The Imperial Tobacco of Japan

[ChinaVoodoo]

Sometimes Wikipedia is really fascinating.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onshino_Tabako

 

[deluxestogie]

What an interesting article. The "recent health finds" caused them to discontinue the gifts of Imperial cigarettes--40 years later!

Goryo cigars were produced for the Empress Meiji. In 1908, they were 2 sun and 4 bu (2.86 in) and 7 sun 5 rin (0.895 in) diameter.

Before 1945, no other persons were permitted to enter the production room, while workers were fastidiously checked for health. In 1973, six or seven veteran workers produced it, making all the tobacco and packaging it by hand.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onshino_Tabako

Those little cigars were 2.86 inches, with a ring gauge of 57.28! But then, they were for the Empress Meiji herself. I assume the fastidious sanitation was to prevent the royals from being poisoned or sickened surreptitiously.

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

What an interesting article. The "recent health finds" caused them to discontinue the gifts of Imperial cigarettes--40 years later!



Those little cigars were 2.86 inches, with a ring gauge of 57.28! But then, they were for the Empress Meiji herself. I assume the fastidious sanitation was to prevent the royals from being poisoned or sickened surreptitiously.

Bob

Oh, exactly. I never thought of it that way. I was wondering why it said they were checked for "behavior."

Goryō tobacco had been produced with extreme supervision and with alcohol disinfection. The workers had been severely checked for health and behaviour.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

What an interesting article. The "recent health finds" caused them to discontinue the gifts of Imperial cigarettes--40 years later!



Those little cigars were 2.86 inches, with a ring gauge of 57.28! But then, they were for the Empress Meiji herself. I assume the fastidious sanitation was to prevent the royals from being poisoned or sickened surreptitiously.

Bob

I do wonder if there is an error in unit conversion though. Supposedly their cigarettes were as short as 3/4", and were unfiltered.

 

[deluxestogie]

The article seems pretty insistent and consistent in its measurements. And according to the Wikipedia page on Japanese Units of Measure (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_units_of_measurement), the conversions are correct. But based on the photo of normal looking cigarettes, it makes no sense.

Bob

 

[burge]

I have had one of those cigarettes. I was given some when I was living in Banff. I just thought they were a Japanese cigarette.