Cigarette Machines To Say You look Old

[Mulboyne]

Scifi.com: Japanese cigarette machine reads faces to determine age
...A new machine is in development that will have facial-recognition software built in to gauge the age of wannabe purchasers. If they have a young-looking face, it'll require photo ID, which it will then compare with your actual face to determine if it's legit. It's a pretty clever and sophisticated system, one that's clearly way more expensive than just forcing people to go deal with a human being at a convenience store but much more convenient for the many smokers of Japan...more...

[Midwinter]

Still, what's the bet it continues to shut down at 11pm while never having the brand you're looking for.

[etto_neh]

How fitting that the link goes to a Scifi blog- 'cause that's what this is... unfortunately, it's only a matter of time before digg/reddit et al pick up this shit.

The current state of facial recognition software is shitty enough that, I'd be VERY impressed if it could even tell the difference between a j-guy and a Giger sculpture 30 percent of the time, much less human wrinkles and whatnot.

Maybe it's all a front by cosmetic firms to further squash what little self-esteem j-gals already have so that these girls rush straight to the Daimaru cosmetic counters... 'Fuck, that machine told me I look old!'

[succubusqueen]

Still a kid with progeria disease can buy cigarrettes...

[Doctor Stop]

If the system works, what's going to prevent someone holding a photo from a magazine or that's in their cellphone to get it to spit out cancer sticks?

[Mulboyne]

The new Taspo IC card will be in Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures in March and nationwide from summer to help prevent anyone under 20 buying cigarettes from a vending machine. A tobacco industry association will accept requests by mail. They require a name, address and photograph and will process the application within a couple of weeks. The application form is on the site - there are two different kinds depending on whether people complete it on a PC or else write by hand. Since you need to include proof that your details are correct, you will need to supply a copy of supporting photo ID. For FGs, this will be a driving licence or gaijin card. The industry expects that convenience stores and other retailers may begin to ask for the ID if they are unsure about someone's age.

[Greji]

They require a name, address and photograph

What? No fingerprints?

[Mulboyne]

Mainichi: Thief poses as cigarette ID inspector, makes off with vending machine cash

A man has been arrested after he posed as an inspector of an ID card for cigarette vending machines and stole the takings from a vendor here, police said. Hiroshi Yokokawa, 66, unemployed of no fixed address, was arrested for theft and admits to the allegations. Yokokawa is suspected of having used his alleged ruse to pilfer cigarette vending machines across Japan and a nationwide alert had been sent out for the fake inspector claiming to be checking up on the operations of Taspo cards. Taspo are ID cards introduced this year by the Tobacco Institute of Japan to combat underage smoking. Many cigarette machines can only be used after reading a Taspo card to prove the buyer is legally entitled to purchase cigarettes. Nearly all cigarette vending machines will incorporate the card readers by the end of this year.

Police said Yokokawa was arrested for going to the Fukuyama Municipal Government office on April 21 posing as an employee of the Tobacco Institute of Japan and asking to check on cigarette machines, taking about 55,000 yen in cash from inside one after it was opened for him. Yokokawa was caught in Kyoto on Saturday after police received a call about a man acting suspiciously around cigarette vending machines at a supermarket. Institute officials said there had been eight cases of fake Taspo inspector robberies up until April 25.

[IkemenTommy]

There was a way to beat the system after all (if you are under 20)...
SanSupo: Scanning the pictures off from magazines can fake the buyer's age
(sorry but the article is in Japanese)

[CrankyBastard]

[Mulboyne]

Far fewer people applied for a Taspo card than expected - something like only 20%. I think they even relaxed some of the application criteria to increase the take-up rate but to no avail. In early trials in Kyushu, people without cards switched to buying at kiosks and convenience stores and that pattern looks likely to continue nationwide. That doesn't seem so a bad thing because there are probably too many vending machines in Japan anyway so perhaps it's a good shift.

However, people have been asking why, if you can now only buy from a machine with ID, do they still shut down between 11:00pm and 5:00am? Here's a TV feature on the card (Japanese only) which gives some details:

[YT]BDFMpdFKUac[/YT]

It seems that they might now be open 24 hours from late summer. When asked why they didn't switch over straight away, the tobacco retailers association says that changing the timers on the vending machines would have been too big an effort but the vending machine companies say instead that it is a piece of piss and could be done any time. The association says that's not what they were told and point out that many owners of the machines are elderly shopkeepers who might not be comfortable changing settings by themselves. It transpires, however, that they only thought about changing the timers in December last year although the Taspo plan has been scheduled since 2001.

So we might end up seeing cigarettes machines running for an extra six hours a day which doesn't seem like a great move when energy costs are rising.


There have been a couple of Taspo stories in the news: a mother is being prosecuted for lending her Taspo card to her underage son so he could buy his own smokes while the owner of a vending machine got into hot water for attaching a Taspo card to it with a length of string so anyone could freely buy cigarettes.

[Mulboyne]

[YT]uP-uNxIDq34[/YT]

Here's an interesting clip (no subtitles) produced before the introduction of Taspo cards. It asks why tiny tobacconists don't go bankrupt. They watch one shop which seems to get only 3 or 4 customers a day. When they go in, they find the owner sleeping in the back who confirms that not many people stop by and sales from the three vending machines outside don't produce enough income to live on. Such shops look like relics of a bygone age standing on the brink of bankruptcy.

The programme gives three reasons why that's not the case. (1) There is a limit on who is allowed to sell tobacco so if you hold the licence then no-one else within a given radius is allowed to do so (2) Although there are only 3 vending machines outside the shop, if anyone wants to sell cigarettes within the shop's designated area, they have to ask the shop to do it. Consequently, the owner operates 60 vending machines in restaurants, bars, lobbies etc, some of which are very high earners. The reason he was asleep during the day is that his main work is at night when he goes around to restock the machines. Far from almost going bankrupt, the owner says his income is over 10 million yen a year. (3) The last reason the shops have staying power is that they usually own their premises and so pay no rent.

If people stop using vending machines so much the daily routine of these tobacconists will see a bit of a shake-up.

[IkemenTommy]

[Doctor Stop]

If the system works, what's going to prevent someone holding a photo from a magazine or that's in their cellphone to get it to spit out cancer sticks?

[Mock Cockpit]

I've got my TASPO card, pain in the arse and I never have it when I need it but anyway there's always a conbini within vomiting distance.
For those who have one, did they wanna see your gaijin card? The fuckers tried it on with me and I gently suggested I show them my driver's license LIKE EVERY OTHER CUNT.

[Hamaki]

Don’t give into the man, don’t get a TASPO card.

Strange though, anybody can buy alcohol and porn from a vending machine. Maybe that’s next.

[Mulboyne]

Scifi.com: Japanese cigarette machine reads faces to determine age

The Asahi has a report (Japanese) that this facial recognition system is being circumvented by some underage smokers in Fukushima by "frowning".

[Mulboyne]

Many smokers have preferred to buy cigarettes at conveniences stores rather than apply for the Taspo photo ID card so to boost the take-up, a new "Taspo Station" has opened up in Shinjuku which will process applications in 30 minutes. The colour scheme makes it look a little like a Citibank ATM outlet which could produce some fun and games.

[Iraira]

[FG Lurker]

Unless, they want to know who the smokers are and how much their are smoking in order to deny them artificial lungs in the not to distant future?

It's a conspiracy by non-smokers to cut off your health insurance.

[Mulboyne]

It seems the Taspo card is responsible for an increase in depravity. A Tochigi man is up on charges for sex offences with a 15 year old girl. Tochigi introduced the Taspo card system on cigarette vending machines last summer. A few days after the introduction. the girl, who didn't have a Taspo card, posted to a mobile phone site offering to let someone feel her up for a couple of packets of cigarettes and the man responded. It appears that the offence has only recently come to light.

Source: Yomiuri (Japanese)

[Greji]

It seems the Taspo card is responsible for an increase in depravity. A Tochigi man is up on charges for sex offences with a 15 year old girl. Tochigi introduced the Taspo card system on cigarette vending machines last summer. A few days after the introduction. the girl, who didn't have a Taspo card, posted to a mobile phone site offering to let someone feel her up for a couple of packets of cigarettes and the man responded. It appears that the offence has only recently come to light.

Source: Yomiuri (Japanese)

Damn, I got a card. What's that site?