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When I first went to Japan, a long, long time ago, there was a lot of smoke… you could smoke in bars and restaurants; every hotel had smoking floors, and there were even smoking rooms on the Shinkansen, but over the years, things have changed. So, what’s the situation now if you’re a smoker? Or conversely, someone trying to avoid the smell of smoke and worried about this previous seemingly smoke-filled country? Let us explain…
Smoking in Hotels
Increasingly, more and more hotels in Japan are completely non-smoking, especially in Tokyo, where indoor smoking rules are strict. The exception is some older business hotels, which may offer some smoking rooms.
If you book via the web, hotels that do still have smoking rooms will often split reservations into smoking or non-smoking, so make sure you look before clicking to book.
I hate the smell of smoke, and ending up in a smoking room would be a deal breaker for me, so I try and book totally non-smoking hotels or, at the very least, book a confirmed non-smoking room – and I also always email to check. If their reply leaves me with any doubts that I might end up in smoking, I’ll rebook and find a new one.
But what if you are a smoker?
As I said, the older business hotels will have smoking rooms or even whole floors (find some suggestions of brands to look at here). Many hotels also have at least one smoking area for guests.
On my last trip, I stayed at two Daiwa Roynet hotels, where there were smoking areas on each floor… including mine. This made me nervous, but the room was well sealed and off the area used for vending machines and microwaves, so there were two doors between it and the main corridor. But even in the vending machine area, there was no smell.
Smoking on Trains
Nope. Not any more. There used to be rooms between the cars on the Shinkansen where you could smoke; however, the last lines to allow this, the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu, got rid of these early in 2024, and you’ll now get announcements in English reminding you that the trains are totally non-smoking.
If you need a cigarette before a long journey, you’ll likely find a smoking room on the platform or somewhere else on the concourse. The JR station maps will point you in the right direction. Other than within these areas, it is illegal to smoke on a train platform, even if it’s outside.
You also can’t smoke on subways, local trains or buses.
Smoking In the Street
This might surprise you, but smoking in the street in Japan can be illegal and result in a fine.
The rules are set by local authorities rather than the national government, but many places commonly visited by tourists are smoke-free. For example, you can’t smoke on the street, outside of a designated smoking area, in the Tokyo city limits, or around Nara Park.
You can’t smoke on the street in many areas of Kyoto visited by tourists, including downtown, Gion, and around Kyoto Station. By April 2025, when Expo 2025 happens in Osaka, all areas there hope to ban smoking in the street (currently, a handful do).
Admittedly, without a uniform rule, it can be a bit tricky to tell if you’re in an affected area, but there are a few clues. You’ll see no-smoking signs on buildings or stencilled on the pavement, and most obviously, when people are smoking, they are all clustered together in the designated smoking areas where smoking is allowed. If you do want to smoke, you’ll need to seek out one of these areas.
While the reasons for not allowing smoking are similar to those about eating and drinking on the street (concern for the wellbeing of others), it’s also common sense – think about how much damage a flicked cigarette butt could do in the older areas of Kyoto, or in cities like Takayama or Kanazawa that are lined by wooden buildings, or to the straw houses of Shirakawago (although ironically, I left there stinking of smoke from the wood fire in the museum house!.)
Smoking in Restaurants
Hosting the 2020 Olympics in Japan changed the rules about smoking inside in Japan. Following past precedent from hosting countries, Japan changed smoking rules to ban smoking in many indoor areas – including restaurants and bars bigger than 100 square metres or those that served food as their main purpose. Tokyo had slightly stricter rules banning it in all restaurants or cafes that employed staff.
Of course, if you’ve ever walked along a road of tiny izakaya seating 5 or 6 people, and run by the chef, you can see why it was estimated at the time that across Japan, around 55 percent of bars and restaurants didn’t fall under this jurisdiction, and around 16 per were exempt in Tokyo. This meant it was up to the owner to determine if they wished to allow smoking. And some did – and still do.
This does mean you will find some small bars where smoking is still allowed. But, there must be clear signage outside that states this, so you can easily choose whether or not to go in.
Interestingly, before this ban came in, I’d been to some large izakaya that allowed smoking. I don’t know if they had better ventilation than I was used to in the UK, but they didn’t really smell. Importantly, as I pack very light, they also didn’t leave my clothes smelling of smoke either.
If you’re not so lucky, many hotels offer a deodorising spray that will freshen up your clothes, or you can find Febreeze in pharmacies.
Smoking in the Theme Parks
There is no smoking while walking around the Tokyo Disney Parks or USJ. There is also no smoking in the park restaurants or while queuing.
If you need something to help you recover from seven minutes of dolls singing It’s a Small World or the thrills of Flying Dinosaur, then you’ll find the locations of the designated smoking rooms on the apps in both parks.
The Tokyo Disney hotels are all non-smoking but have a smoking area (if you do plan on staying in a Disney hotel, head here next, as it answers many questions).
At Universal, the main hotels outside the park – the Park Front, The Liber and the Singulari, are non-smoking but have a smoking area.
The Rules of Buying Cigarettes in Japan
The legal age of smoking in Japan is 20, so even if you live somewhere where you can smoke before that, you won’t be able to buy cigarettes in Japan – and yes, you do need to present ID to try. And you can’t say you’ve forgotten it as it’s also illegal to not carry your passport in Japan.
You cannot legally buy vape liquid in Japan, but you can import a small amount for personal use. You are also limited in how many e-cigarette devices you can bring in.
Please check the latest rules about amounts on all of this from a trusted source like the JNTO, or even better, the Japan Ministry of Health, before you fly, as things can change, and a permit may be required.
Do not listen to randoms on the internet about this – no, not even me!
