what is the best Japanese cigarette?

http://imgur.com/bzlOlIm.jpg

: )

i got: 钓鱼岛是中国的. amen.

they're good.

― dylannn, Saturday, December 26, 2015 3:38 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark

lmao they snuck this into japan? nice

i was wondering what your favorite chinese cigarettes were

i only smoked pandas out of brand loyalty to deng + to be snobby

seems furongguang / blue colored cigarettes are popular now

man the novel dylannnnnnnnnn writes someday is gonna be sweeeeeet

i did smoke a lot of vietnamese marlboro red when in gz but domestic brands, zhongnanhai for sure, and then probably 红塔山 because they're cheap and strong and smoke like a chimney, various types of 双喜 which are one of the symbols of guangzhou and have an almost black licorice/anise flavor, cheaper variants of 黄鹤楼 with a preference for the one with the hologram filter, 七匹狼, 红梅.

how does smoking culture in japan differ compared to china and north america dylannn?

i'm not sure how well i could do that.

in china... now, i haven't spent much time in the more civilized quarters of first tier coastal cities but even there, it can't be much difference. it's expected that you will smoke, if you are male and trying to explain that you don't is the same as trying to explain that you don't eat meat or drink or like girls, nearly impossible to explain and nobody is convinced. men should smoke. all first time social interaction 99% / social interaction 85% involves exchange of cigarettes: exchange cigarettes with colleagues and business contacts and guys you run into on the street and uncles and cousins, carton of expensive cigarettes is a good bribe, packs of cigarettes at a business meeting or sitdown formal party or wedding, when you go into someone's house offering a pack of cigarettes is as normal as offering orange segments and tea. even in a chinese detention facility, we were still given a cigarette or two with most of our meals or at least breakfast.

you can smoke anywhere, even if a sign says you can't. yes, you could be an asshole and smoke in a hospital and nobody would say anything (prob unless in a first tier coastal city).

cigarettes are sometimes connected with local identity: regional brands popular in certain cities or provinces, people offering you a pack "try our NANJING cigarettes" / "these are what we smoke in HUBEI!" cigarette prices range from incredibly cheap, less than 50 cents usd a pack to thousands a carton; cigarette brands closely related to social status.

i think china is the only one of the three with a distinct important smoking culture.

but: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/09/smoking-set-to-kill-one-in-three-young-chinese-men-as-country-faces-epidemic

"even in a chinese detention facility, we were still given a cigarette or two with most of our meals or at least breakfast."

care to explain?

whoever dumped the shit bucket in the morning, the guard on duty usually tossed them a smoke, asked them how they slept. then with meals, we sometimes got a cigarette. if not, the kids patrolling for the warden would toss us one. there was also the option to pay extra to get a pack, unofficially.

yes but why were you in a Chinese detention facility?

early 2014, due to an issue with not registering in the city where i was working (splitting my time between datong and taiyuan, where i had registered with the police), i spent a few weeks in a detention. it was in the middle of winter in shanxi and very cold. it was just local police detaining me and there were no formal, like, charges. as it approached the time at which my visa would expire, they told me: here's a computer. book a flight. i have since returned to china several times. i told the story very briefly on a rolling china thread. if you want to know any details, please let me know!

oh wow. a few weeks!

http://i.imgur.com/rSDGQtt.jpg

virginia s ice pearl / MY RATING: *** / 430 YEN

virginia slim's entry into the filter capsule segment-- a zippy menthol cigarette with an extra hit of mouthwash-y sweet mint from the ice pearl-- comes in 5 and 1 mg strengths. also available in a metal slim pack. like other cigarettes on the impulse rack at family mart, these are heavily advertised in fashion magazines and are beautifully package.

the ice pearl dispenses with all harsh tobacco flavor and is meant to be smoke with short, ladylike pulls. a heavy drag will leave the paper torched and a tower of barely consumed filler burning unprotected. from lighting to stubbing, you've got about three minutes. a great breath freshener and after dinner cigarette.

http://imgur.com/nt6RKkc.jpg

barf

can you get plain old marlboro menthols in japan? are they the same as the ones i get here?

"when you crush the capsule, ICE MAGIC"

in the green and white pack? yeah

i believe all marlboro products in japan are produced in japan (and chinese marlboro are produced in china). not sure with menthol but with reds the difference between chinese, japanese, vietnamese, etc. is noticeable.

http://imgur.com/gsBp7BW.jpg

mevius premium menthol option yellow 1 / MY RATING: * / 430 YEN

they appear to have launched early last year and are part of the mevius brand, part of the seven stars brand. unofficial surveys of smoking areas in suburban kanagawa, shibuya and the ueno area show limited market penetration. i do like the 1998 sci-fi box and "option yellow" description. they're a standard japanese menthol cigarette, very light, with a flavor capsule that tastes like yellow gummi bears or a tropical air freshener. they give me a mild headache at the top-front of my skull 30 seconds after smoking one. i have given them my lowest rating yet.

http://geekologie.com/2010/04/12/cigarettes-and-booze.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/U8Qkkgh.jpg

been mostly smoking these menthol light. just so everyone knows what's up.

huh i guess this is a thing
http://www.shifteast.com/asia-trends/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/kool-tobacco-georgia-coffee.jpg

finally getting in on that coffee/cigarettes cross-branding opportunity

i don't recall ever seeing that type of combo pack!

would choke on the gummy overtones...yuck

http://i.imgur.com/m6xRnUT.jpg

kool escape new york wbeat / MY RATING: * / 300 YEN (14 cigarettes)

from a line of that includes bali sunset and miami breeze, kool's new york wbeat delivers the thrill and chills of the big apple to quality conscious smokers in the 20-35 year old demographic. it tastes like a menthol cigarette dropped in a toilet and left to sit overnight on a windowsill to dry. a faint, faint menthol tingle on the tongue when inhaling followed by an exhale that tastes like opening the door of an abandoned car. tolerates a hard drag and produces an uncommonly thick smoke, likely rich with unapproved additives. they're made in korea.

sorry, fucked this up. i was staring at the box thinking how much they sucked and vaguely wondering why they're called double beat. i looked closer and realized hey there must be flavor capsules in them. there are two, a green and a red. the green tastes like lime jell-o and the purple tastes like grape kool-aid. combined together, you can only imagine!

MY RATING (updated): ***

yummm

dyl, after you run the gamut of cigs, can I suggest you do a similar thread for canned coffee? Boss, emerald mountain, and so on...

i wanted to do canned alcoholic drinks, non-beer category. but i could do coffee. i drink a lot of canned coffee.

moved to mexico this weekend and was pleasantly surprised to find the marlboro ICE EXPRESS here (they were never introduced in europe afaik). bought a pack for ~2$ and they decongested my nose quite nicely.

this is my favorite thread on ilx tbh