Tokyo smokers face tighter rules ahead of 2020 Olympics

Tokyo

JAPAN must make public places in Tokyo smoke-free by the time it hosts the 2020 Summer Olympics or risk falling afoul of International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules that call for a healthy games, activists said on Tuesday.

Japan's health minister has said the government is eager to stamp out smoking in public by the time the capital hosts the Olympics. But smoking remains so entrenched there is still a cigarette vending machine in a Health Ministry annex.