Drinking alcohol increases the risk of mouth, upper throat (pharyngeal), oesophageal, voice box (laryngeal), breast, bowel and liver cancer
Saliva contains alkaline substances that help neutralise gastric acid and protect the lining of the oesophagus against acid damage
I dont know whether those IC chips can record what brand of cigarettes you buy and how often, or whether that data is sent to JT HQ when you charge your card, but they would definitely have all your personal details (and photo) stored on their computers from the application process, and lets not forget that Japan Tobacco is still half owned by the government, which doesnt fill me with confidence
Yet it cannot be considered a true laggard like most European countries it is on a downward trend with fewer deaths in 2019 than in 1990 (from 184,466 deaths in 1990 to 143,642 in 2019)
The bitter taste of some herbal blends can take a bit of getting used to