Bans now in the running

The Japanese athlete, Naoko Takahashi, who won the gold medal in the women’s marathon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, has been appointed as an ambassador to promote a Tokyo ordinance aimed at preventing passive tobacco smoking, according to a Maiinichi Daily News story.

Japan has struggled to bring in public-places tobacco smoking regulations and most of the efforts to do so have centered on a perceived need to enact such legislation before the Tokyo Olympics, which are due to run from July 24 to August 9, 2020.

Tokyo’s ordinance, which partially came into force at the start of this month, asks smokers to pay attention to what they are doing to prevent those around them from being exposed to second-hand smoke.

At the same time, parents and guardians are urged to try to protect children from passive smoking.

Later this year, smoking will be prohibited on the premises of schools, hospitals and other public facilities in Tokyo.

The story said that, on April 1, 2020, all aspects of the ordinance were scheduled to become effective so that smoking at restaurants that hire employees would be ‘basically banned’.

Takahashi received a letter of appointment to her ambassadorial role from Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.