SHS exposure in public places and support for smoke-free laws in Japan: Findings from the 2018 ITC Japan Survey

Objective: Before 2018, Japan did not have a national smoke-free law covering indoor public places, workplaces, or public transport as recommended by the WHO FCTC. A national smoking ban was passed in July 2018, to be implemented in stages leading up to the 2020 Olympics; however, the law is still not comprehensive. This study examines baseline levels of smoking in public places and support for smoke-free laws in Japan prior to the 2018 smoke-free law. The results will also be compared to findings from other ITC countries to demonstrate the need for stronger smoke-free legislation. Methods: Data are from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Japan Wave 1 Survey (Feb-Mar 2018), a web survey of adult cigarette smokers, HTP users, dual users, and non-users (total N=4,684). Measures included prevalence of smoking (whether respondents noticed people smoking inside restaurants, bars, and workplaces); smoking rules inside these venues; and support for complete smoking bans in these venues. Results: The majority of indoor workplaces in 2018 (52%) had a complete smoking ban; however, restaurants and bars were more likely to have a partial ban or no rules. As a result, smoking prevalence in public places was extremely high overall – even higher than in China, the country with the greatest toll of SHS. Almost half of all workplaces (49%), over half of restaurants (55%) and the majority of bars (83%) had smoking in 2018, although non-users were less likely to be exposed to SHS. Support for complete smoking bans was also high overall (81% for workplaces, 78% for restaurants, and 65% for bars), and was higher among non-users. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate the weak impact of partial smoke-free laws in Japan thus far and strong support for a comprehensive national law without exceptions to protect the public from the harms of tobacco smoke.