Tokyo Govt Presents Stricter Regulations on Passive Smoking

June 5, 2018

Tokyo- The Tokyo metropolitan government on Tuesday presented to the metropolitan assembly a bill including measures against passive smoking in eateries and other facilities that are stricter than those proposed by the central government.

The metropolitan government hopes to fully implement the planned ordinance, aimed at preventing passive smoking, before the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, officials said.

The bill would temporarily ease standards for heat-not-burn cigarettes, which were subject to regulations similar to those on regular cigarettes in the bill's outline proposal, until related health issues are understood.

It calls for allowing people to smoke heat-not-burn cigarettes while chatting, eating and drinking if smoking seats in eateries are separated from nonsmoking seats.

While there is little prospect of enactment of a bill to revise the health promotion law, which include central government measures against passive smoking, in the current parliamentary session, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has expressed her hope to have the metropolitan government's envisaged ordinance enacted in June.

The metropolitan government's bill calls for prohibiting indoor smoking in principle for eateries with employees regardless of their store size. It would only permit smoking in smoking rooms where eating and drinking is not allowed.

On the other hand, the central government has proposed allowing smoking at eateries with eating or drinking areas of 100 square meters or less.

The metropolitan government's bill also seeks to ban smoking on the premises of nurseries, day care centers and elementary, junior high and high schools. Setting up outdoor smoking areas within such facilities would also be prohibited.

Anyone who violates such rules would face a penalty of up to 50,000 yen. Jiji Press