This is nice, I hope Tokyo area restaurants can do something similar where they ban smoking inside the restaurants. I don't know it's just me, but it seems like Japanese people are really inconsiderate about second-hand smoking for some reason :/
I think it's a good idea. Unless smokers don't care about the health of us non-smokers, O_o .
hey^^ i take care of it^^
A similar ban was put into effect in the US in the state in live in.(Ohio) It was passed about a year or 2 ago. It bans smoking in all public locations. This even includes bars and clubs i believe. I must say i disagree with the ban carrying over into bars. I understand places like restaurants and stores, but people who drink often smoke.I am sure it hurts the bar owners. I'm a smoker myself, and it only bothered me that i couldn't smoke in the Hero House anymore.(a great lil eatery in Wooster with the best subs around!) Overall i believe it was for the best.
It's the same here in NY. I don't like the bar ban but agree with the restaurant ban. It sucks more when it's snowing and stuff.
I love the smoking ban in NY. All my smoker friends have already gotten used to it, and the thick fog of smoke that used to be so common in NYC bars are now gone. I feel that a non-smoker cannot harm a smoker, as the smoker can just go outside to have a puff. However, a smoker can harm a non-smoker, where is the non-smoker supposed to go (if all of the non-smoker's friends are smokers)?
It's a very good idea and luckily Toronto enforced those laws couple years back. I too have asthma and have difficulty breathing, but aside from that I've lost family due to just by chance that in the olden days they didn't have these laws and in the places they worked, people smoked.
Where I'm at they already ban smoking in most public establishments. Even clubs and bars. Most people seem to like the idea, and as a non-smoker myself I can't disagree.
i remember my time in shibuya. when my friends and i were hungry and there was mcdonalds. the burger was indeed good but on the second floor, it was totally smoking like oh my god @_@ i just hope i dont go to a restraunt or fast food area like that
Whoa - your profile thing says you are 'in' Danny Choo...! o.O
lol sorry i will be changing that. i just put it there because i am in the DANNYCHOO site ^^;; if i was in japan i would have put XboxLive in the location as well because i am out of gold membership cards T-T. i cant order them because i have no credit card and i cant buy them because they dont sell prepaid cards in the area i live T-T
That's good that they are trying that smoking ban. Here there is some opposition to it and so while the majority of public places are smoke free bars and more adult oriented places are allowed to choose whether or not they will be smoke free. That's the last hold out though. I think what annoys smokers the most are the entirely smoke free hotels. I get so many complaints from smokers that there isn't any where aside from a couple run down dive hotels where they are still allowed to smoke in their rooms.
I totally agree with banning smoking in public areas such as restaurants, bars, parks, and shopping centres, etc. Here in Australia, it's pretty much all in place. They've even been hinting at banning people from smoking in their own cars! I don't know how one could govern/police that though.
Smoking has been banned in restaurants just before the Sydney Olympics, which was a pretty good move and it has been enforced ever since. It has definitely done wonders but I'm not all that fussed about smokers in general, but I do love to eat when there is no smoke in the air to ruin my food.
Not a smoker so naturally, this is also good news for me.
Congrats to your area their in a bustling city. Kinda glad, that they made a smart decision to change rules over there. I understand how tough it is with asthma, I'm also a sufferer. But hey it could lead to a better living area. So its definitely a positive, even though in a busy place 24/7.
All the restaurants, bars, etc. are smoking-free areas here. And the situation is getting better all the time. And of course you can't smoke in a hospital. Hospital workers can't smoke during their workdays at all.
Nice Avatar ^^; Oppai.
Danny, I bet you'll Love Australia if you come for a visit, because lots of places here now are no smoking. You can't smoke in the rest, pub, cinema, almost everywhere except outside I guess.
In Canada it's universally non smoking in all commercial and public places with the exception of general city streets, so teracces and restaurants are totally smoke free here. Much to my liking as well. I'm just about the same as you in that department, cigarette smoke aggravates my lungs pretty bad.
Good news ^^ Smoking has been banned in every public place in France since january 1st 2008, and its much more pleasant to go to restaurant for example. There were already non-smoking areas though. The "funny" thing now, is when who go to night clubs, it no more smells smoke, but it stinks sweat (which was before hidden by smoke) :s Hard to tell which is the "best"... haha
LOL at sweat smell ^^;
True, true. Id rather have sweaty smells though. With smoke, your eyes sting, you have trouble breathing, its horrible on a crapmed dancefloor and your clothes reek of cigarettes for days afterwards.
It's already forbidden to smoke in resturants and some bars here in Sweden, which is a good thing. Let's hope that they do this smoking ban in Tokyo too, everyone will feel better and be happy. ^^-b
Hahaha speaking of a smoker, I have a friend who's really into heavy smoking. On a daily basis, he smokes about 25 smokes. Funny guy though, I hung out with him on the weekend at a BBQ. He also drank 14 beers that day. What a guy :D But ya, I'm one for banning smoking. I mean, for one, I don't want to get cancer indirectly. But more importantly, if it helps cut back on the number of smokes the average person takes, then its all the better. The world would be a better place without the smoking industry.
I don't smoke so I think it's a great idea, already seen smokers using a little room outside yokohama station but it looks silly having one or two of those with the loads of people walking around. About Taspo, sure it was getting personal info but what about the vending machines, a little too paranoid to think that they would read and store all your info instead of just be checking your age? Wouldn't surprise me if most of the vending machine users were minors so now they have it easier to get ciggies.
Here in Oregon, you can't smoke in any public places. Even at my work, they are having to move the smoking section 20 yards from the nearest entrance of the building. I'm not a smoker, but have friends who are, and they're not to happy about all the bans. Guess they should just quit.
Im all for this, as i dont smoke. Smoking in pubs doesnt particularly bother me, but smoking in resturants and clubs does! Then again, im guessing loads more people smoke in japan than the UK, so its gonna piss a lot of people off...
My city has been smoke free in public places for quite some time. The bar owners were worried it would effect business, but statistics have shown business has generally improved slightly, probably because there aren't smokers smoking and driving away the no smokers, who are way more numerous here.
I HATE smoking. Hate the smell, hate the taste from second hand smoking, hate the headaches I get, hate the nosebleed from my body reacting to it, hate the posers who smoke it to look cool or fooling themselves into thinking it actually can calm you down physically. HATE smoking.
I nearly quit early 2008 after smoking for 6 years, then had a few too many drinks one night with some friends. :( An got back on it). Its such a horrible habbit an i stink, i will quit as i know i can!
you can do it! think of all the figures you can buy instead. How much are cigs in the UK anyway? They are dead cheap here... I hear Japanese friends complaining about the price of cigs when they go to the UK.
Cigs in the UK are too much. Your totally right Danny. Im thinking of all the money i could have saved an its crazy, i could have been to Japan about twice already! Time to try again i think!
Use the force.
Never too late.
To stop, look, listen to your heart hear what its sayin..
Countless people miss that nowadays (including myself, even if I try hard to see beauty in little things) and modern societies really don't help in that sense.
its all about willpower my friend...quitting is easy if you set your mind to it. The withdrawal will be like hell but trust me, its worth it, this is coming from a former smoker of 8 years.
I've been a smoker for about 20 years, until about one month ago. Finally stopped and I'll say a similar public smoking ban in the UK has played a huge part in that. Still tempted now and then, but I think I'm winning ^.^ @cease, good luck mate you can do it!
@Burnsy-Zero thanks for the support!
i dont like smoking and what i hate about smokers is that they just throw smoke at other people which is disgusting.and as you know from Darker than Black Anime how harmful is Second hand smoke :D here where i live there are non smoking places in almost every restaurant some don't even allow smoking at all :) best of luck to you danny hopefully the law will implement.
[off topic] danny u look so round on that card. ^^ [/off topic]
LOL
If the ban extents to the whole country I predict riots all across Japan.
wholeheartedly agreed. I wonder how the yankis and the Yakuza will handle this
the only good thing that they did here in Italy was a law that says you cannot smoke in premises' (or you have to pay a fine around 250 euro (40.000yen))
Very good, smoking is an unnecessary and unhealthy habit anyway imo. Many public areas already have smoking bans here, and I believe this summer this will be extended to bars and restaurants too.
The smoking ban in Ireland worked out really well, people cant smoke anywhere where people work, so no restaurant smoking, no smoking in bars or offices, people can basically only smoke outside.
There's a downside though, I was walking down Chinatown last week and the streets were filled with people smoking outside each corresponding restaurant they were dinning at... I mean seriously, it's like that everywhere! Every pub will have its half a dozen smokers outside filling up the pavements, very annoying.
the ban's good, people need to be more considerate to the people around them since second hand smoking is more harmful than first hand smoking.
Save Earth, stop smoking! LOL
That reminds me of when my brother and I went to Kyoto, and in the evening, we went to a really nice restaurant in the station, and it had a smoking, and non-smoking area. Now both of us hate smoke, but there was a long queue to get into the non-smoking area, so we figured, the smoking area can't be that bad, so we opted to go into there. Little did we realise, on going int, they close to door behind you, so its like your in a death box...Needless to say, we moved back into the non-smoking area ^_^
That's spectacular. I can't wait to go back to a smoke free Japan. I've lived in 2 states in the U.S. with smoking bans and it is so nice to be able to to eat or go out to a bar without having to shower off the smoke stink when I return home. Bravo Kanagawa!
Here in Illinois the smoking ban in public places just took effect this January. It's weird to go to bars and restaurants now and not come out smelling like an ash tray. I like it though, as I do not smoke.
Warehouse... I wonder with the lack of place to smoke, will they smoke in a warehouse that is stored with flammable items... That would be classic. I once experience once sickening moment. I was doing stock take in an oil refinery. Everything was except that the person who is guiding us is smoking on top of the oil tank. On his left hand is the measurement tape, on the right is his cigarette. I was at the railing... too afraid to move. He was like why are you so far, you can't see the measurement. I was like omg, oh well, if the dude's cigarette mistakenly drop into the taken, I will also be a gonna since I am on top of the tank anyway. Stock was accurate however I reported his negligent lol. You don't smoke on top of the oil tank while conducting stock take!!!!
goner not gonna... It was a frightening experience!
we have similar smoking ban here but not as wide spread as that (afaik)
I think this is a good thing. Smoking is banned in all restaurant here in Boston; if you want to smoke, go outside. My school started last fall also ban smoking in all campus area; well not sure where people smoke now tho. Quit smoking is hard but three of my friends did quit it.
I'm glad something like this is being put into effect, because I've never smoked in my life and don't intend to start. I grew up around it, and thought it was the nastiest thing you could do to your body which lead me to be substance free. I would really like to see the tobacco industry crumble.
One more step towards banning smoking, period. I hate seeing people I care about struggle with addiction, and I have a friend whose father died of lung cancer when he was just a kid. We have a public smoking ban here too and I love it, but the only problem is you sometimes end up with crowds of smokers hanging out right outside the doors so even though it's outside it's crowded enough to fill the air with smoke, in the one area you have to pass through to get inside. On one day when apparently the weather was right and the smokers all decided to come out at once the entire quad at my schools campus was filled with smoke in spite of being our little slice of outdoors park area. :(
I am a non-smoker and personally hate smoking (growing up with two parents who smoked) HOWEVER, I think that it should up to the individual business as to whether or not they allow smoking. The fewer laws/governmental control the better!
We're pretty lucky to have several selective smoking bans, like no smoking at public places, etc etc. Definitely no smoking in school( which school allows smoking anyway). And NO, none at all, smoking in air-conditioned places, like shopping malls and restaurants. Good god~
my dad's a chain smoker all his life and recently I heard on the radio that kids who breathe in 2nd hand smoke actually will have lungs which is like that of a heavy chain smoker o_o; My hubby tells me that sometimes my breath seems to smell like there's tar in it :( and I do not smoke, hate the smell after "passive smoking" for too long!
Smoking, in my own mind, should be decided upon by each individual owner since it directly affects their businesses. Why not create a non-smoking section incentives for establishments than a ban in prescribed places? I'm not certain of how things are in Japan, but if I didn't like smoke in say a restaurant in the US, I'd just not patronize that particular restaurant and perhaps openly talk to a manager about the issue if I ever wished to return. But hey, it's not the United States so prohibition of certain products might work....
just 1 word. Respect 敬う smokers need to respect non-smokers around them same goes with non-smokers respecting smokers' needs
What need do smokers have? The need to kill themselves off in the not so distant future?
*coughs**coughs**coughs* I hate it when people smoke in public transportation on rush hours... can't get away >_< but... Hooray for my new motorbike :D no more smokers... but now exhaust gas problem >_> which one is more dangerous?
a small something i wrote about taspo: http://blog.kheops2002.ch/2008/03/15/cigarette-vending-machines-in-japan/ for those interested. it would be nice if they make also smokers-only bars and restaurants :) personally i understand the non-smokers. i would miss smoking at an isakayza... a lot of food, alcohol and tobacco... the magic trio, LOL
Fantastic news! I've been to Tokyo, Paris, Barcelona and Rome over the last two years and I can easily say the worst part about being there was the smoke. The hard part is that it's so ingrained within the culture-- tabacco stores are never more than 5 minutes apart, and the long dead days of the cool smoking cowboy are still alive abroad. Here's to hoping that my next visit to Tokyo will be smoke free!
well theres no need to worry, theres still smoking facilities in tokyo. Or would that be banned too? I smoke but Im going to quit after this week. But whenever I dont have a cigarette, it reminds me of planetes episode 12.
We got a similar regulation here in germany just recently. Smoking in public buildings like restaurant, bars etc is forbidden nationwide - but the degree of exceptions for that law depends on each state. Made a lot of fuss here and some small bars (we call it "Eck-Kneipe" - usually really small 1-man-driven bars) even went to court to take action against that law ... and won ;) I, ex-smoker - clean for 11 years now - personally like that law, makes it so much more comfortable to go out.
a ban on public smoking is a good thing. & it was about time they implemented a widespead ban instead of giving you a 'non smoking' table in a restaurant where not even 5 tables away theres a guy lighting up.... I dont have a problem with people smoking - that is there decision but to force non smokers to inhale their passive smoke is wrong as it may even give the most healthiest person in the world cancer because hes been sitting in a room full of smokers. hopefully - most smokers will use this bann to possibly cut down or even give up smoking
I was a bartender for a while in the U.S. and when they made my state smoke free, there were many bars that had to close because of it. So, be careful what you wish for. You might lose your favorite place.
ban smokers from public areas is a good thing ! I hate eating while someone is smoking next to me ! In fact i hate smoke ^^ In france, since 01/2007, its forbidden to smoke in public areas, and since 01/2008 in Restaurants and cafes too ! Now i can enjoy eating in restaurants. I hope it will be not to unbearable during my vacation in japan !
I've grown up in california. So for much of my life I can remember not having to deal with smoking other than people on the streets. And on another note San Jose State, the school i goto, was looking into a measure to ban smoking on campus entirly. For the most part in the US California leads the way on smoking bans.
looks like it's a global trend to ban smoking in public places. I tend to get sick when exposed to smoke so I can't go to places where I can expect smoke (like bars, discos...) and no I don't have asthma. Whenever politicians talk about smoking bans some politicians always have to talk about personal freedom. None of them ever talk about my ability to go to interesting places without having to call in sick for 3-4 days afterwards (and I don't refer to drinking). I'm in favour of a complete smoking ban (not just in public places) because we (the non-smokers) has to pay the price. Just look at the number of people ending up in hospitals due to smoke (even some non-smokers) and they leave the workforce. As it is now a whole lot of countries have problems with workforce in the future (just think of Japan and the number of children). Smoking just makes this worse. Also research tells that smokers adds a lot of short breaks during a workday to tend to cigarettes and it adds up to a total of 30 minutes every day. Usually this results in adding a workload on non-smokers. Another reason is that a lot of young people start smoking cigarettes to make their bodies used to smoke so they can move on to cannabis. Cannabis tend to lead to harder drugs and again society end up with an issue (not to mention that drugs are produced by terroristic organizations like FARC and hence funds terror).
