The bill will ban smoking at educational, welfare and medical institutions, and mandate that smoking areas will be separated from nonsmoking areas in other public facilities.

How about banning it in restaurants? I canot go in restauranrs where smoking is allowed.

So smoking IS allowed in hospitals now? How utterly ridiculous.

Just to play the devil's advocate here- how on earth are they planning to enforce this? As far as I know the local shotengai next to my office is supposed to be smoke and bicycle free... doesn't seem to stop anyone.

Jefflee - from a few years ago, in my prefecture all smoking inside hospitals is banned. But it wasn't always like this.

When my 2nd daughter was born 18 years ago at the largest prefectural hospital, I was shocked on my first visit to the neo-natal ward to smell tobacco smoke. Much to my dismay, the elevator area also was a sitting & smoking area, seperated from the ward by a normal wide sliding door. Little pink lungs, hours old, getting a dose.

When I mentioned it to reception, the first reply was to the effect of "we have to think about the visitors who have stress?????"

The 2nd reply was something about "we know but it can't be helped". ANd this was at the end of the 20th C.

Thankfully things have changed.

So now Japan will only be 30 years behind the civilized world, rather than 60.

Some people will jump at anything to talk badly of Japan. If Japan was to completely ban all smoking, they same people would complain about that.

It's more to do with national vs prefectural politics and the tendency to issue guidances.

Superintendents of facilities used by a large number of people, e.g. such as schools, hospitals, and public amenities, were already required to protect users from secondhand smoke since the Health Promotion Act was introduced in 2002.

In addition, the notice “Concerning Measures for Passive Smoking Prevention” was issued by the Director General of the Health Service Bureau in 2010.

The law is really to clarify the HPA because it was not clear whether it meant just inside the building, or the entire premises.

In Japan, the first total smoking ban in a mental health hospitals was implemented in 2004. In Switzerland, it was only completely prohibited in 2006.

51% had already completely banned smoking, while 32 percent prohibit any smoking inside the building. A further 14 percent have set up smoking areas and implemented measures to prevent smoke from drifting.

Kaminari/LIghtening Boy!

you seem to have a lot of knowledge. Convince your constituents to totally ban smoking in any and all restaurants. thank you

In my country we have !limited smoking facilities at age 16 permit smoking at school in restricted areas of course.

What happens in public and private concerns no one besides the people involved.

Said that smoking has reduced a lot in my country and our measures might not work globally.