Is this part of the Expo legacy? The Real Reason Why the “No Smoking in the Expo Halls” was Overturned at the Osaka Expo

Smoking ban changed to “separate smoking and non-smoking

A week has passed since the Osaka-Kansai Expo closed on October 13. The dismantling of pavilions is said to be in full swing.

When the Expo first opened, it was criticized from all points of view, including “the restrooms, which reportedly cost 200 million yen to construct and burst into flames,” “the rest areas with rocks hanging from them, which were scary and uncomfortable,” and “the large population of chironomids. However, the festival’s reputation grew with each passing day, and by the end of the day, the popularity of the event had grown to the point that there were huge all-night lines for admission tickets. The Expo is expected to generate a surplus of up to 28 billion yen in operating expenses, which had been feared to be in the red. The Expo has become a legacy that will remain in the hearts and minds of many.

The smoking area issue was one of the main criticisms of the Expo. The initial policy was to prohibit smoking in all areas of the Expo site, and the two smoking areas that were provided were located outside the site. The distance to the smoking areas and the small number of smoking areas raised concerns. However, on June 28, about two and a half months after the opening of the event, the smoking ban was reversed, and two smoking areas for general visitors and three smoking areas for related parties were newly established in the venue.

At the time, it was reported that the reason for the change was that “some related parties and visitors had voiced their concerns that the smoking areas were too far away and inconvenient,” and that “a number of cigarette butts had been found at the back entrances of overseas pavilions.

The real reason, however, lay elsewhere. Mr. A, an official involved in the Expo’s management, said , “In fact, ‘secret smoking’ was rampant among the foreign staff working at the Expo .That was the main reason.” Now that the Expo is over, he can tell us why. The reason behind this seems to be the difference in smoking etiquette between Japan and other countries.

Japan is said to be relatively lax in terms of smoking rules from a global perspective, but there are many countries where smoking is allowed anywhere as long as it does not bother anyone. In Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City, the Expo prompted the expansion of areas where smoking is prohibited on the streets, and there were moves to develop venues into environments with “smoking restrictions” in advance. Mr. A told us how the smoking area was established.

Mr. A told us how the smoking area was established. “Smoking was originally prohibited at the venue, but due to visitor opinions and relations with exhibiting countries, we had no choice but to install the smoking area outside the gate,” he said. At the beginning of the show, we thought there would be no problem with just a smoking area outside the East Gate, but due to unexpected crowds and other factors, it became impractical to go back and forth between the venue and the smoking area. Hidden smoking by staff working in the overseas pavilions did not stop. I heard that some visitors were also smoking in secret, which led to the creation of a new smoking area inside the venue.

Newly installed smoking areas are also packed.

So, has the smoking situation improved since the smoking areas were installed at the Expo? The author covered the smoking situation at the Expo in mid-September. First, the smoking area near the East Gate (outside the venue), which had been in place from the beginning. The shortest distance from the edge of the Expo site to the East Gate is about 15 minutes at the normal walking speed of an adult male. If the site or the area around the gate was crowded, it took more than 30 minutes each way. In the case of pavilion personnel, it is even questionable whether they could go and return at break time. A man in his 40s, a repeat visitor who has been going to the Expo many times since its opening, recounted the reality of the situation.

He said, “Actually, it’s harder to go back than it is to suck it up. You have to leave the gate once, and when you re-enter, you have to go through another baggage check. To do so, you have to spend many minutes in the long entrance line again. Since the smoking area was built inside the venue, it now takes around 10 minutes to get to both locations from inside the Expo ring.”

Next, the author went to the newly built smoking areas inside the Expo site. There are two smoking areas, one on the north side of the ring and the other on the south side of the Expo Messe (WASSE). Around noon, many people were using the smoking areas. The smoking area was overflowing to the entrance of the smoking area, so it seems that there was still a capacity problem. When we spoke to a man in his 30s who was leaning against the outside wall of the smoking area and smoking a cigarette, he said, “There are too many people, and I can’t get in.

I appreciate that they built the smoking area, but it’s not big enough, and it’s packed with people,” he said. Even so, smoking heated cigarettes here (outside the smoking area) is better than smoking in the restrooms or on the street inside the venue.

Simply considering the ratio of smoking areas to the total site area, the Expo site has an area equivalent to 33 times the size of the Tokyo Dome (1,240,000 m2), but there are only seven smoking areas inside and outside the venue (three of which are reserved for related parties). Considering that the Tokyo Dome is a non-smoking venue, and that there are five smoking areas in the similarly sized Kyocera Dome (1.2 million m2), it still seems like a small number. Many people said it was still inconvenient, but perhaps things have improved somewhat since the beginning.

Unexpected situations are bound to occur at a major international event such as the Expo. The smoking problem, which forced the organizers to bend their original policy and be flexible, may be another legacy of the Expo.