Abstract
Purpose：The purpose of this study was to understand the current status and outcome of tobacco education and smoking cessation treatment in Japan. Conducted through a large-scale survey, the study categorized participants by their smoking experience.
Methods：An Internet survey was conducted with 6,182 participants (3,091 men and 3,091 women) living in Japan. Five options were prepared to analyze smoking experiences: never-smoker, quitter, smoker attempted to quit but failed, smoker who never attempted to quit, and “I do not want to answer.” The questionnaire also required participants’ gender, age, and resident prefecture.
Results：Of the surveyed subjects, 0.52% chose ‘I do not want to answer.’ Excluding these respondents, 63.64% were never smokers, and 36.36% had smoking experience (22.24% were quitters, 5.97% were smokers who had attempted but failed to quit, and 8.15% were smokers who never attempted to quit). It was found that the number of successful quitters increased among older men. In particular, the percentage of successful quitters was high in men in their 60s, and women in their 30s. In regional studies, the percentage of nonsmokers among adults in the Kanto region and women in Hokkaido was low.
Conclusion：The recent decline in Japan’s smoking rate may be influenced by the large number of successful quitters in elderly men. The study results also suggest that smoking prevention strategies are necessary for adults in the Kanto region, and women in Hokkaido.

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