More restaurants becoming smoke-free

December 13, 2017

Tokyo- An increasing number of major Japanese restaurant chain operators are making their outlets completely smoke-free ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Japanese and Tokyo metropolitan governments are slated to tighten measures against passive smoking to prepare for the 2020 Games, which are expected to attract many foreign visitors to Japan.

Considering the planned tighter regulations, the restaurant operators are aiming to lure nonsmoking customers to their outlets, industry sources said.

The operators also hope to secure human resources amid a labor shortage by reducing the risk of exposure to secondhand smoke at workplace, the sources said.

Family restaurant operator Saizeriya Co. plans to eliminate smoking tables from all of its some 1,000 outlets across the country by around September 2019. Most Saizeriya restaurants currently have both smoking and nonsmoking tables.

"We'll follow a social trend of banning indoor smoking," a Saizeriya official said, adding that smoke-free outlets are also aimed at protecting the health of its workers, including high school students who work part time.

Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan Ltd. has already made all seats smoke-free at 96 pct of its about 1,150 outlets and plans to raise the figure to 100 percent by the end of March next year.

"We want customers to eat our products in a comfortable environment," an official of the company's public relation section said.

Ahead of other industry players, McDonald's Company (Japan) Ltd. made all outlets smoke-free in August 2014 across the country.

"Many customers who visit our outlets with their family members welcome this move, saying that our restaurants have become friendlier to them," an official at the public relations department of the hamburger chain said.

Some "izakaya" eatery operators have introduced non-smoking outlets on a trial basis. Ap Company Co. made six outlets in the Tokyo area smoke-free and Watami Co. introduced a full smoking ban at two outlets in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo.

But most izakaya operators are facing difficulties in completely banning indoor smoking, as many smokers cannot help but smoke when drinking, the industry sources said. Jiji Press