Bringing cigarettes to Japan under 20

Im goin to japan in a month or so and i was wondering if i could bring a pack of cigarettes with me?

You can bring them but you cant smoke.

Smoking in Japan is briefly covered here. Smoking outdoors on the street or throwing your butts on the sidewalk or street is generally a no-no. You may find more info on this by using the "search this site" feature on the upper right of this page.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2228.html

No- even if you are legally allowed to buy cigarettes in your country of residence you can neither legally bring them into Japan nor smoke them while here.

*cough* do with this information what you wish.

With regards to smoking in Japan. Purchasing cigarettes in convenience stores appears to not prompt sales assistants to ask for ID. On the touch screen displaying the price it will ask you to confirm your age is 20.

I will highlight it is obviously illegal to lie about this. Will you be questioned with regards to this? I doubt it. Will you be stopped on the street for smoking? Depends, you may get unlucky and a police officer will stop you and ask for ID. Is that likely, no, not really.

Can you smoke on the street? Yes. Is it frowned upon? Depends where you are. Where I am in Kansai, it's not really an issue, many people smoke while walking on the street, especially in Osaka. Throwing butts on the floor, that's a no no, you'll stick out like a sore thumb. Littering is uncommon. You can buy little 100yen pocket ashtrays though, so that's useful.

Long story short, you can probably get away with smoking and buying cigarettes in Japan if you aren't substantially under 20. Do I recommend it? Of course not! That would be illegal. End of disclaimer.

Unless you're looking very young, I wouldn't worry about it.

If Customs decides to do a luggage search (which they do quite often, my parents got searched the last time they visited Japan), then it doesn't matter how old someone looks, the info is there on the passport in the officer's hand. Young people traveling alone are probably more likely to be searched than others.

Bottom line, it's illegal for someone who is a minor in Japan, (i.e. under 20) to bring cigarettes into Japan.

The penalties probably aren't very severe, but it's up to the individual whether they want to take the risk I guess!

Can you smoke on the street? Yes. Is it frowned upon? Depends where you are.

It's against the law to smoke on the street in most parts of Tokyo. And the police do sometimes stop people and fine them.