Let’s start with the bad news: Japan, like many other localities, is no longer the smoker-friendly place it once was.  

Before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, you could smoke in lots of places, with the exception of some very crowded urban streets.  The Games inspired elements of the Japanese government to seek a cleaner image in anticipation of the hordes of visitors from tobacco=phobic countries. The governor of Tokyo Prefecture said that smoking is not permitted on streets in other cities and countries (a blatant untruth) and was believed.

I hadn’t visited Japan for twenty years before going this spring, but I’d heard discouraging reports from my friend who lives there, and they turned out to be depressingly true.  

Most smoking bans, as we know and hate them, feature a prohibition on indoor smoking, but one is generally free to step outside for a smoke just about anywhere.  Some jurisdictions don’t allow smoking in parks, but sidewalks are usually fair game.

Not in Japan, at least not in the cities I visited.  Streets have signs, and even plaques embedded in the sidewalks featuring (as do many public notices in Japan) childlike figures and injunctions not to smoke.  Sometimes there are maps indicating which areas are off limits and where one can find a smoking area.  There is a fine of ¥1,000 (about $6.00 US) if one is caught violating the injunction.  I observed only one, perhaps two, individuals doing so, in the back recesses of small plazas.  Most people obey.

Of course, lots of people smoke, and there are designated spaces provided, large glass/plastic cubicles, some with roofs, some without.  It is usually impossible to sit and they tend to be fairly unpleasant due to crowding and buildup of smoke and heat and are not conducive to lingering or socializing.  One at a university had low-slung stone “seats” upon which one could squat.  These spaces also exist indoors and are fairly plentiful.  Occasionally, there are pipes to sit on.  On the positive side, the indoor smoking rooms exist in places they wouldn’t in other places—airports, train stations, hotels, etc.

Now for the good news.  There are plenty of bars and informal eating establishments (“izakaya”) that allow smoking or have smoking areas.  They’re often not obvious, and one has to do some searching to locate them.  I spent one frustrating evening in Osaka looking for an appropriate place to enjoy drinks and smokes.  I followed a sign saying (In English) “Smoking Space” to a cool-looking hipster bar with record album jackets on the walls.  I was the only customer, and when I requested an ashtray (“haizara”), the bartender told me, “No smoking.”  Turns out it was the izakaya next to it where one could smoke.

I’d just eaten and was looking for the bar experience, so I forged on.  I found an indoor smoking room.  No.  I found an ornate hookah joint and was about to ask if they allowed cigarette smoking, when I noticed none of the drinks on their menu were alcoholic!  A fourth place was a microscopic hole-in-the-wall establishment (as many bars in Japan are) with hookahs and ashtrays with cigarette butts.  But there was no bar seating.  There was a table occupied by a couple and a another, much tinier table, intimately close to it.  Not wanting to intrude on anyone’s romantic evening, I decided discretion was the better part of valor and was in bed by 9:30 that evening.

Lest that put anyone off the very vibrant city of Osaka, a friend I was visiting took me to a great little karaoke place, The Phoenix, the night before, a bit further afield in an “entertainment district,” and these are your best bet for smoking places.  

I can also recommend Rambo in Tachikawa (part of Tokyo) a very local and very tiny joint featuring Sylvester Stallone posters and Popolare, underneath the Kyoto Tower, near Kyoto Station, much roomier and more luxurious. 

One more thing: smoking rooms in hotels are as a rule very easy to come by.  They also have little signs on the night table or headboardasking you to refrain from smoking in bed, which we all know is the best place in a hotel room to smoke, but what can you do?

Despite the drawbacks, Japan is still on my list.  I have many friends there and, of course, it has a ton to offer in regard to scenery, culture and cuisine.  But from the smoker’s point of view, it’s good place.  You can have a smoke with your drink and even your dinner.