No smoking on the streets
Kyoto regulates smoking on the street by ordinance: do not smoke in outdoor public places anywhere in the city. In the three strengthened zones — downtown, Kyoto Station and Kiyomizu–Gion — street smoking brings a ¥1,000 fine. Use the city's public smoking areas instead.
What the ordinance covers
Kyoto has enforced its street-smoking ordinance since 1 June 2007. It aims to stop people being burned or having their belongings damaged by cigarettes on the street, and to limit the health effects of smoke. It covers smoking in outdoor public places such as streets and parks.
The rule covers the whole city
The rule covers the whole city. On any street or in any park in Kyoto, do not smoke outdoors — the ordinance places a duty of effort on smokers to refrain. It applies everywhere, not only in the sightseeing districts, so the street outside your lodgings counts too.
Three strengthened zones: a ¥1,000 fine
Downtown, the Kyoto Station area, and the Kiyomizu–Gion area are designated strengthened zones, chosen because they are crowded and the burn risk is high. Smoking on the street there can bring a ¥1,000 fine, collected on the spot by a patrolling inspector who has witnessed the act. The zones were renamed to their current name on 1 March 2023.
Want to smoke: use a public smoking area
The city provides 19 public smoking areas, in downtown Kyoto, around Kyoto Station, in Kiyomizu and Gion, and at Yamashina, Nishioji, Katsuragawa and Keihan Chushojima stations. The city's list of smoking areas shows each spot with a photo; clicking a photo opens a map.
Heated tobacco and e-cigarettes too
Heated tobacco and e-cigarettes have no burning tip, so they are not fined in the strengthened zones — but inspectors can still instruct users to stop. The city asks everyone to treat them like paper cigarettes and refrain from using them in outdoor public places anywhere in the city.
Only inspectors collect fines
Only the city's street-smoking inspectors may collect a fine. On patrol they wear their inspector's identification on their chest, and when collecting a fine they issue a receipt from the City of Kyoto. Nobody else collects fines, so check the identification if someone demands payment.
Sources：京都市 京都市路上喫煙等の禁止等に関する条例について（公式） ↗京都市 京都市公設喫煙場所、過料を徴収する区域について（公式） ↗京都市 路上喫煙について（公式） ↗京都市 山科区の喫煙スペースについて（公式） ↗京都市 加熱式たばこ・電子たばこは、「京都市路上喫煙等の禁止等に関する条例」の対象に入るのか（公式） ↗