Smoking rules in Japanese restaurants.
The sign at the door tells you where under-20s cannot go

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Under-20s cannot enter any place where smoking is allowed

The answer: anyone under 20 cannot enter any place where smoking is allowed, even if they do not smoke (this includes high-school students and 18–19-year-olds). With the revised Health Promotion Act fully in force from 1 April 2020, restaurants became non-smoking indoors in principle, but some places kept an area where smoking is allowed.

• This applies even to staff: a restaurant may not send its own employees under 20 into a smoking area.
• The age of adulthood differs by country, but in Japan this rule draws the line at 20.
• A place with an area where smoking is allowed must put up the designated sign.

There are 4 signs, and they differ in whether children can still sit down

The answer: there are 4 signs for places where smoking is allowed. Some mark "a room in part of the restaurant" and some mark "the whole place". With the first kind, children can sit at the other seats.

Telling the door signs apart (3 groups, by where children can go)

Children can sit at seats outside that room

No entry to that room or area (ask the staff where it is)

No entry to the restaurant (the UNDER 20 mark)

• The “UNDER 20” no-entry mark and the words “20歳未満の方は立ち入れません。” (under-20s may not enter) appear on the 喫煙可能店 and 喫煙目的店 signs, which mean the whole place allows smoking. The “room” signs (〜室あり) do not carry them.
• The signs also have English, but 喫煙可能室あり and 喫煙目的室あり both say “Smoking room available”, and 喫煙可能店 and 喫煙目的店 both say “Smoking area”. The English does not tell them apart, so go by the Japanese words or the picture (knife and fork = smoking-permitted, cocktail glass = smoking purposes).
• The smoking-permitted room sign must be put up where it is easy to see, both at the entrance to the smoking area and at the restaurant's main entrance.
• Some places use a design different from the sample signs, so compare the Japanese words at the door with the table above. A camera translation app on your phone also works.

Only small, long-established restaurants may have a smoking-permitted room

The answer: a smoking-permitted room (喫煙可能室), where you can eat and smoke cigarettes inside the restaurant, is allowed only in small existing restaurants that meet the conditions.

• Conditions: the restaurant was already open on 1 April 2020, has a seating area of 100 m² or less, and has capital of ¥50 million or less.
• Restaurants opened after April 2020, and those with more than 100 m² of seating, do not meet these conditions.
• Not every restaurant that meets the conditions has a smoking-permitted room. The sign at the door tells you which ones do.

In some areas, fully non-smoking restaurants show a sign too (example: Hokkaido)

The answer: under a Hokkaido prefectural ordinance, restaurants that are fully non-smoking inside must also put up a sign saying so at the entrance. In Sapporo and Otaru, you can tell them apart by the “禁煙” (non-smoking) sign at the door.

• Hokkaido Passive Smoking Prevention Ordinance (this sign rule took effect on 1 July 2020): restaurants and cafés that are fully non-smoking indoors put up a sign where it is easy to see at the main entrance. Sapporo City is covered too.
• The non-smoking sign can be the sticker the prefecture hands out, a shop-bought sign that clearly says non-smoking, or one the restaurant made itself. The design varies from place to place.
• The ordinance has no penalties, and the prefecture gives guidance and advice to restaurants that do not put up a sign.

How to plan a trip to Sapporo and Otaru is in A day plan for Sapporo and Otaru with kids and Sapporo and Otaru stays where 6 share one room.

For dinner as a family of 6, decide the order you check at the door

The answer: when a big family picks a place for dinner, look at the sign at the door, and if there is none, ask the staff before you go in. No sign does not guarantee no smoking.

A sentence to show the staff (show it in Japanese):

子ども（20歳未満）がいます。禁煙の席はありますか？

(Meaning: We have children under 20. Do you have non-smoking seats?)

• If you book, ask the same thing ahead by phone or on the booking site. How to book is in our guide to booking popular places in Japan.
• On evenings when you want to be sure of avoiding smoke, you can also buy food at a convenience store and eat at your accommodation. Convenience store etiquette is in our Japanese convenience store guide.

When grandparents smoke: how a three-generation family's seating splits

The answer: the sign on the restaurant decides whether grandparents and children can eat at the same table. Children cannot enter smoking areas, so it is always the grandparents who move.

• A restaurant with 喫煙専用室あり: the room does not allow eating, so the family sits together. Grandparents go to the room only when they smoke.
• A restaurant with 加熱式たばこ専用喫煙室あり: eating is allowed in the room, but children cannot enter. To eat together, the whole family sits outside the room.
• A restaurant with 喫煙可能室あり: children cannot sit in the smoking seats. If it says 喫煙可能店, the whole place is a smoking area, so the family cannot go in.

Smoking rules in Japanese restaurants (with children): FAQ

Know Japan's travel rules before you go

We also cover how to get around Sapporo and Otaru, and the rules on money and booking.

Experience A day plan for Sapporo and Otaru with kids The zoo at midday, Mt. Moiwa from late afternoon. The order to go in and a rough cost for 6. Tips Why you don't tip in Japan The two taxes a big family pays. Tips Popular places in Japan need booking ahead A booking guide so a big family is not turned away on the day.

📍 One of the articles in our Sapporo and Otaru trip plan (Sapporo & Otaru | Trip plan for large families / all Tips articles)