Street Smoking Rules in Tokyo (Tokyo), Ward by Ward: Taito, Chuo, Minato and Toshima

Tokyo (Tokyo) has no single rule for smoking outdoors. Each of its 23 wards writes its own ordinance, so the rule can change when you cross a street. Our guide to smoking rules in Japan already covers the three wards that collect on-the-spot fines in the busiest areas (Chiyoda, Shibuya and Shinjuku (Tokyo)). This page covers four more wards that visitors spend a lot of time in: Taito (Asakusa and Ueno), Chuo (Ginza, Nihonbashi and Tsukiji), Minato (Roppongi, Shinbashi and Odaiba) and Toshima (Ikebukuro), all in Tokyo (Tokyo), using each ward's own pages.

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The quick answer

Taito City: Asakusa and Ueno (Tokyo)

Senso-ji in Asakusa (Tokyo), Ueno Park and Ameyoko are all in Taito City (Tokyo). Under the ward's ordinance, revised on April 1, 2021:

• No smoking while walking or cycling on roads, in parks, plazas and other public places.
• No littering, including cigarette butts.
• 7 to 9 a.m. is "no-smoking time": during these two hours, you can't smoke in outdoor public places at all, except inside the ward's public smoking areas.

The ward explains that these two hours were chosen because they are the busy commuting hours. Heated tobacco (such as IQOS) is covered; e-cigarettes without tobacco leaf are not, but the ward asks you to show the same courtesy with them. The ward's page doesn't list a fine amount; manners staff patrol the area.

Where to smoke: Taito City (Tokyo) publishes a map and list of public smoking areas. It includes four spots inside the Senso-ji grounds, spots on the pedestrian decks at JR Ueno Station, and one behind the police box at the entrance to Ueno Park. Opening hours differ, so check before you go. Ueno Park itself is a metropolitan park; follow the signs there.

Chuo City: Ginza, Nihonbashi and Tsukiji (Tokyo)

Chuo City (Tokyo) has two layers. Its ordinance against smoking while walking and littering (2004) bans both on roads, parks and plazas throughout the ward. Its passive smoking ordinance (in force since July 1, 2020) goes further: no smoking in public places at all, except at designated smoking spots. The ward's page says there is no fine; patrol staff go around every day, and people who ignore guidance and a formal recommendation can have their names published. In Ginza (Tokyo), the shopping district's official site has a smoking area map, and notes that smoking on private side streets without the owner's permission isn't allowed either.

Visiting the Tsukiji Outer Market? It is in Chuo City (Tokyo) too, and the market has a single smoking room at its information center.

Minato City: Roppongi, Shinbashi and Odaiba (Tokyo)

Minato City (Tokyo)'s "Minato Tobacco Rules" (in force since July 1, 2014) apply to everyone, visitors included: don't smoke in outdoor public places except designated smoking spots, don't drop butts, and when you smoke elsewhere, make sure your smoke doesn't reach people in public places. "Public places" includes roads, parks and the open plazas of private buildings. In a reply to a resident, the ward says there is currently no penalty, and patrol staff give guidance instead. The ward publishes a list and map of designated smoking spots on the same page.

Toshima City: Ikebukuro (Tokyo)

Toshima City (Tokyo) bans smoking on roads across the whole ward (since May 30, 2011), except where there is an ashtray. The ward spells out that standing still, using a portable ashtray, or smoking on a bicycle or motorbike all count as street smoking. Smoking in the ward's parks isn't allowed. The ward says the ordinance isn't meant to punish; patrol staff speak to people one by one. Around Ikebukuro Station, use the ward's designated smoking areas (East Exit, North Exit, and in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre on the West Exit side).

Finding a place to smoke in Tokyo (Tokyo)

1. Work out which ward you're in. Your map app usually shows it in the address (for example, "Taito City").
2. Open that ward's smoking area map: Taito, Minato, Toshima, or Ginza (Tokyo).
3. Treat heated tobacco like a cigarette. Taito City (Tokyo) says it is covered, and Minato City (Tokyo)'s ordinance defines smoking as burning or heating tobacco.
4. Never drop a butt. Littering is banned in every ward on this page.
5. If a patrol officer speaks to you, put the cigarette out and ask where the nearest smoking spot is. That's all they want.

For Shibuya (Tokyo)'s other street rules, including the nightly drinking ban and the 2,000 yen littering fine, see Shibuya (Tokyo) after dark. More about the city on our Tokyo (Tokyo) destination page.

Last reviewed: October 4, 2026. Ward rules and smoking areas change. Please check the official pages below and follow the signs where you are.

References

• Taito City (Tokyo): Smoking rules under the ordinance (Japanese)
• Taito City (Tokyo): Public smoking area map and list (Japanese)
• Chuo City (Tokyo): Ordinance against smoking while walking and littering (Japanese)
• Chuo City (Tokyo): Passive smoking prevention ordinance (Japanese, PDF)
• GINZA OFFICIAL: Smoking area map (Japanese)
• Minato City (Tokyo): Minato Tobacco Rules (Japanese)
• Minato City (Tokyo): Reply on street smoking (Japanese)
• Toshima City (Tokyo): Ordinance on street smoking and littering (Japanese)
• Toshima City (Tokyo): Designated smoking areas (Japanese)