Smoking Rules in Nagasaki City 2026: Glover Garden and Chinatown Are No-Smoking Districts with a 2,000 Yen Fine (plus a cruise-passenger route guide)

About this guide and disclaimer

This is a third-party guide compiled as of August 2026 from the Nagasaki City official site (https://www.city.nagasaki.lg.jp/page/3035.html) and the ordinance leaflet it publishes (https://www.city.nagasaki.lg.jp/uploaded/attachment/48796.pdf), the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare second-hand smoke portal (https://jyudokitsuen.mhlw.go.jp/), and the Nagasaki International Tourism and Convention Association travel site (https://www.at-nagasaki.jp/). We could not find an official city list of smoking areas, so this article does not state the name, location or hours of any individual smoking area, nor whether Glover Garden, any Chinatown business or the Matsugae cruise terminal has smoking facilities — please check with each operator. For the exact district boundaries, use the map in the city's ordinance pamphlet and the city's location search system. Smoking under the age of 20 is prohibited by law in Japan, and this article does not encourage smoking.

Two layers: a city-wide duty of effort, and penalties inside the districts

The structure of Nagasaki's rule is what makes it easy to get wrong. The city's own leaflet lists the city-wide rules as "you must not litter (no penalty applies)" and "you must endeavour not to smoke in outdoor public places (no penalty applies)." That second line is the duty of effort in Article 9(2): Nagasaki asks everyone, anywhere in the city, to refrain from smoking outdoors in public — but attaches no fine to it.

Inside the districts the city has designated as "particularly busy shopping streets and tourist areas," the leaflet switches to "you must not litter (penalty applies)" and "you must not smoke in outdoor public places (penalty applies)." The ordinance text reads: Article 11 — "No person shall smoke in an outdoor public place within a prohibition district. However, this shall not apply at a smoking area installed by a land occupier or similar party." Article 20 provides for a fine of up to 20,000 yen, and Article 9(2) of the enforcement regulations fixes the amount at 2,000 yen. The city explains that when a violation is found, guidance is given first, and the fine is collected where that guidance is not followed.

• City-wide: duty of effort not to smoke in outdoor public places (Article 9(2)) — no penalty
• City-wide: no littering (Article 8) — no penalty outside the prohibition districts
• Inside a prohibition district: no smoking in outdoor public places (Article 11) — penalty applies
• Inside a prohibition district: no littering (Article 8) — penalty applies
• Fine amount: 2,000 yen (Article 20 allows up to 20,000 yen; the regulations fix it at 2,000 yen)
• Exception: smoking areas installed by a land occupier or similar party may be used even inside a district
• Guidance is given first; the fine is collected where guidance is not followed

The 14 prohibition districts

According to the ordinance leaflet, seven districts were designated in April 2009 and seven more in October 2009. The list combines heritage sites with the main downtown shopping arcades and parks.

• Oura Church, the former Latin Seminary and Glover Garden (April 2009)
• Site of the Martyrdom of the 26 Saints of Japan (April 2009)
• Ruins of the Santo Domingo Church (April 2009)
• The former Shitsu Relief Centre, Shitsu Church and the De Rotz Priest heritage sites (April 2009)
• Ono Church (April 2009)
• Site of the Dejima Dutch Trading Post (April 2009)
• Sofukuji Temple (April 2009)
• Hamanmachi shopping arcade (October 2009)
• Nakadori shopping arcade (October 2009)
• Shindaikumachi shopping arcade (October 2009)
• The Peace Park area (October 2009)
• The Nakashimagawa Park area (October 2009)
• The Higashi-Yamate and Minami-Yamate area (October 2009)
• The Shinchi and Jusenji area (October 2009)

Lay that list over a standard Nagasaki itinerary and the practical picture is clear. Glover Garden and Oura Church are named directly, and the surrounding Higashi-Yamate and Minami-Yamate slopes are separately designated. Nagasaki Chinatown sits within the Shinchi and Jusenji area. Dejima is covered as the Dutch Trading Post site; the Peace Park area covers the atomic bomb memorial side of the city, and the Nakashimagawa Park area covers the Spectacles Bridge. For shopping, Hamanmachi, Nakadori and Shindaikumachi are all included. In practice, most of a day in central Nagasaki is spent inside a prohibition district.

This article does not state exact boundaries. The city prints a map inside its ordinance pamphlet and also runs a "waste station / littering and smoking prohibition district location search system." If you are near the edge of a district, check the city map.

How the ordinance defines "smoking"

The leaflet defines the term precisely: "smoking means inhaling tobacco and holding lit tobacco," and adds that it "includes smoking in any state — not only while walking, but also while standing still, while seated, and while smoking with a portable ashtray in hand." So stepping to the side of the street inside a district and using a portable ashtray is still prohibited. The common assumption that only walking-and-smoking is banned does not hold here.

Article 9(1) separately requires that "when smoking outdoors, any person shall endeavour to prevent the scattering of cigarette butts by carrying a butt container or by similar means." Carrying a portable ashtray is expected even outside the districts. Littering is banned city-wide, and inside a district it is subject to the fine.

What the city says about heated tobacco

Nagasaki City's official page states that "because heated tobacco does not use fire, poses no danger to those nearby and produces no ash, no penalty applies even if it is used inside a prohibition district" (source: https://www.city.nagasaki.lg.jp/page/3035.html). That follows from the ordinance definition of smoking, which turns on lit tobacco. Note, however, that "no penalty" is not the same as "use it anywhere." Indoors, the revised Health Promotion Act does cover heated tobacco, which may only be used in a room meeting the standards, such as a heated-tobacco-only smoking room. In crowded places like Glover Garden or Chinatown, we would still suggest using a smoking area.

Arriving by cruise ship at Matsugae International Terminal

Nagasaki is a major East Asia cruise call. According to the Nagasaki International Tourism and Convention Association, the Nagasaki Port Matsugae International Terminal (7-16 Matsugae-machi, Nagasaki 850-0921) was built to handle large international cruise ships and opened in 2010; it is about a 3-minute walk from the Oura Kaigan-dori tram stop, and the Minami-Yamate area — with Glover Garden and Oura Church, among the city's finest sightseeing districts — is right beside it (source: https://www.at-nagasaki.jp/spot/7000). We could not find any mention of a smoking area inside the terminal on that page, so this article does not state whether one exists.

The practical consequence is direct: the first places you walk to after disembarking are prohibition districts. Glover Garden and Oura Church are named in the designation, the surrounding Higashi-Yamate and Minami-Yamate slopes are designated, and Chinatown falls inside the Shinchi and Jusenji area. On a short port call, plan to smoke on board before going ashore and to locate a smoking area once in town. Onboard rules are set by each cruise line, so check your ship's own guidance.

Indoors: the revised Health Promotion Act applies nationwide

Separately from the ordinance, the revised Health Promotion Act has made facilities used by many people non-smoking indoors in principle since 1 April 2020. Where conditions are met, a facility may install a dedicated smoking room (smoking only, no eating or drinking), a heated-tobacco-only smoking room, a smoking-permitted room (a transitional measure for existing small eating and drinking establishments) or a smoking-purpose room, and facilities with smoking equipment must display the prescribed signage. Schools, hospitals and child welfare facilities are non-smoking on their entire premises, and people under 20 may not enter a smoking area at all (source: MHLW https://jyudokitsuen.mhlw.go.jp/point/). For the full picture, see our guide to the revised Health Promotion Act; for visitors to Japan, see the general guide for travellers and how to read Japanese smoking signage.

Find smoking areas in Nagasaki with MottoSuitai

To find somewhere you can legally smoke around Glover Garden, Chinatown, Hamanmachi or Matsugae Pier, browse nearby smoking areas on MottoSuitai's smoking area map. For the other major Kyushu cruise call, see our Kagoshima smoking rules guide, and for how street-smoking fines differ between municipalities, see the municipal street-smoking fine roundup.

Before you go: check the official information

This third-party guide reflects information published as of August 2026 on the Nagasaki City official site and its ordinance leaflet, the MHLW second-hand smoke portal, and the Nagasaki International Tourism and Convention Association travel site. District boundaries, enforcement practice and the fine amount can change. Always confirm the latest with Nagasaki City (https://www.city.nagasaki.lg.jp/) and with the facilities you visit. If you do smoke, use an indoor smoking room or a smoking area installed by a land occupier, and always dispose of butts properly.