Smoking Will Be Banned in Parks From April 1 Including Heated Tobacco

This page is automatically translated. Please refer to the original Japanese for accuracy.
しゃちょう@にしつー
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It looks like smoking will be banned in parks around the city starting April 1.

Preventing secondhand smoke in parks|Nishinomiya City website

Heated tobacco products are also not allowed

Starting April 1, 2020, smoking will be prohibited in parks.

Applies to: Parks and children’s playgrounds in the city (excluding sports facilities with designated smoking areas)

Since this is a Hyogo Prefecture ordinance, the ban applies not only within Nishinomiya but throughout all of Hyogo Prefecture.

Heated tobacco products such as IQOS also appear to be prohibited.

We’ll probably start seeing more smoking-related signs from April 1

Starting April 1, shops and other places will apparently be required to display whether smoking is allowed or not.

So I think smoking-related signs will suddenly multiply on April 1.

No-smoking signs inside buildings

Needless to say, this is a no-smoking sign. It’s the standard one.

Signs for smoking allowed outdoors and smoking allowed in part of a building

This is a sign indicating that smoking is allowed.

It looks like the standard sign will also indicate that people under 20 and pregnant women are not allowed to enter.

Signs for smoking allowed in part of a building

This sign is used when there is a so-called separated smoking area inside a facility.

Smoking allowed throughout small restaurants and similar establishments

At existing small restaurants such as izakaya where smoking is allowed, you may see this sign at the entrance.

Restaurants are generally required to be smoke-free indoors, but if an exception applies, the sign above will be displayed. The conditions for an exception are:

  1. The establishment already exists
  2. The customer seating area is 100㎡
  3. It is individually owned or operated by a small or medium-sized company with capital of 50 million yen or less
  4. A sign must be posted stating that people under 20 and pregnant women are not allowed to enter

Finally

The world is becoming easier to live in for people who don’t smoke. For people who do smoke, things are getting even stricter. By the way, the person looking distressed in the featured image is Leader @ Nishi2, who is a smoker.