TOKYO \u2022 Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike will push for a law banning smoking in public places, to make the Japanese capital smoke-free ahead of the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, defying national politicians who recently failed to pass a similar law..<\/b>
\nTOKYO \u2022 Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike will push for a law banning smoking in public places, to make the Japanese capital smoke-free ahead of the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, defying national politicians who recently failed to pass a similar law.
Tokyo risks being one of the unhealthiest cities to host the Olympics and Paralympics in years, but efforts for a national ban died in the face of opposition from pro-smoking politicians, many in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling party.
Opponents also included restaurateurs and Japan Tobacco, which is one-third government-owned and paid the state US$700 million (S$968 million) in dividends in 2015.
Although passive smoking kills thousands of Japanese each year, the Health Ministry’s watered- down proposal — which would have allowed indoor smoking in smaller establishments with adequate ventilation — could not make it to a vote in Parliament this spring.
Ms Koike, her hand strengthened by a sweeping victory over Mr Abe’s party in weekend local elections, told the Nikkei Shimbun daily that a law banning indoor smoking could be submitted to the assembly — where her party, Tomin First no Kai (Tokyoites First) , and its allies now have a strong majority — for a vote before the year end.
«The country is slow, but we will carry out our duty as the host city, » the paper quoted her as saying.
Central to her party’s campaign are policies to weed out wasteful spending and enact laws to curb passive smoking in Tokyo, which is home to 13.7 million people and accounts for a fifth of the nation’s economy.
Tokyo’s proposed law would ban smoking in all public places under penalty of fines.
It could include provisions for «non-smoking efforts» in private homes and cars with children.
A 2003 national law now «encourages» restaurants and other public areas to separate smoking and non-smoking areas, but non-compliance attracts no penalty.
Tokyo faces pressure to go smoke-free by 2020, from bodies such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) — which ranks Japan at the bottom worldwide in anti-smoking regulations, gauged by the types of public places entirely smoke- free.
The WHO has teamed up with the IOC to guarantee smoke-free Games venues.
Rio de Janeiro and other recent Olympic hosts banned smoking in all public places.
Fifty years ago, around half of Japanese smoked, compared with 18 per cent now.
But smoking laws vary among cities and enforcement is lax. There is even a cigarette vending machine in a Health Ministry annex.
REUTERS<\/p>\n