• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

  • Photowalks
  • Book and Prints
  • Newsletter
  • Portfolio
  • About/Contact
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • RSS

Jul 12 2013 8 Comments

The guilty look of a salaryman smoker

In a country where rules are expected to be adhered to rather than broken, people know all too well when they are in the wrong. And this young salaryman, having a cheeky side street cigarette, was definitely no different.

Tokyo salaryman smoker

Categorized: Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mike says

    7/12/2013 at 10:24 am

    Wonderful! That expression is priceless!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      7/12/2013 at 4:55 pm

      Cheers! I was very pleased to capture it. He looked up at just the right time.

      Reply
  2. Hans ter Horst says

    7/12/2013 at 2:44 pm

    Gotcha! Great story telling photography again.
    But we do need to feel a bit sorry for these poor drug addicts: nicotine in cigarettes is the major drug state pushed drug and the wide spread addiction makes a lot of money for the government and now they had to put those pro forma “no smoking” signs up to pretend they care about health. (just kidding, but imagine a Japan where people would live even longer :-))

    Reply
    • Lee says

      7/12/2013 at 5:00 pm

      Thanks a lot. Yeah, caught him good and proper!

      Exactly. Government policy to try and reduce the number of pensioners. Things i, with the government owning a good chunk (it was 50% at one time I believe) of Japan Tobacco, it is hard not to question Japan’s efforts at tackling smoking. They have, and at the same time, they haven’t. All for very good reasons one suspects…

      Reply
  3. Paul H- says

    7/16/2013 at 10:58 pm

    To capture smokers like this is to capture the essence of living in this city. Every time I stop and look down the narrowest alleyways in Tokyo, I see a smoker tucked away with the exact same expression on his face.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      7/17/2013 at 9:26 am

      Yeah, it’s amazing how things have changed. At least on the streets anyway.

      Reply
  4. PolishPole says

    8/13/2013 at 5:00 am

    and what if such a guy is caught… let’s say on the street, any fines?

    Reply
    • Lee says

      8/13/2013 at 6:21 am

      In some areas patrols walk about and there are possible fines. I have seen people told to put their cigarettes out, but how often fines are issued — and how enforceable they are — I don’t know.

      Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Copyright © 2025 · Tokyo Times