Smoking Izakaya & Bars in Nagano / Gondo (2026): How to Find Them

Why some izakaya allow smoking and others don't

The revised Health Promotion Act made restaurant interiors non-smoking by default from April 2020. A transitional exception lets pre-existing small establishments (operating as of 1 April 2020, individually owned or capitalized at 50 million yen or less, seating area 100 m2 or less) register with their municipality to keep a smoking-permitted room where both cigarettes and dining are allowed (source: https://jyudokitsuen.mhlw.go.jp/business/restaurant/type_1.php). Gondo, a long-established eating and drinking quarter, still holds owner-run izakaya, yakitori joints and snack bars that qualify. Venues that opened after April 2020, and large chains capitalized above 50 million yen, cannot use it — their options are a sealed smoking room (no food or drink inside) or a heated-tobacco-only room.

The four venue types for smokers

• Smoking-permitted room (kitsuen kanō ten): cigarettes + food/drink OK. Grandfathered small venues only — the classic "smoking izakaya"
• Smoking-purpose venue (kitsuen mokuteki ten): cigar bars and snack bars that sell tobacco and serve no staple food (no rice or noodle dishes)
• Sealed smoking room (kitsuen senyō shitsu): cigarettes OK, but no food or drink inside the room
• Heated-tobacco-only room: IQOS / glo / Ploom only, food and drink OK — the common chain-store option

In every case, people under 20 (customers and staff alike) may not enter smoking areas, and venues must display the officially designated sign at the entrance (source: https://jyudokitsuen.mhlw.go.jp/smoking_room/).

How to find one: read the door sign

The sticker at the entrance is the reliable signal. "Smoking permitted" or "smoking purpose" means you can smoke cigarettes while eating and drinking; "smoking room" means smoking is separated from dining; "heated tobacco room" means IQOS-style devices only. No sign means the interior is non-smoking. Around Gondo and Nagano Station, buildings often stack several venues over multiple floors and shops line the arcade, so check the sign at each venue's own door rather than at the building entrance.

Stepping outside in Nagano

Stepping out for a cigarette is where Nagano City's ordinance bites. Smoking while walking is prohibited, and so is stopping to smoke where no ashtray is installed unless you carry a portable one. Covered arcades and station plazas may also be non-smoking under the property manager's own rules. Nagano City states that heated tobacco and e-cigarettes are "not included in the prohibited acts, since there is no risk of burns or fire," but littering butts remains a violation — and indoors, heated tobacco is still covered by the revised Health Promotion Act and may only be used in a smoking room. At railway stations, JR East asks for use in smoking rooms and smoking-permitted spaces. Given the duty of consideration under Article 27 of the revised Health Promotion Act, avoid using any device where people are nearby or in front of shop entrances.

For the station itself, JR East's official FAQ states that "station premises are non-smoking except for smoking rooms and smoking-permitted spaces at some stations," and lists "Nagano" among the stations with smoking rooms on Shinkansen platforms and on limited-express platforms. The FAQ does not give the floor, whether the room is inside or outside the ticket gates, or its hours, so this article does not assert the location. We also could not confirm a list of public smoking areas installed by Nagano City, so the locations of smoking areas outside the station are not asserted here either.

Find smoking-friendly venues on MottoSuitai

You can browse smoking-friendly izakaya, bars and cafes by prefecture on MottoSuitai's smoking-friendly restaurant search, and find outdoor smoking spots on the MottoSuitai map. For the city ordinance and the station in detail, see the Nagano Station smoking guide. The nationwide rules are covered in our guide to smoking izakaya and bars, local fines in the street-smoking fines guide, and cafes in the smoking-friendly cafe guide.

This is a third-party guide based on official MHLW, Nagano City and JR East information as of July 2026. It names no individual venues, because each venue's registration and policy can change. Always confirm with the sign at the door, the venue's official information and the Nagano City website. This article provides information about smoking environments and does not encourage smoking; smoking under the age of 20 is prohibited by law in Japan.