When asked by their bosses if it was OK to smoke, about 60 percent of nonsmokers felt they could not reply "no," according to a survey conducted by the Tokyo-based Smoking-Cessation Information Center.

Also, while many people refrain from smoking around their superiors, many freely smoke in front of their subordinates. This is indicative of a new concept--smoking harassment, known as "sumohara" in Japanese--in which smoking habits are affected by vertical relationships within the workplace. In anticipation of World No Tobacco Day on Monday, the private organization conducted an Internet survey on 600 male company employees, comprising 300 smokers and 300 nonsmokers. The results showed 58 percent of nonsmokers were unable to tell their bosses not to smoke when asked. Even when wanting to smoke, 67 percent of the smokers said they refrain from smoking when around a nonsmoking superior. But only 31 percent said they do not smoke around their subordinates.

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