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Nederlandse Vereniging in West Japan > article
• Living in Japan • Ashiya City to set 50,000 yen fine for public smoking
The Ashiya municipal government in Hyogo Prefecture is setting up an ordinance to charge up to a 50,000 yen fine for smoking in public in the city, the highest amount in the nation.
The city is taking the strict measure to uphold its image as a high-class residential area, based on its belief that public smoking does not fit its image. The city will propose the draft ordinance in a meeting of the municipal assembly in March.
According to the city, it will designate nonsmoking areas, including busy streets near stations and shopping streets, and city officials will patrol the areas and ticket ordinance violators.
In the ordinance, the city will also prohibit graffiti, littering, fireworks late at night and leaving dog droppings anywhere in the city.
City governments, such as Hiroshima and Nagoya, are increasingly enacting similar ordinances banning public smoking. The fines, however, are usually 10,000 yen to 20,000 yen, and the municipalities collect only 1,000 yen to 2,000 yen in most cases.
It is likely that the Ashiya government will take similar steps, but a city spokesman said it is possible that they would demand the maximum fine.
Source: The Yomiuri Shimbun
14 December 2006 - Kjeld Duits
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