(c) carpediem37
日本[にほん]には、たばこの自動[じどう]販売[はんばい]機[き] (jido hanbai ki means vending machine)があるのを知[し]っていましたか。昨日[きのう]の朝日新聞[あさひしんぶん]で、最近[さいきん]たばこの自動[じどう]販売[はんばい]機[き] の数[かず] (kazu means nember)がとても減[へ]っている(heru means to decrease)と言[い]っていました。ここ1年[ねん]半[はん]で10万[まん]7千[せん]台[だい] (dai is counter for machines)減[へ]ったそうです－ということは、一体[いったい]、今[いま]日本[にほん]には何台[なんだい]あるんでしょう!?
Did you know there were millions of tobacco vending machines in Japan? This news site reported yesterday the dramatic decrease of the machine in Japan last year. It said that the number decreased by 107,000 during the last one and a half year. So how many machines does Japan have now!?
2002年には62万9,100台あったそうですが、今は40万9108台だそうです。健康[けんこう]のことを考[かんが]えてたばこを吸[す]う人[ひと]が減[へ]りました。そして、今[いま]、自動[じどう]販売[はんばい]機[き] でたばこを買[か]うために、特別[とくべつ]なICカード (20歳[はたち]以上[いじょう]の人[ひと]だけが持[も]つことができる)が要[い]るので、それが面倒[めんどう] (mendo means bothersome)で自動[じどう]販売[はんばい]機[き] でたばこを買[か]う人[ひと]が減[へ]ったようです。
Apparently there were 629,100 machines all over the country in 2002 and there are now 409,108. Needless to say, the number of smokers itself has decreased because of the health reasons. There is also another reason – when you want to use Tobacco vending machine now, you have to have a special IC card (functions as ID card), which is only available to 20 yr or older people; smokers feel this is bothersome (yes, in the past you just had to insert cash to the machine to buy tobacco!!).