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]
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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]
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]