Oh, good. Just when it seemed that smoking might perhaps be inching its way down in popularity here in Japan, someone in a suit came up with this:
Yes, it's a "cigarette" in a little plastic bubble that comes out of a machine when you insert 100 yen! Yes, it's being marketed as a toy! Quite realistic-looking, isn't it?
The end looks lit (it's a little chunk of some type of metal, painted red with some fine glitter adhered). In case you're wondering, there isn't actually any nicotine in this thing, but there is powder in it, so that when some smoker-wannabe six-year-old puts it in his mouth, he can make "smoke" come out when he blows through the paper tube. Just so there is no confusion, a helpful little note (on the black paper pictured above) is included, admonishing children not to inhale--but hey, other than that, it's almost exactly but not quite really like an actual, grown-up cigarette. Have at it, kids--it's never to early to pretend to have an addiction!
And you know, there's nothing quite like the sight of your twelve-year-old with one of these babies in her hand:
Seriously, thanks to First Child for playing along. She was as appalled as I was but insisted we spend eighty-seven cents on one fake cig for its kitsch value. Besides, without proof, who would have believed us?