Japan’s bullet trains go completely smoke-free, taking some riders by surprise


A smoking room on a Tokaido line bullet train, which will no longer allow smoking on board. - PHOTO: JTKANM13/X via The Straits Times/ANN

TOKYO (The Straits Times): Bullet trains in Japan have went smoke-free since March 16, with the ban on smoking leaving casual and habitual smokers without room to take a puff on the move.

The change for passengers came as the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu lines, scrapped enclosed “smoking rooms” on their trains, a move their train operator Japan Railway (JR) announced in October which removed the last vestiges of smoking on trains.

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