> Finding it at a cafe that doesn't also allow smoking was harder.
As a long-time Japan resident, I had the same problem for many years. But smoking indoors in public places was finally banned nationwide in Japan effective April 2020 [1].
I don’t know how effective the new rule is in bars and the like, but all of the cafes I’ve been in in recent years have been either completely nonsmoking or have had a separate, walled-off smoking room.
As a long-time Japan resident, I had the same problem for many years. But smoking indoors in public places was finally banned nationwide in Japan effective April 2020 [1].
I don’t know how effective the new rule is in bars and the like, but all of the cafes I’ve been in in recent years have been either completely nonsmoking or have had a separate, walled-off smoking room.
[1] https://www.gov-online.go.jp/useful/article/201907/2.html