Smoking was common in Tokyo arcades up until mid 2020. Tokyo introduced a new, stricter set of regulations that banned smoking in most businesses unless they ha

Smoking was common in Tokyo arcades up until mid 2020. Tokyo introduced a new, stricter set of regulations that banned smoking in most businesses unless they have a dedicated smoking room/section. Most arcades didn't build those facilities, so they are legally obligated to be smoke free[1]. Arcades outside of Tokyo have to comply with the looser national regulations. As a non-smoker who regularly frequented arcades, I welcome this change. Sadly since COVID I've avoided going out entirely, and am not surprised that the industry is dying. I agree with trzy in a separate thread: experiences like The Void[2] which are impossible to have at home are the only thing I can see driving people back to arcades. 1) https://iwanablog.net/gamecenter-kitsuen-naze/ https://iwanablog.net/gamecenter-kitsuen-naze/ 2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Void_(virtual_reality) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Void_(virtual_reality)