Sports & Fashion || Search || Back Numbers HEALTHY AND THRIFTY: Japanese Firm's New Headquarters to be Nonsmoking January 28, 1999 Workers in this new corporate headquarters will be breathing easy. (Daiwa House Industry Co.) As more and more nonsmoking areas are set up in workplaces and public facilities, smokers find themselves forced into an ever tighter corner. The plight will be even worse for those who work at the headquarters of Daiwa House Industry Co., a major maker of prefabricated buildings. Daiwa House's new headquarters, scheduled to be completed in March 1999, will be smoke free from top to bottom. No major objections have been voiced, however, and smoking employees--including the president--have been bracing themselves for the big change ever since the company opted for a smoke-free environment. Though nonsmoking buildings like this one are still highly unusual in Japan, it is likely that they will increase over time. Absolutely No Exceptions Although the move toward creating nonsmoking environments is gradually heightening in Japan, the results of a May 1998 survey by Japan Tobacco Inc. show that among developed countries Japan's adult population still has the highest percentage of smokers--55% of men and 13% of women. It is said, though, that about 70% of Japanese smokers would like to either quit smoking or smoke less if they could, and that over 60% have tried to quit smoking at least once. Bidding adieu to nicotine addiction is no easy feat. Daiwa House's new headquarters in Osaka, Japan's second largest city, will provide no comfort whatsoever to smokers. Smoking will be banned on all its grounds, including outdoors. From the third basement floor all the way up to the twenty-second floor, this nonsmoking order will apply not only to all offices but to the cafe to be opened to the public as well. No exceptions will be allowed even for the most important guest. Steadily Preparing for a Nonsmoking Environment Upon hearing about the total nonsmoking policy to be applied on the new headquarters, employees who smoke are said to have thought at first that there was no way their company's president, a chain smoker himself, could possibly quit. But first a nonsmoking campaign was initiated in early 1998 within the executive committee, and soon after, in July, smoking was banned in one of the current headquarters buildings. An air of resignation gradually spread among smoker-employees. According to a survey the company carried out in 1997, approximately half of headquarter employees were smokers, and among them the average number of cigarettes smoked per day was 22. Around summer 1998, however, moves began to adapt to the anticipated change, such as quitting smoking or switching to a brand that contains less tar so as to ease the addiction to nicotine. Merits Include Clean Air And. . . One major reason Daiwa House made this radical decision was to improve its corporate image. As a company whose specialty is "healthy housing," its salespeople should not be seen smoking in view of their customers, the reasoning goes. But there is another, more obvious merit: cost reduction. Air purifiers will no longer be needed; repair costs can be kept down, since interior surfaces will not suffer the filth that comes from cigarette smoke; labor costs for cleaning up ashtrays can be cut; and fire insurance premiums will be cheaper. Adding together all these cost cuts, the company estimates it can annually save nearly 10 million yen (87,000 U.S. dollars at 115 yen to the dollar) more than by simply setting aside smoking areas within the building. Daiwa House will also ban smoking in the new building currently under construction for its Tokyo head office, and all company offices will eventually be smoke free. Another company that has made the move is Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., a major drug manufacturer. Since its first business day in 1999, smoking has been prohibited in all its facilities nationwide. The momentum toward switching corporate policies from partially to fully nonsmoking is likely to continue among Japanese firms. Back to Main Index Edited by Japan Echo Inc. based on domestic Japanese news sources. Articles presented here are offered for reference purposes and do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government. Ministry of Foreign Affairs   Japan Information Network