In order to reduce the negative health effects of second-hand smoke, Japan fully enforced the revised Health Promotion Act in April 2020, and indoor smoking bans were introduced nationwide in restaurants and similar customer service facilities. However, the law includes a temporary exemption that allows existing small restaurants and bars to allow indoor smoking, provided individuals under the age of 20 are not exposed.
To reduce the potential public health impact of these exemptions, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Chiba City have simultaneously implemented stricter second-hand smoke prevention ordinances aimed at further promoting smoke-free environments. The researchers therefore assessed the impact of both national laws and local regulations using data from a major online restaurant review platform covering the period 2016 to 2022.
Researchers calculated that immediately after the revised Health Promotion Act went into effect, the percentage of non-smoking facilities nationwide increased by 5.7 percentage points compared to just before the implementation. In areas where the additional passive smoking prevention ordinances of Tokyo and Chiba City were simultaneously enforced, the proportion of non-smoking facilities is estimated to have increased by 13.5 percentage points. Of this increase, 7.8% was specifically due to local ordinances. As of December 2022, the estimated percentage of non-smoking establishments is 68.3% in restaurants, 70.2% in cafes, 32.8% in pubs, and 25.0% in bars.
This study shows that enforcement of national legislation and complementary local ordinances is associated with a small increase in the proportion of non-smoking establishments. However, the survey results also show that a significant number of establishments continue to allow smoking indoors, largely due to exemptions granted under current law. To further reduce exposure to second-hand smoke, researchers emphasize the importance of removing existing exemptions and strengthening enforcement of current smoking ban regulations.
This study was supported by Health, Labor and Welfare Scientific Research Grants (19FA1005, 22FA1002) from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and a medical research grant from the Osaka Adult Disease Prevention Association, which was obtained by Dr. Muraki.
sauce:
Reference magazines:
Muraki, others. (2026). The impact of indoor smoking bans and ordinances on the proportion of non-smoking establishments in Japanese restaurants, izakayas, and bars: An interrupted time series analysis of a restaurant database. public health. DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2026.106146. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350626000132?via%3Dihub
