And this cigarette is a “hybrid” because…

It doesn’t give off air-polluting smoke, it actually repairs the ozone layer, cigarette by cigarette? Or maybe the more you smoke them, the better your cyborg x-ray vision becomes?

If only I’d studied my kanji harder, I’d know the answer to this burning question…

***

Quite a few of the characters in Nightshade and Fallen Angel smoke, because although smoking is decreasing in Japan, it’s still pretty prevalent. I always ask people what age they started, and often the answers surprise me. In America, adult smokers usually got hooked at 13 or 14. In Japan, a lot of men started smoking after they were 18 and finished playing high school sports. Women often say they started smoking after beginning their careers – around age 21 or 22 – to relieve stress.