Tokyo = the final frontier of smoking in restaurants

Japan's one of the few countries that still allow smoking in restaurants. NYC city banned smoking in bars and restaurants a few years ago; even Paris no longer allows it! But in Tokyo, folks are still puffing away while you cook your okonomiyaki or slurp on ramen. A new survey, conducted by Pfizer, showed that 70% of Japanese are bothered by smoke in restaurants. Will this lead to a nationwide ban on smoking indoors? I don't know. I kinda doubt it. Especially not based on research conducted by a US big pharma company.

Interestingly, certain wards in Tokyo do ban smoking on the streets. My friend James got fined in Akihabara for it. And they're trying to tighten restrictions against underage smoking, too, with things like the ID and face scanner on cigarette vending machines.

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Comments

[vagrant]

Cigarettes are rather inexpensive here, compared to the U.S., until that new tax is added. (That reminds me, I need to pick up some cigars.)

It is interesting to see those smoking spots on the street flooded with people. You get a cloud of exhaled air wafting down the street like something out of Ghost Busters.

[Jeff]

I always thought it made more sense to ban smoking in the street than in restaurants. Restaurants are private property, and nobody *needs* to go to one. You want to avoid the smoke, you just avoid the restaurant - and it's up to the restaurant to then decide if it makes business sense to turn off all those non-smokers.

But streets are public property and you can't avoid being there. Obviously the open air helps dissipate the smoke, but I've had people blow smoke right in my face outdoors before and that, as far as I'm concerned, should be considered assault.

[Alan]

I think the tide will slowly turn, just as it has in other countries. I remember last spring hearing about Kanagawa drafting a smoking ban bill. I was actually just searching the other day to see what became of it, but I couldn't find any followup news stories.

[dach.openid.org]

It's about time. Tokyo will be a lot more enjoyable without all the smokers ruining it.
One thing I never understood was the incredibly backward smoking laws. You can't smoke on the street where the smoke can (relatively) safely dissipate, but you can smoke in restaurants where the smoke is contained and can ruin everyone's meal. I would also think that if a restaurant is proud of their food, they wouldn't want polluted air tainting the taste of their food.