Arab News

Restaurants and cafes in Japan will ban most indoor smoking starting April with the approach of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer, as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government cracks down on public smoking.

Japan is one of the few countries around the world that still allows people to smoke indoors.

The country’s government passed a revised health promotion law, establishing rules on where and when people can smoke in public. Along with TMG, Japan is aiming to ensure that Tokyo 2020 will be ‘tobacco-free’ by the time the Olympics are underway.

In Japan, some cafés and small restaurants will continue to allow smoking indoors, while in Tokyo, there will be a strict ban on smoking in dining establishments with hired employees, which make up roughly 84 percent of Tokyo's cafés, bars and restaurants, according to Time Out Tokyo.

Restaurant owners that insist on accommodating smokers in their establishments are required to include a separate room for smokers.

Those that violate the ban could be fined between ¥50,000 and ¥300,000, depending on their location.