Employees will be allowed to smoke during lunch and other breaks. But they will be asked to take some time before getting back to work after smoking as the risk of causing passive smoking is believed to linger for about 45 minutes after smoking.

Linger for 45 minutes where? In clothes?

My company set 2 days a month as smoking free days.

Even just 2 days a month, many of my coworkers complain about that.

Last week's news. This ban includes teleworkers too. Other companies such as Aeon and Ajinomoto have also banned smoking in their buildings and for teleworkers during working hours too.

that's nice.....so for taking up a filthy dirty habit, you get rewarded with sanctioned breaks that non-smokers won't get and on top of that you can arbitrarily extend them because you smell of toxic chemicals......seems fair

Big deal

I have always found the smell of Tabaco, people who smoke, or the smoke it self so vile I get sick to my stomach even with the slightest sense of it. Even when driving and stopping at a traffic light I smell it from a car near me I start to get sick.

PLEASE BAN SMOKING ABSOLUTELY ITS VILE especially for people who are very sensitive to it and want nothing to do with it.

Well, I am a smoker and it’s quite hard to be attacked or restricted from all sides all day long and mostly unexpected and unannounced. May the market decide and hopefully also quickly wipe out that dictatorship-like exploiting company and the future bring maximum losses from the stock exchanges to shareholders and managers and complete bankruptcy to all of them. Only a personal wish, nothing of importance…lol

Yes smokers you do stink. Sometimes on the trains the stench is horrible. And those around you are taking in the thousands of toxics that are in your clothes after you smoke. They do not magically disappear.

Disgusting anti-social habit that needs to be severely taxed to capture all the external costs created by toxic smoke. Also raising the price is the only way the addicted losers who still smoke will eventually quit. Getting cancer is not enough as is clear now to all.

Personally, I'd like to see smoking in your own car be illegal. I hate driving behind them.

I am a non-smoker, the local tobacco smells bad to me, however I advocate that private organisations, restaurants, etc should be able to set their own rules regarding smokers. And if one side or the other doesn't like it, then, unfortunately, tough luck.

Japan, get with the 20th not even the 21st century and ban smoking in public places and work places

You cannot ban smokers because of their smell.

“People are very sensitive to it…” oh cmon, I am quite sensitive to BO then.

”smokers should be made to have colored hair and different clothes”….wow that is an offensive thing to suggest. I sure hope that we are better than that as a society.

But at work, or anywhere where your smoke can get onto those who don’t want it, do it elsewhere.

Opening a bit of a Pandora’s box. The list of odors people may find offensive May very quickly become very long. Take an extra hour before coming back to work because you smell of fish, curry, hair spray, fried food, perfume……

Banning smoking at work is a fine idea, but banning certain smells may not be wise.

Good. Filthy habit.

They should also be paid less than non-smokers.

There isn't really much of a health risk from the residue on hair and clothes. The foul stench that remains and permeates any room is the problem. For sweat there is deodorant, but for tobacco (and weed in some countries) there is no easy fix. Maybe changing clothes for your break and washing you hair when you return is an option.

I feel sorry for kids whose parents chain smoke at home and who go to school smelling like ashtrays. School can be tough enough without that.

Even though I have always been a passionate anti-smoker on environmental and health grounds, I'm not sure companies should be able to tell people what to do when home working. Maybe no smoking whilst videoconferencing as it looks unprofessional, but if people want to smoke at home it is not really up to employers to ban them.

In the UK, tradespeople often have a distinctive scent about them if they work in people's homes. They all seem to wear the same scent to mask the smell of cigarettes. Companies must buy it wholesale for their staff.

Cigarettes are filthy, glad when they become illegal, can't come soon enough. Disgusting!

Cigarettes are filthy, glad when they become illegal, can't come soon enough. Disgusting!

So you believe that the government should intrude upon peoples' freedom to do with their body as they choose?