As Japan tourism rises from pandemic ashes, more visitors get singed by smoking laws

Japan banned smoking indoors and on streets nationwide in April 2020, a rule that comes on top of a range of local regulations at tourist hot spots

The travel sector has urged the government to educate visitors on the laws, to prevent them from becoming an ‘easy target’ of blame by unhappy locals

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People use a smoking space in Tokyo. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 3:00pm, 7 Jan 2024

Japan’s travel industry is calling on the authorities to provide more information on the country’s new strict smoking regulations to foreign visitors, who are disproportionately falling afoul of the rules and being fined.

New legislation that bans smoking indoors and on streets, except in designated areas, went into effect across the country in April 2020, when there were virtually no foreign tourists in Japan due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now that visitor numbers are rebounding, more are being punished for not observing the rules.

The nationwide regulations are in addition to local rules that have been introduced in areas with high tourist footfall, such as Nara Park, which in 2009 implemented an outdoor smoking ban, enforced with an on-the-spot fine of 1,000 yen (US$6.90).

A no-smoking sign in Tokyo. With tourists returning to Japan, it is likely that foreign smokers will account for an increasing number of violations. Photo: Shutterstock

Similar restrictions were introduced in central parts of Osaka as far back as 2007, including in the popular Minami district, which attracts many foreign visitors. Roving patrols also have the power to impose a fine of 1,000 yen, with city officials telling the Mainichi newspaper that there were 4,225 violations in 2022.

In Kyoto, 40 per cent of the people fined in 2019 for smoking in the wrong place were foreign visitors, while overseas tourists accounted for 10 per cent of violations in the city of Kobe in the same year. And with tourists once again thronging Japan’s attractions, it is likely that foreign smokers will account for an increasing number of violations, largely because they are unaware of the rules.

More than 22.3 million foreign tourists arrived in Japan in the first 11 months of 2023, down from the 29.4 million arrivals in calendar 2019, but the recovery was clearly under way in the closing months of the year, with arrivals in both October and November surpassing the monthly totals for those same months in 2019.

“I really think that the majority of people who come to Japan for a holiday are mindful of Japanese traditions and respectful of the laws here,” said Hiro Miyatake, founder of the Bear Luxe Corp network of high-end travel companies.