Smoking Ban or Separate Smoking Areas

Japan, one of the largest cigarette makers, wants to tight the smoking ban in public places, a health official said. But Japan could announce plans to ban smoking in public facilities as soon as next month.

Public broadcaster said that a ban could be announced for hospitals, government offices and public transport, where smokers can currently be provided with separate rooms to light up.

"What's for sure is that we are trying to rewrite the notification on the law to be leaning a little bit more on the nonsmoking side," said health ministry official Junichiro Mori.

The new legislation will be favorable for nonsmokers because it will protect them from secondhand smoke in public facilities. Mori said the new rule would likely change the emphasis in a bid to better protect nonsmokers from cigarette smoke, rather than ban smoking outright.

While it is gradually toughening its position, Japan is much more liberal toward smoking than many other places, with countries such as France, Ireland and Italy having banned lighting up in restaurants and bars.

Mori played down the likelihood of banning smoking in restaurants, saying there were negative factors that could make it more difficult for them to be made nonsmoking. Researchers are not agreed with the new legislation of offering special areas for smokers. They consider that smoking must be prohibited outright without offering any separate smoking areas for smokers.