Two local governments in Tokyo have decided to aid companies that build indoor smoking spaces in their buildings in Chiyoda and Minato wards from next year.
The decision comes amid increasing complaints about the smell of cigarettes from people smoking outside their office buildings or in parks, Kentsu Shimbun reported Monday.
Although Chiyoda and Minato wards prohibit street smoking, groups of people smoking outside their office buildings are a frequent sight.
Both ward governments will subsidize the installation of indoor smoking areas up to a maximum 5 million yen.
© Japan Today
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Douglas Macarthy
crazy smoking kills
sighclops
Now, if we could just get the salarymen to stop smoking on train platforms before jumping onto the packed trains in the mornings here in Tokyo...
Kagemusha
Or they could actually enforce the current legislature. Maybe even try improve it. Novel idea to not pander to petulant children and give into their wants and desires by spending money.
MarkX
So the good people of Minato and Chiyoda, will now subsidize the building of smoking rooms with their hard earned tax dollars! All the while allowing smokers to continue their unhealthy and costly habit, which will end up costing all tax payers in higher medical costs and lost productivity. Good job!
papigiulio
This! And smokers in front of the entrance of public buildings like convenience stores. Pisses me off that noone has common sense that those are NOT proper places to have a smoke.
ADK99
Smoking should never have been banned outdoors in the first place. I'm very much an anti-smoker but ever since Chiyoda-ku introduced that rule, the amount of indoor smoking seems to have increased significantly. A significant proportion of cafes and restaurants in Japan seem utterly unable to separate smoking and non-smoking areas in a meaningful way, so the effect of the legislation has been to force non-smokers to endure more smoke. Let them - nay, make them - smoke outside if they have to smoke.
Knox Harrington
We have a smoking room at my place of work. It's great - adjacent to the dining area! Great idea. The airconditionig system also seems to do a good job of somehow letting the smoke smell enter the dining area.
Although I really dislike smokers and their selfish ways, I fail to see why some bureaucrats should be allowed to line their pockets with (almost certain) kickbacks from the construction industry for subsidizing this. Let smokers smoke outside. Don't let those asshats enter any building.
SenseNotSoCommon
How cretinous can civil servants get?
Paul Laimal-Convoy
I've noticed some great development in Chiba. At Inage station, outside the convinience store, there are huge stickers on the pavement saying "no smoking" and I've noticed old ladies asking old men to stop smoking. Noone smiles on the platforms of (JR) stations mostly, but if they do, I've been able to ask them to stop (everyone I've asked has).
Also, outside Shimbashi(?) strain, there is a an outside smoking area next to the old steam train there. I've seen anti-smoking people standing around there, as the smell is quite bad.
Also, in Isesaki, Gunma, teachers can't even smoke in their cars, on the grounds of any public/city buildings (including car parks, etc).
I've also noticed more and more places catering to non smokers. Yokohama is a huge non-smoking haven while in Aoyama-Itchome, if you go out of one of the exits into the underground cafe area, you can see a grimy and smoke-filled "Subway" sandwich place, but right next to it is a Japanese style "le olde paris cafe" place, with no-smoking hours basically most of the time. It's ironic that a place that looks like it should attract smoking oyaji and a western cafe could have such different attitudes to smoking. I hate Japanese "Subway" cafes, for the record.
Also, I've sometimes gone into smoky Japanese coffee shops and asked if they have a proper no smoking area. When told that they haven't got one, I ask the staff where the nearest Starbucks is (because they, thank God, are completely non-smoking).
Just vote with your wallet and politely ask those who are smoking in places they shouldn't to stop and you'll succeed. It's great that Japan is almost at the point where smoking in most civilised places is a rare thing.
Paul Laimal-Convoy
When i wrote "no one smiles", i meant " no one smokes "
Mlodinow
They are obviously not thinking about the poor cleaning staff who will have to clean up the disgusting smoking room & get exposed to the smoke in the course of their work.
I think Japan should not move backwards on smoking...like so many other countries they should ban all indoor smoking. Allowing indoor comfy smoking rooms only encourages smoking (and time-wasting at work).