"Even ¥30,000 Is Cheap": Is There a Fine for Smoking in a Japanese Hotel Room? Hotel Staff Weigh In
Short answer
Expect a cleaning charge. A ryokan cut a smoker's ¥30,000 bill to ¥10,000, and the top comment (4,133 likes) praised it. Hotel staff call ¥30,000 cheap.
4,133 likes on the most-liked comment2,381-comment thread · 2023 video
「3万円でも安い位です」禁煙の旅館・ホテルの部屋でタバコを吸うと罰金を取られるのか
By Rakutaro · Tokyo, Japan
In practice it's a cleaning charge, and Japanese commenters think it should be: this 2023 Japanese thread is about a ryokan that billed a guest for smoking in a non-smoking room, cut the bill from ¥30,000 to ¥10,000 because the guest hadn't known and kept to the rules afterward, and then got a one-star review. The top comment (4,133 likes) says an inn this kind would make them raise their rating. People who work in hotels explain the number: a reply with 268 likes says the room can't be sold until the smell is gone, and a hotel worker calls even ¥30,000 cheap. The pushback is narrower. If the rule was never made clear, one commenter says, the fine isn't legal. Smokers in the thread say what they check before booking.
These comments are from a video published in 2023. Prices, rules and crowds may have moved since; anything we checked ourselves is marked with a source.
“I'm in the same business, and cleaning really is expensive, and you can't sell that room until the smell is gone, so the damage is big. 10,000 yen is way too kind”
同業だけどマジでクリーニング代高いし、匂い消えるまでその客室は販売出来ないから損害はデカい。一万とか優しすぎる
What Japanese people do instead
Smokers really need to phone the inn ahead and ask whether you can smoke in the room and whether there's a smoking area
タバコ吸う人はちゃんと旅館側に部屋での喫煙はできるのか、喫煙スペースはあるのか等を電話で事前に聞いておかないと
— @風龍ちゃん10 likesAny normal smoker asks "Is there a smoking area nearby?" first. Ask the okami first and she'll kindly tell you.
普通の愛煙家は『近くに喫煙所ありますか?』と先に聞いて当たり前やな。 先に女将さんに聞けば優しく教えてくれる。
— @ベイコマ1 likes@ponpokomaruu I'm a smoker. They say the smoking rate these days is 20 to 30%. We're a total minority. It's an age where we can't complain if the service industry goes completely non-smoking. We should count having a smoking area at all as a plus. If you want to smoke in your room, you should choose a place that allows it when you book.
@ponpokomaruu 私は喫煙者です。 現代の喫煙率は20～30％と言われる。 完全に少数派だ。 サービス業界が完全禁煙にしても、文句は言えない時代になった。 喫煙スペースがあるだけマシと捉えるべきですね。 部屋で吸いたいのなら、予約の時点で喫煙可の宿泊施設を選択するべきです。
— @CPV350230 likes
FAQ
- What happens if you smoke in a non-smoking hotel room in Japan?
- You will usually be billed for cleaning, and the amount depends on the hotel. A Japanese hotel worker says some guests are allergic to tobacco, so a smoked-in room takes many times the normal cleaning before it can be sold again, and that with the lost sales on top, even ¥30,000 is cheap.
Sources: japantravel.navitime.com — checked 2026-10-20
- Can a ryokan fine you for smoking if nobody told you the rule?
- Japanese commenters are split. One (24 likes) says that if the rule wasn't made known, the fault is the inn's and the fine is illegal, and another (22 likes) says an inn can't charge it as a fine but can bill the cleaning costs. In this case the inn itself took the guest's not knowing into account, which a reply with 317 likes calls the best part.
- How do I know if my room in Japan is non-smoking?
- Check before you book. A smoker in the thread (519 likes) says any smoker looks up whether the room allows smoking when choosing an inn, and another (10 likes) says to phone ahead and ask about the room and the smoking area. A reply with 264 likes adds that no ashtray in the room basically means no smoking.
Japanese people also answered
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What Japanese people said — picked from the top 200 of 2,381 comments
If the inn is this kind, I'd actually raise my rating
旅館側こんなに優しいならむしろ評価上げちゃう
Cutting the bill to a third just because they kept to the rules afterward is ridiculously kind
その後ルールを守ったからって請求額三分の一はめちゃくちゃ優しいな
They were really supposed to be billed 30,000 yen, but because they didn't know and kept to the rules afterward it got knocked down to 10,000, and that guest still has the nerve to say that
本当は3万請求するのに知らなかったしその後はルール守ってくれたからと1万にまでまけてもらったのによくもまぁそんなこと言えるわその客
So apparently the inn couldn't sell the room for 2 days after that, until the smell was gone, and took 100,000 yen in losses in total... And the guest got it settled for 10,000 yen. Honestly, what an outrageous guest.
旅館側は、実はその後、部屋の匂いが消えるまで、2日間部屋の販売が出来なかったって事で総額10万円の損害を被ってるていう…。 それを1万円で手打ちにして貰ったってのに、ホントにとんでも客だわね。
It's kindness that they didn't charge the full cost of cleaning it!
綺麗にするのにかかったお金全額じゃないだけ優しさだ！
I work at a hotel. Some guests are allergic to tobacco, so when someone smokes in a non-smoking room, it takes many times the time and effort of a normal clean before we can sell it to the next guest. It's not just the actual cleaning cost, it's also the lost sales until the room can be sold again, so even ¥30,000 is cheap.
ホテル勤務です。 タバコアレルギーをお持ちの方もいらっしゃいますので、禁煙室で喫煙されると、通常清掃の何倍もの時間と労力をかけなければ、次のお客様に販売出来ません。 清掃費用実費だけでなく、販売出来る様になるまでのセールスロスにもなりますので￥30,000でも安い位です。
I have asthma and react badly to cigarette smoke, so I think this inn handled it brilliantly Some people might think it's just asthma, but adult asthma can actually kill you…… I've had to rush to a night clinic
喘息持ちで煙草にかなり反応するタイプなのでこの旅館さんは本当に神対応だと思います たかが喘息と思われる方もいらっしゃると思いますが大人の喘息は普通に死ぬ病気なので……夜間病院に駆け込み経験有りです
If they didn't know the rule (it wasn't made known), that's the inn's fault, and the fine is illegal.
ルールを知らなかった(周知されてなかった)なら旅館側の落ち度であり、罰金は違法だよ。
It can't be charged as a fine, but I guess it's a bill for cleaning and other costs. I like a firm response like this.
罰金としては取れないけど、クリーニング等の諸経費の請求なんだろうな。 こういった毅然とした対応は好感がもてます。
The best part of how the inn handled it is that it properly took into account that the guest didn't know the rule. It's good that they could think "maybe it's partly on us" because their own notice might not have been good enough.
一番旅館の対応で良かった部分は、ルールを把握していなかった部分をしっかりと考慮していることだね。 旅館側の広報がダメだったかもしれないと「自分達も悪いかも」と考えられているのが良いんだよ。
I'm a smoker, and normally when you pick an inn you check whether the room allows smoking, so saying they didn't realize is a total lie, but it was super kind of them to lower the fine
喫煙者だが普通は旅館選ぶ時、喫煙可の部屋かどうか調べるから、認識してないなんてめちゃくちゃ嘘だけど罰金安くしてくれたの超優しい
If there's no ashtray in the room, you'd basically know it's non-smoking……
部屋に灰皿が無いなら基本的には禁煙って分かるだろ……
They don't get it… people like that use a can or a plastic bottle as an ashtray, so no ashtray just annoys them a little and they don't care whether it's non-smoking
わかんないんだよ…そういうやつは缶とかペットボトル灰皿にするから無くてもイラッとするくらいで禁煙かどうかなんて気にしないの
The guest who broke the rule meant the air conditioner and curtains had to be cleaned. This story really shows how times have changed. Back in the day, on company trips or family stays at a ryokan, lots of people would smoke and drink, and when you woke up in the morning you couldn't help opening the window. That went on for decades, so these are better times now. Then again, I'm sure plenty of people feel boxed in. I don't think the old days were better, but somehow this story makes me think "what a tough world."
ルールを破った客のせいでエアコンやカーテンをクリーニング。 時代を感じる話ですね。昔は会社の慰安旅行や家族と旅館に泊まれば何人もが煙草は吸うわ酒は飲むわで朝目覚めたら窓を開けずにはいられなかった。そんなことが何十年と続いたわけで今は良い時代になりましたね。その代わり窮屈な思いをしている人も沢山いるんでしょうね。昔は良かったなんて思わないけどこの話は何となく「世知辛いな」と思ってしまう。