Murao the Tobacconist

Met up with photographer Trevor Williams in Okayama and spent the day checking out Naoshima Island in the Seto Inland Sea. Driving around the island we spotted an old store squeezed between more modern buildings.

Murao the Tobacconist

Murao is an 83-year-old tobacconist who defiantly sells his cigarettes and non-safety matches just has he has done for more than half a century. The sign next to his window says, Kyo mo genki da! Tobako ga umai, which roughly translates as, Today I’m also healthy. Tobacco is delicious.

Murao the Tobacconist

The future of tobacconists is literally on Murao’s doorstep. A cigarette vending machine with taspo age identification sits beside his store. Murao however doesn’t seem worried. Against all the odds, he’s happy and healthy, still puffing away.

Cigarette vending machine with taspo. Naoshima, Japan.