Nomura’s longstanding initiative to eliminate smoking and cigarette breaks among its staff is showing results, as Japan’s largest brokerage highlighted during its annual investor day. In a detailed 40-page presentation, which included various targets from return on equity to expanding its wealth management sector, Nomura reported that by the end of March last year, 14.9% of its nearly 15,000 employees were smokers. This marks a reduction from 21.4% in 2018.
The Tokyo-headquartered Nomura began its anti-smoking campaign in 2018, aimed at improving employees’ health and workplace conditions. Measures implemented include closing smoking rooms in offices, subsidizing products that assist in quitting smoking, and eliminating the traditional 10-minute cigarette break.
Furthermore, the bank mandates that employees who take a cigarette break must wait 45 minutes before returning, to ensure that any scent of smoke on clothing dissipates. Nomura’s goal is to reduce the employee smoking rate to 12% by the end of March 2026.
Other Japanese firms, such as technology giant SoftBank, trading house Itochu, and semiconductor equipment maker Disco, have recently adopted similar measures. Nomura’s efforts align with a wider national initiative to reduce smoking rates. Several cities, including Tokyo, have largely banned street smoking.
The Japanese government targets a 12% adult smoking rate by 2033, down from 14.8% in 2022, a significant reduction from the 1960s peak when nearly half of the adult population smoked. Despite these efforts, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, a smoker, has expressed difficulty quitting due to his busy schedule, as he mentioned in a December parliamentary session that he would need “a little more time” to successfully quit.
