You can fill out an application form for a card at any tobacco shop. The card itself is issued free of charge two weeks after submitting documents. Tourists and foreigners coming to the country will also be able to get a magnetic card, but its validity will be limited to one week.
The anti-tobacco campaign began back in May last year, and by December 2007 about 67% of the 3 million vending machines had been equipped with new devices. If companies do not manage to re-equip their machines by July of this year, they face suspension of their cigarette sales license.
Skeptics, however, argue that the innovation will not justify itself. Equipping one machine with a reader costs about $700, and teenagers will still buy cigarettes using their parents' or older friends' cards.
In total, according to official data, almost a quarter of the country's population, about 31 million people, smoke in Japan. The country's authorities are conducting an active anti-tobacco campaign. In particular, smoking is banned in public places and even in taxis. And in some areas of Tokyo, it is completely forbidden to smoke on the street.
Japan's age limit for selling cigarettes is one of the highest in the world. Only India and Kuwait have stricter laws, where cigarettes cannot be bought until age 21. In European countries, cigarettes can be sold to people aged 18 and over, and the lowest age threshold is set in Bangladesh, where tobacco products can be bought from age 15.
But perhaps the most active fight against smoking is by the authorities of Bhutan. Since December 17, 2004, a complete ban on the sale and use of tobacco has been introduced there, and all tobacco products imported into the country are subject to a 100% tax.