I got lunch at a little restaurant on Shimotori (downtown Kumamoto) last week, and noticed that there was a tiny area for non-smokers, while the rest of the restaurant allowed smoking. I’ve seen big changes in the provision of areas with clean air for non-smokers in Kumamoto in the 25 years that I’ve been here (it used to be much worse!) but the configuration of the restaurant made me realize that non-smokers were still being treated like a bothersome minority in some establishments. I hope the new law fixes the problem. (Apologies to smokers who like things the way they are.) – Kirk http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003462158