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[Mike Oxlong]

Japan's emperor to stop gifting cigarettes
TOKYO | June 10, 2005 11:11:24 PM IST

Japanese Emperor Akihito, abandoning 71 years of tradition, and will stop coughing up gifts of his personal brand of cigarettes.

The Imperial cigarettes, adorned with the emperor's 16-petal chrysanthemum emblem, have been manufactured from locally grown tobacco since 1934, and presented to foreign diplomats, volunteer palace gardeners and wounded soldiers. And kamikaze pilots used to smoke them as gift from the emperor's father Hirohito before takeoff as well, The Times of London said.

But the Imperial Household Agency, which governs the lives of the emperor and his family feels with health concerns on the rise, the practice will come to an end, but not too quickly as it will continue until March 2007.

About 1.4 million of the cigarettes are handed out each year.

(UPI)

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