Weird question, don’t know if this is the right place to ask but I’m thinking of moving to Japan for a couple of months to study and was wondering were Japanese people smoke.
Like I know you can’t smoke on the street and there are designated areas but what if you are at home and want to smoke? Can you stand in the street in front of your apartment, do you need to smoke out the window, like where do you go?
Thanks
5 comments
> I know you can’t smoke on the street
That depends on the city, but yes, that is true for many cities in Tokyo and I’m sure elsewhere.
> Can you stand in the street in front of your apartment, do you need to smoke out the window
Generally, you are supposed to smoke inside your apartment. Smoking on the balcony is usually prohibited because the smoke can affect other apartments and spoil neighbours’ laundry. This is also the case for smoking out your window or directly in front of your building.
That all said, you’ll notice a lot of people ignore these rules and smoke wherever they want.
From what I’ve noticed… the no smoking signs are just a recommendation at night. But during the day people didn’t smoke on the street.
When I was in Tokyo in February this year I noticed that smoking was a lot less prevalent than it used to be, it was rare to see anyone smoking, whereas on my previous trip (2019) smokers where everywhere
As a moderate smoker myself, I found that the occasional outdoor smoking areas and places with smoking rooms (ex. malls, restaurants, hotels, etc). Were enough for me to get my fix.
If you wanna smoke on a daily basis unimpeded. I suggest you think about Kansai. They don’t care nearly as much (read: not at all), and you won’t get stares or anything of the sorts.
This really depends on the apartment building. In my building no smoking is allowed, so residents who smoke go outside the building and smoke across the driveway off property. Seems like a pain to me, but I’m happy as otherwise smoke smells easily waft between rooms.