The Last Smoker

The Last Smoker (Japanese: 最後の喫煙者) is a 1987 short story by Yasutaka Tsutsui[1] that has been adapted for both television and radio. An English translation by Andrew Driver was published in the collection Salmonella Men on Planet Porno (ISBN 9780307377265) in 2008.[2]

The story is concerned with the repression of dissent.[3] It is set in a future Japan where smokers are persecuted to the point of extinction, and the last smoker is stuffed and preserved in a museum.[4]

Contents

Adaptations

Television

The story was adapted for television in Japan in 1995. Nine years after being broadcast it was said by the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun to have left a strong impression on audiences.[4]

Radio

The English-language radio adaption is a 45-minute Loftus Production radio drama broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 20 February 2009[5] and picked that day as one of the editor, Gillian Reynolds's choices in The Daily Telegraph[6] and listed as a "pick of the day" by The Guardian.[7] It was adapted by Julia Dover[6] and the final program directed by Matt Thompson.[6] The actors include John Byrne,[7] Eileen McCallum,[5] Madeleine Worrall,[6] Stewart Conn,[5] and Madeleine Brolly.[5]

References

  1. ^ Feldman, Eric A. (2006). "The culture of legal change: A case study of tobacco control in twenty-first century Japan". Michigan Journal of International Law 27 (3): 807. 
  2. ^ "Naked fantasies with edge". The Miami Herald. 2 November 2008. 
  3. ^ "'Porno' Goes Absurdist". The Harvard Crimson. 31 October 2008. http://www.thecrimson.harvard.edu/article.aspx?ref=525002. Retrieved 2009-03-24. 
  4. ^ a b "Kicking the habit? The central government enacted the Heal". Yomiuri Shimbun. 1 May 2004. 
  5. ^ a b c d "Afternoon Play, The Last Smoker". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00hg6n3. Retrieved 2009-03-24. 
  6. ^ a b c d Reynolds, Gillian (20 February 2009). "Radio highlights: Friday 20 February". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/gillianreynolds/4699628/Radio-highlights-Friday-20-February.html. Retrieved 2009-03-24. 
  7. ^ a b "Pick of the day". The Guardian (London). 20 February 2009. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/feb/20/radio. Retrieved 2009-03-21.