• 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

Feb 27 2009 7 Comments

Tokyo drug deal?

Presumably due to Japan’s zero tolerance approach in its dealings with drugs, booze has long been the accepted choice for both recreation and relaxation.

Japanese drunk

Of late, however, marijuana has started to make some well publicised appearances, with movie stars, students and more sensationally sumo wrestlers getting picked up for possession.

Events that have resulted in a mass of media coverage and concerns about cannabis being a ‘gateway’ drug. A worry that, whether warranted or not, may actually be way too late anyway, as it would appear that the gateway has long been breached, and far stronger substances are now openly promoting participation.

Japanese drugs?

Perhaps.

Categorized: Current Affairs, Language

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. irish says

    2/28/2009 at 3:23 am

    Yea I don’t know what I’m going to do when I’m in Tokyo :/ no ganja?

    Reply
  2. Jonathan says

    2/28/2009 at 8:54 am

    Great post!

    Reply
  3. Andrew says

    2/28/2009 at 7:29 pm

    Yes, hardly heard of any drug related crime in Japan.

    Reply
  4. Mike says

    3/1/2009 at 2:12 am

    Weren’t mushrooms legal in Japan until 2002? Most people would find that to be pretty far past any gateway.

    Reply
  5. Mr. Kato says

    3/1/2009 at 5:46 am

    I think what your seeing is that Japanese students at English schools in California, Australia and London, etc. are being exposed to the western attitudes toward drugs – and then bringing that back. Japanese youth have clearly decided that anything western, whether it’s hip-hop, President Obama or drugs must be of value, and worth copying.

    Reply
  6. Neil Duckett says

    3/1/2009 at 7:33 pm

    That could also mean another vice close to my heart … but much more readily attainable in Thailand.

    Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.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

Footer

Copyright © 2025 · Tokyo Times