Last week the city of Osaka imposed a smoking ban on public streets in an attempt to be more “visitor friendly” ahead of this year’s World Expo 2025 being held in Japan. Held every five years in different locations, more than 160 countries are expected to participate in this year’s six-month-long event, however, ticket sales are currently about half of what was expected.
“We want to welcome many people from all over the world, so we want to make Osaka a city where people feel safe with smoke-free streets,” mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama said.
Smoking was previously banned in six zones of the city, including the area around Osaka station, the hub of the event, and in restaurants larger than 100 square meters. The ban has now been expanded to the entire city and restaurants larger than 30 square meters, save for designated smoking areas. Violators will face a 1,000 yen ($6.40) fine.
The bans are similar to those implemented by Tokyo in advance of the 2018 Olympics.
In addition to Japan owning a one-third stake in Japan Tobacco, the world’s third-largest tobacco company, the country also makes about around two trillion yen ($13 billion) in cigarette tax revenue annually.
