Discussion: The Japanese smoke heavily and have the highest life expectancy in the world. I am a heavy smoker, and my conclusion is that there is no problem with smoking!

As for the facts, you're pretty right. The average Japanese smokes 1583 cigarettes a year. (33rd place in the world) Quite far from the peak of Andorra and Luxembourg, with over 6000 cigarettes a year, and even China, with about 2000 cigarettes a year. (14th place) It should be noted that these are averages that do not give a complete picture of the distribution of smokers, including women and men.

The conclusion that smoking is not harmful to health is entirely wrong. There is widespread agreement that smoking is harmful. It is enough to see how many smokers suffer from emphysema to understand.

Smoking is, of course, not the only cause of COPD. There are quite a few patients with COPD who have not smoked. (My father, for example) Japanese eat incredibly healthy, rich in fish and seafood, and diverse fruits and vegetables. It is one of the plausible explanations for their high life expectancy.