Hat tip to Walt for this:
TOKYO: A Japanese university has stopped hiring professors and teachers who light up, officials said on Tuesday (Apr 23), as the nation steps up an anti-smoking campaign ahead of the 2020 Olympics.
Nagasaki University spokesman Yusuke Takakura told AFP they have “stopped hiring any teaching staff who smoke”, although applicants who promise to kick the habit before taking up their post could still be offered employment.
The university will also ban smoking entirely on campus from August, opening a clinic for those who cannot give up, said Takakura.
“We have reached a conclusion that smokers are not fit for the education sector,” the spokesman said, adding that the university had sought legal advice and does not believe the policy contravenes discrimination laws.
Local media said it was the first state-run university to introduce such a condition of employment and the move comes after Tokyo’s city government passed strict new anti-smoking rules last year ahead of the 2020 Summer Games.
It could just as well have read:
A Japanese university has stopped hiring professors and teachers who play chess, officials said on Tuesday (Apr 23), as the nation steps up an anti-chess campaign ahead of the 2020 Olympics.
“We have reached a conclusion that chess players are not fit for the education sector,” the spokesman said, adding that the university had sought legal advice and does not believe the policy contravenes discrimination laws.
I guess it means that pipe-smoking Albert Einstein would never have got a job at the University of Nagasaki.
This is another example of top down control. This isn’t something that’s bubbled up from the staff and students in the university. It’s coming from government. Smoking bans never arise from the bottom up: they always come from the top down. They’re always the work of nameless, faceless bureaucrats who can sign away people’s freedoms with the stroke of a pen, and think nothing of it, because none of them are ever held to account. It’s bad news these days if the Olympic Games or the World Cup get held in your country: it provides another excuse for nameless, faceless bureaucrats to ban smoking.
There’s a global revolt under way against unaccountable top down control. There’s a growing revolt in Europe against the unaccountable top down control of the European Union: people want to run their own lives, and not be run by distant faceless bureaucrats. And the populist Donald Trump’s war with the entrenched and unaccountable US Deep State is part of the same revolt.
“We have reached a conclusion that smokers are not fit for the education sector,”
Who are this “we” for whom Yusuke Takakura is the spokesman? What are their names? What do they look like? Where do they live? Is that him at right?
Clearly Yusuke Takakura is one of these people. He must know the names of some of them. He ought to be interrogated to reveal their names and addresses. They must be held to account. Tobacco Control must be destroyed.
I almost visited Nagasaki in 2005. I was in Fukuoka on the southernmost island of Japan for a few days. And I thought I might take a train to visit Nagasaki, or a boat to visit Hiroshima. Instead I spent most of my time in the Tsukushi Torn Mouth Rash Shop, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes and flirting with Fukuoka girls.
Frank Davis 
Nagasaki University is ranked #508 in the world and 24 in Japan. Details of its mediocrity are available here.
https://cwur.org/2016/Nagasaki-University.php
To put that into context, Stirling University (the home of tobacco & alcohol control) ranks 418 in the world and 48 in Britain.
https://www.topuniversities.com/universities/university-stirling/undergrad
In either case if you are serious about a first rate academic qualification and want to spend your time with the brightest and best, then avoid either or.
I guess it means that pipe-smoking Albert Einstein would never have got a job at the University of Nagasaki.
:)
Yusuke Takakura probably works for a lousy “university” that is looking to get funding from the anti-smoking industry. Does not say much about him, too.
My advice to Japanese youngsters is to avoid this “university” like the plague as they will end up with a degree that isn’t worth the paper its printed on.
“We have reached a conclusion that smokers are not fit for the education sector,”
Yes, WHO is WE? Is it we the anti-smoking industry?
Yusuke Takakura ought to be interrogated to reveal their names and addresses. They must be held to account. Tobacco Control must be destroyed.
Yesterday I stumbled a cross a video on youtube about a girl who – according to the anti-smoking industry – is Britain’s worst mum-to-be being attacked by the anti-smokers. (I will search for this video and put the link here if I can find it again)
The mum-to-be smoked openly during pregnancy and in the video it was stated that her baby was “prematurely” (no information given and 38 to 42 weeks deliveries are classed as normal) born 1lb below average birth weight. Baby’s real weight was not given, so I searched for average birth weight in Britain. It is stated that it ranged from 2.5 kg to 7lb8oz. I thought that this was a little weird giving kg and lb. (It’s a bit like the 1990s using the metric system and the imperialistic system to calculate the orbit around Mars) 2.5 kg = 5.5lb
>90% of all women deliver babies in this weight category.
No information as to birth weight trend in the girl’s family was given, either. I had very heavy babies before 40 weeks of pregnancy (was not allowed to go the 40 weeks and had no gestational diabetes) as in my family big babies are the norm and I do have a sibling whose birth weight is stated as >5kg.
Tobacco Control must be destroyed.
The antismoking crusade is gaining traction in Japan. Until recently you could post dissenting opinions about smoking bans on Japanese news sites without encountering suppression. Now that they antismokers have captured parts of the government (especially in Tokyo) the outlets are removing dissenting comments. All of this (as noted by Frank) is using the forthcoming Olympics as the ‘justification’. Tobacco control must be destroyed.
Now we arrive at the ‘fat’ end of the wedge. Or should I say ‘thick’…
https://health.spectator.co.uk/the-true-absurdity-of-the-junk-food-advertising-ban-revealed/
Roobeedoo2 left a comment about this a couple days ago. I’ll repost my reply here:
How can this level of discrimination be allowed? The International Olympic Committee seems to be one of the most powerful Antismoking bully organizations in the world. Why? Has anyone looked into financial or other ties between the IOC and the WHO or other Antismoking organizations/quangos?
I could understand the IOC demanding smoking bans on the grounds of their Olympic venues, but why are they concerned with bullying the entire host country into implementing strict Antismoking policies? I feel like there are dots here that need connecting.