TOKYO – Japan’s health ministry is likely to drastically water down a proposal restricting smoking in restaurants, media said on Friday, a move that risks Tokyo becoming one of the unhealthiest hosts of the Olympic Games hosts in years.

Japan ranks at the bottom globally in anti-smoking measures, going by the types of public spaces entirely free of smoke, says the World Health Organisation, which has teamed up with global Olympics officials to guarantee smoke-free Games venues.

Ahead of the 2020 summer Olympics, the International Olympics Committee (IOC) is among those pressuring the Japanese capital to follow Rio de Janeiro and other recent games hosts in banning smoking in all public areas.

IOC Vice President John Coats has said the body cannot force a ban beyond the venues and the Olympic Village, however.

The Health Ministry was forced this year to scale back a proposed bill for a blanket ban on public smoking in the face of opposition by pro-smoking politicians, restaurateurs and Japan Tobacco, which is one-third government owned.

But even the weaker bill foundered, due to opposition from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). In August, anti-smoking Health Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki lost his job in a cabinet reshuffle.

Now the ministry contemplates allowing smoking indoors at establishments that have a floor area of up to five times the 30 square metres (323 square feet) and adequate ventilation stipulated in the earlier bill, media said.

However, a health ministry official told Reuters the new proposal was still in such an early stage of discussion that none of its content had yet been decided.

Fifty years ago, around half of Japanese smoked, a figure that has shrunk to less than a fifth now. Smoking areas have been dramatically restricted, but laws vary among cities. There is still a cigarette vending machine in a Health Ministry annex.

Health officials say 15,000 Japanese die every year from second-hand smoke.

The new proposal is “terrible,” says anti-smoking activist Manabu Sakuta, since nearly 90 per cent of food and beverage establishments in Tokyo are smaller than 150 square metres (180 sq yards).

But he is pinning his hopes on Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike, who vowed in July to push for a smoking ban before the Olympics.

“There’s some possibility here, so we’ll have to focus on that,” he said.

Tokyo – A Japanese railway operator has issued a deep apology for the “tremendous nuisance” caused by a train departing 20 seconds early, surprising even a nation renowned for both punctuality and politeness.

The Tsukuba Express train linking Tokyo and the capital’s northern suburbs pulled out of Minami Nagareyama Station at 9:44:20 instead of 9:44:40.

“We deeply apologise for causing tremendous nuisance to customers,” said the Tsukuba Express company.

“There was no complaint from customers over this incident,” said the firm, which added that no one missed the train due to the premature departure.

Japanese railway services, including shinkansen bullet trains, are famous for their world-beating punctuality.

Even the slightest delay prompts an effusive apology from the train guard, which often lasts longer than the hold-up itself.

With trains running the same route every few minutes to cope with huge numbers of passengers, even brief delays can back up the whole network causing overcrowding.

Stations in Toyko employs dozens of staff – with their famous white gloves – to ensure the prompt departure of trains and to manage the crush during rush hour.

The bullet trains in Japan are also famed for their customer service, with one offering passengers an onboard footbath to soothe their travelling woes.

The train firm said it was “surprised” by the attention the story was getting, saying: “We have issued similar apologies for trains that departed earlier than scheduled before.” A spokesman told AFP the apology was issued because strict safety procedures were not followed.

“What matters is not the 20 seconds… The point is that our formal procedure should be this: A sound rings 15 seconds before the departure, followed by an announcement asking for caution due to the closing doors, and then the doors shut,” he said.

Lax management could cause safety problems in the future, the spokesman said. “There are sometimes passengers who try to jump on the train… they could be caught in doors” if the doors shut without warning, he said.

But the apology had several social media users scratching their heads.

“This is surprising even to Japanese,” said one user with the handle @takamin-.

“A weird country in which a 20-second difference prompts a sincere apology while faking quality data on aluminium and steel products or misconduct on car check-ups are done just like that,” another tweet read.

This was a reference to a recent string of corporate scandals that has floored the reputation of Japan Inc.

Car giants Nissan and Subaru have admitted that uncertified staff had inspected vehicles while Kobe Steel has been embroiled in a quality data-faking scandal.

However, @cindy176 just commented: “Everyone should be more relaxed.”

Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) officials have joined police investigating metal pieces of unknown origin that fell from the sky following the sound of an explosion in the Thai-Lao border area of Ubon Ratchathani province early Wednesday morning.

The metal pieces were found in various areas in four villages of Tambon Na Pho Klang in Khong Chiam district. Boonchub Bungthong, director of the Bangkok-based GISTDA satellite operations, said the metal pieces – two more of which were discovered on Thursday including a larger piece six metres in length – were probably parts of a rocket used to launch a satellite into orbit.

He said authorities had already contacted the United Nations, which records the details of countries’ rocket launches, to determine the country of origin, with the results expected in a week.

Boonchub said the “explosive sound” that villagers heard was probably a sonic boom created by the rocket components returning to Earth and breaking apart due to high speed and friction with the atmosphere after achieving an elevation exceeding 100 kilometres.

He added that there should not be a radiation risk, because typically rockets were fuelled by hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Boonchub also told people who found objects believed to have fallen to Earth to alert authorities.

The North Korean soldier who dashed across the border to defect is a 20-something noncommissioned officer who had served at the Joint Security Area in the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone, South Korea’s spy agency said Thursday.

Four of the soldier’s former comrades chased him toward the Demilitarized Zone, the de facto border between the two Koreas.

They shot at him about 40 times. It is unclear whether they continued to shoot after the solider crossed the Military Demarcation Line and entered the territory controlled by the United Nations Command.

When he was found under a pile of leaves south of the MDL, he was unarmed and wearing a Korean People’s Army Uniform. He was also bloodied from gunshots to his shoulder, elbow and abdomen. He was rescued by South Korean soldiers and transported to a local hospital.

“His rank amounts to staff sergeant,” the National Intelligence Service was quoted as saying by Rep. Kim Byung-kee, who attended the closed-door meeting. “Regarding his personal belongings, we didn’t find anything special.”

The wounded soldier, whose identity and motive for defection have not been revealed, has shown signs of “stabilization,” but is still in critical condition, according to doctor Lee Cook-jong who performed surgeries on him.

Meanwhile, a scheduled plan to release detailed footage of the defection was scrapped by the UNC, which withdrew the decision at the last minute. It was initially scheduled to reveal the footage in the afternoon, but delayed the decision.

The 26-second footage reportedly shows chasing guards firing shots — including those from AK-47 assault rifles — at the fleeing soldier. It also reportedly captured him crouching down and staggering toward the Military Demarcation Line.

According to the UNC, the decision to reveal the image rests on its Commander Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, who doubles as the commander of United States Forces in South Korea and the US-led Combined Forces Command.

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, meanwhile, said South Korea has no authority to change the rules of engagement applied to the JSA amid controversy over its soldiers’ decision not to return fire at the North Korean soldiers who were chasing the defecting soldier.

When asked if South Korea would seek to change the engagement rules applied to the JSA by adopting its own version, Cheong Wa Dae said Seoul does not “have a say” in the matter because the authority falls under the US-led United Nations Command, which assumes operational control of the JSA.

“We could raise our opinion, but we have no authority to change the rules,” the official told reporters under the customary condition of anonymity. “It’s under the authority of the UNC. The Defence Ministry doesn’t have a say in the matter.”

The remark came after a report that the Defence Ministry is seeking to consult with the UNC to apply South Korea’s own rules of engagement to the JSA when North Korea poses a direct threat to South Korean soldiers as they did during the incident Monday.

Although the South Korean Army took over the duty of keeping security inside the JSA from the US in 2004, the authority over the use of force falls under UNC commander Gen. Vincent K. Brooks.

The official also downplayed a remark by President Moon Jae-in, who told his presidential staff that a change to the rules of engagement is “worthy of discussion” after being briefed about the shooting incident Wednesday.

“It was more like raising his opinion, not issuing an order,” the official said. “He made observations from the perspective of average people. … Now that the president has made remarks, there could be further discussion with the UNC.

President Moon said that if North Korea fires its bullets across the border, the general public expects the rules of engagement to require South Korean soldiers to at least fire “warning shots” toward North Korean soldiers.

Located inside the 4-kilometer-wide Demilitarized Zone, the JSA is jointly overseen by the UN Command and by North Korea, with South Korean and North Korean border guards facing each other only meters apart.

Therefore, South Korean soldiers inside the JSA are not allowed to use military force unless their action is justified under the UNC rules of engagement applied to the JSA, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“The UNC commander considers two parts to determine whether such a response is appropriate: whether there is a direct threat to our guards and whether our response would escalate the situation,” JCS chief director of operations Gen. Suh Wook told lawmakers Wednesday.