Japan is moving to pass its strictest ever smoking laws, but the country\u2019s powerful tobacco lobby wants to stub out measures that were adopted years ago by other developed nations….<\/b>
Japan is moving to pass its strictest ever smoking laws, but the country\u2019s powerful tobacco lobby wants to stub out measures that were adopted years ago by other developed nations. The government is keen to change Japan\u2019s image as a puffing paradise \u2013 smoking is still allowed in most bars, restaurants and cafes \u2013 as Tokyo gets set to host millions of visitors for the 2020 Olympics. The health ministry is to submit a proposed law to parliament by June that would ban smoking in many restaurants, as well as public facilities. If approved, rule-breakers would face a penalty of 300,000 yen (US$2,600). But the proposals, unveiled last week, have already been watered down from an initial push for a broad ban on indoor smoking, which ran up against strong opposition from former state monopoly Japan Tobacco (JT) and many small business owners, who fear they\u2019ll lose customers. Establishments can build a separate smoking room under the latest proposal. And places with less than 30 square metres of floor space would not be affected by the restrictions at all \u2013 excluding a huge number of establishments in space-challenged Japan. \u201cIt would be better if it\u2019s completely banned\u201d in restaurants, Kumiko Tanaka, a 27-year-old non-smoker, told AFP. \u201cBut I don\u2019t mind as long as smoking areas are strictly separated.\u201d Even the less-expansive rules could be headed for trouble, however, as opposition brews within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Gaffe-prone finance minister Taro Aso recently questioned the long-established link between smoking cigarettes and lung cancer. And this week, the LDP\u2019s parliamentary affairs chief Wataru Takeshita bemoaned the proposals, as a group in his party suggested restaurant owners instead be allowed to choose \u2013 and display their smoking status on the door. \u201cAs a cigarette lover, I feel like this is not a good idea \u2013 how would I live if smoking is banned everywhere?\u201d Takeshita told reporters. Japan\u2019s government gets billions of dollars annually in cigarette tax revenue, and still owns a one-third stake in JT \u2013 the third-biggest global tobacco company with brands including Winston, Camel and Benson & Hedges. This conflict leaves anti-smoking campaigners fuming in a country where cigarettes sell for around 430 yen (US$3.75) a pack, and carry only modest health warning labels. It is a far cry from other developed nations, including Australia and France, which have wide-ranging bans on smoking in public places and large, graphic health warnings on cigarette packs, which sell for two or three times more than in Japan. Almost 50 countries have blanket bans on smoking indoors. \u201cWe are really late,\u201d said Yumiko Mochizuki, a board member at the Japan Society for Tobacco Control (JSTC). \u201cAnd we were given a very bad score by the World Health Organisation.\u201d The global health body has given Japan its lowest rating for efforts to prevent passive smoking \u2013 just 10 per cent of restaurants are non-smoking. Japan even scores poorly among other Asian nations with smoking cultures such as China and South Korea. \u201cCountries such as the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam and cities including Beijing and Shanghai China … have already introduced comprehensive smoking bans,\u201d said Susan Mercado, a Manila-based director at the WHO. Smoking kills some 130,000 people in Japan annually, with another 15,000 dying of second-hand smoke-related illnesses, Mercado added. Despite its many smoking venues, tobacco use in Japan has been falling in line with a broader global trend. More than half of Japanese men smoked in 2000. That number dropped to just below 30 per cent in 2016. Japan Tobacco said the proposed smoking rules are cause for concern. \u201cWe are worried that the bill would be unbalanced, unreasonable and excessive,\u201d the company said. Japan cannot be compared to other nations with strict indoor-smoking bans because outdoor smoking is limited to certain designated areas, JT said. More than 240 Japanese municipalities restrict lighting up on city streets, meaning smokers must get their fix in clearly marked smoking zones. But the decade-old by-laws were brought in more to promote good manners and keep cigarette butts off the streets rather than for public health reasons. Campaigners said less smoking will be a hit with millions of tourists visiting for the Olympics in three years, and might just enhance Japan\u2019s famous service culture, known as. \u201cIt\u2019s the last ingredient that we need to give people our best hospitality,\u201d said JSTC president Manabu Sakuta.<\/p>\n