- 7 Jun 2008
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Does anyone know if smoking is allowed in restaurants and bars in the Tokyo Metropolis?
How about in cocktail (hostess) bars?
Thanks.
How about in cocktail (hostess) bars?
Thanks.
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... More progressive and internationally minded politicians are aware that Japan are a generation behind most developed countries regarding smoking rules and would like to see a smoking ban. ...
Fair point, I wasn't using words very carefully. By progressive, I meant that some decision makers In Japan would like to see it moving in a direction where the areas where it is woeful (restrictions on smoking in public area, rights for women, minorities, strictness of laws on child pornography, slaughtering dolphins in Taiji etc) are addressed. Others think that Japan should do what the hell it likes regardless of what the rest of the world think.Regardless of the benefits of detriments of a ban, I'm not sure how the verbiage of 'internationally minded' and 'progressive' are applicable here.
The vast majority of the nations of the world have no bans against smoking. Perhaps 'politicians interested in instituting Western European/American laws' would be a bit more accurate.
As to progressive, it could easily be argued that reduction of individual freedom is regressive in nature.
Not arguing for our against the ban, just noting that the verbiage used might not be all that accurate.
Fair point, I wasn't using words very carefully. By progressive, I meant that some decision makers In Japan would like to see it moving in a direction where the areas where it is woeful (restrictions on smoking in public area, rights for women, minorities, strictness of laws on child pornography, slaughtering dolphins in Taiji etc) are addressed. Others think that Japan should do what the hell it likes regardless of what the rest of the world think.
By the way, there's nothing particularly European/American about bans on indoor smoking, and that many countries in the world do regulate smoking in indoor areas, as you can see from this map.
List of smoking bans - Wikipedia
I can understand banning smoking in indoor public spaces, or having designated smoking areas in bars and restaurants, but banning it outdoors seems draconian and nonsensical, given that there's little risk of passive smoking outside. Not too sure what the logic is, except perhaps reducing the number of cigarette butts thrown on the pavement and road. Japan has got this the wrong way round.
It is banned on most of the streets in Tokyo (but badly enforced), with designated smoking areas around stations. And it's a perfectly sensible ban, which is more to do with preventing people wandering around crowded areas with lit cigarettes at the high of a child's eye than with the risk of passive smoking.