TOKYO –
Tokyo’s Toshima Ward introduced on November eleventh plans to impose administrative penalties of as much as 20,000 yen for road smoking and littering, extending its smoking ban to heated tobacco merchandise as complaints about public smoking and unlawful dumping proceed to rise.
According to the ward authorities, complaints about road smoking and littering have elevated roughly 1.4-fold over the previous 5 years, prompting officers to revise current ordinances and introduce stronger enforcement measures.
Toshima Mayor Miyuki Takagiwa stated at a press convention that the ward hopes to strengthen deterrence by deploying groups of enforcement officers licensed to impose penalties. “I hope that having teams of inspectors patrol the streets and collect penalties, and Toshima Ward taking a more decisive approach following Shibuya Ward’s example, will serve as a deterrent,” she stated.
The proposed revisions would add heated tobacco merchandise to the road smoking ban and explicitly prohibit the unlawful disposal of suitcases, with each violations topic to administrative penalties of as much as 20,000 yen. Enforcement would initially concentrate on areas round Ikebukuro Station and Otsuka Station, the place complaints about smoking and littering have been significantly frequent.
Toshima Ward has prohibited smoking lit cigarettes on public streets and littering all through the ward since 2011, with patrol officers conducting common inspections and offering steerage to offenders. However, the present ordinance doesn’t impose penalties for road smoking, whereas littering carries a felony fantastic of as much as 20,000 yen that has by no means been imposed.
To deal with this drawback, the ward plans to interchange the felony fantastic system, which requires prolonged procedures earlier than penalties could be collected, with administrative penalties that may be collected on the spot.
Takagiwa stated different municipalities which have launched comparable administrative penalties typically cost round 2,000 yen, however questioned whether or not such a small quantity could be ample to discourage repeat offenses.
“Administrative penalties must make offenders recognize that they have broken the rules and feel that they will never do it again,” she stated. “I don’t think a small amount would have much impact, so we will determine the specific amount through regulations, within the maximum limit of 20,000 yen.”
The ward will conduct a public session on the proposed revisions in December earlier than submitting the amended ordinance to the ward meeting’s common session in February 2027.
Officials purpose to implement the revised guidelines throughout the fiscal 12 months starting in April 2027, with administrative penalties scheduled to take impact in July 2027.
Source: TOKYO MX