Frank Follis is the kind of guy one can hardly imagine without a cigar. Down-to-earth, straight-forward, puffing - no, rather puffing and chewing - on a stogie most of the time. He is a serious cigar smoker, perhaps not exactly a connoisseur but a cigar man who knows to enjoy a smoke. As an old Japan-hand, Frank has been in Japan for more than thirty years, he knows the local cigar scene like nobody else. CigarJapan.com met Frank at his favorite watering-hole to talk with him about cigars.

CigarJapan.com: Frank, I have to admit you look good with that cigar.
Frank Follis: Yea, thanks. I have been told that before. You know, the women like me!
CJc: Well, I don't know about that, but you sure look relaxed puffing on that stogie. For how long have you been smoking cigars?
FF: For quite some time. I think for about fifteen years or so.
CJc: In that case, you started here in Japan?

FF: Yes. Before I smoked cigarettes, but then I thought that cigars might help me to cut down on them, so I tried cigars. My favorite cigarette brand used to be "More", and just as the name implies, I smoked more and more of them. Just too many I think.
CJc: When you switched from cigarettes to cigars, what kind of cigars did you smoke?
FF: At that time the selection was quite small in Japan. There where a few Cuban brands, but the price was mostly out of my reach. So I went for some dry cigars, King Edwards. You know, everybody has to start somewhere. I also smoked some brand of cigars with a mouthpiece, but I can't recall the brand name.
CJc: I see, cigars with a mouthpiece. I can also see that you are chewing on the cigar you're smoking right now...
FF: Yea, old habits die hard!

CJc: But now you are a premium cigar smoker. How come?
FF: A lady friend of mine buys them for me.
CJc: You don't buy cigars yourself?
FF: I do buy cigars for myself, of course. Mostly my everyday cigars. I go to shops like Nomura Tobacco Shop in Gotanda, or the one in Roppongi, close to Roppongi crossing. These shops now have a large selection of good cigars at reasonable prices. The La Eminencia brand is one of them. But for special occasions I like a Montecristo, gifted to me by my lady friend!
CJc: So you don't spend that much money on your cigar smoking?
FF: Well, sometimes I do, but rather by mistake. Two years ago I went to London and on the way back I picked up a few boxes of Montecristo cigars at Heathrow airport's duty-free shop. The price sticker on the box said 100, and I, being American, thought that's dollars and without much thinking charged the four boxes to my credit card. It wasn't till I was sitting on the plane that I realized that I'd just bought 400 British Pounds worth of cigars! Oh well, they tasted good after all.
CJc: I know you work as a Japanese-English translator, do you smoke cigars on your job?
FF: No, I don't. I smoke in the evenings, when I go out for a drink. But lately I have also found to the pleasure of smoking a good cigar on the patio of my house in the country-side. When you get older quality-time is getting important.
CJc: Frank, thanks a lot for your time, and many more good cigars to you.