A Survey of Restaurant Smoking Restrictions in a Japanese City

Abstract

Japan has been behind the times in terms of promoting smoking control. The health-promotion law, which included the aim of preventing environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in public places, was newly introduced in Japan in 2003. The community-based survey on the present state of restaurant smoking restrictions and restaurant owners' concern of smoking is important as it is a reflection of the community's desire to prevent ETS. Data on the smoking restrictions in 163 restaurants in Yonago, one Japanese community, and the owners' smoking-related awareness were collected just one month after the law was enacted. This study revealed that only 6 (3.6%) restaurants were under sufficient conditions: 3 with totally smoke-free and 3 with complete non-smoking sections. The styles (e.g., Western-, Japanese- and Chinese-styles) and kinds of restaurants (e.g., family restaurants and tearooms) were not related to the state of smoking restrictions. Rates of smokers were relatively high among owners, and smoking owners significantly provided insufficient smoking restrictions. 26.4% of owners knew about the new law. However, there were no restaurants that started their smoking restrictions due to the law. Owners' knowledge of the law did not correlate with smoking restrictions. The owners especially feared the negative effects on business due to smoking restrictions. These survey findings suggested little protection from ETS in a sample of restaurants and a large gap in restaurant smoking restrictions compared to other countries. More widespread adoption of the health-promotion law in restaurants is an issue.