Regarding the Jan. 8 article "Half of taxis now nonsmoking as 95 percent of Tokyo cabs join ban": If the effort really is "to prevent health damage from secondhand smoke," when will Japan join the rest of the civilized world and make all restaurants and bars 100 percent nonsmoking? How about protecting the restaurant workers and nonsmoking customers? If even Paris, London and Hong Kong can do it, surely Japan can too.

greg blossom