Cafeography
禁煙カフェ · Sapporo

Smoke-free cafés in Sapporo

Non-smoking kissaten, roasters and book cafés, and how to read the sign on the door.

Photo: Rachel Claire, Pexels License

Kin'en (禁煙, non-smoking) is the word to look for, and in Sapporo it still matters. In the 2022 national survey of living conditions, 20.4% of adults in Hokkaido smoked, the third-highest share of any prefecture after Fukushima and Aomori, against a national 16.3%.1

Hokkaido's government cites that rate, along with lung-cancer death and incidence above the national figures, as the reason it passed its own secondhand-smoke ordinance in March 2020.2 The ordinance aims at judō kitsuen zero (受動喫煙ゼロ), no involuntary exposure to other people's smoke.2

Local tip: If a door has no sign, ask before you sit: kin'en desu ka (禁煙ですか, is it non-smoking?). Hokkaido expects every restaurant and café to post either a smoking or a non-smoking sign.3

Where these cafés are: Maruyama (3), Odori & Tanukikoji (3), Odori West (2), Sapporo Station (2), Nakajima Park (1).

At a glance

11Cafés listed
8With opening hours
08:00Earliest opening
23:30Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: 珈琲倶楽部, from 08:00 (Mon–Fri 08:00–18:00).
  • Closes latest: Café 倫敦館, until 23:30 (Daily 09:00–23:30).
  • Most common features: air-con (73%), indoor seating (45%), wi-fi (45%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Sapporo.

What the 2020 rules allow

Since April 2020 the national rules have made indoor smoking in restaurants and cafés the exception: it is allowed only in a sealed smoking room, where you may not eat or drink. A room reserved for heated tobacco is the one kind where food and drink are allowed.3

The exemption is for old, small rooms. An eatery that held its food-business license on 31 March 2020, with no more than 100 m² of customer seating and capital of ¥50 million or less, may opt to allow smoking throughout after filing with the local health center. Shops opened after that date do not qualify, and a renovation past 100 m² or a change of operator ends the status.3

Reading the sign at the door

Hokkaido adds a rule of its own about signs. Under Article 18 of its ordinance, a restaurant or café that is non-smoking throughout must say so at its main entrance,2 and the prefecture hands out non-smoking stickers for the purpose, mailing them to new shops on request.3

Wherever smoking is allowed, the sign also works as an age limit: under-20s may not enter, not even as staff.3 Among the cafés south of the center, 本田珈琲 (Honda Coffee) at Minami 16-jō Nishi 14-chōme is one that still permits smoking.

Where the smoke-free cafés are

Maruyama and Odori & Tanukikoji have the most smoke-free cafés, ahead of Odori West. In Maruyama, Morihico at Minami 2-jō Nishi 26-chōme and CAFE びいだま on the same block are non-smoking, as is パパヒデヒコ at Kita 7-jō Nishi 20-chōme, which also has outdoor seats.

Near the TV Tower, Marumi Coffee's main store at Minami 1-jō Nishi 1-chōme is smoke-free, and so is オニヤンマ コーヒー＆ビア at Minami 1-jō Nishi 6-chōme. North of the station, 純喫茶オリンピア (Junkissa Olympia) at Kita 4-jō Nishi 6-chōme opens 10:00–18:00 on weekdays and has Wi-Fi. fog., by Nakajima Park, takes cash only and has power outlets.

Smoke-free from early to late

The earliest smoke-free start is 珈琲倶楽部 at Kita 4-jō Nishi 16-chōme, open from 08:00 on weekdays, followed by Marumi Coffee at 09:00 and Café 倫敦館 at Kita 4-jō Nishi 11-chōme, also at 09:00. Morihico opens at 11:00 on weekdays and at 10:00 at weekends.

For the evening, Café 倫敦館 stays open until 23:30, CAFE びいだま until 23:00 and Morihico until 21:30. LAMP LIGHT BOOKS CAFE is non-smoking and open 24 hours.

Sources

  1. 職場における喫煙対策の取組み推進について（国民生活基礎調査による都道府県別喫煙率）, Japan Health Insurance Association (協会けんぽ) Hokkaido branch, seminar slides by Satō Hirokazu, JR Sapporo Hospital (June 23, 2026), accessed October 2026
  2. 北海道受動喫煙防止条例, Hokkaido Government (updated January 13, 2026), accessed October 2026
  3. 11_第二種施設（飲食店）, Hokkaido Government, Regional Health Division (updated January 13, 2026), accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

Other ways to browse Sapporo

夜カフェ

Open late

17 cafés
Wi-Fiあり

Wi-Fi

11 cafés

By area: Odori & Tanukikoji Odori West Maruyama

FAQ

Smoke-free cafés in Sapporo: questions

Can you smoke in cafés in Sapporo?

In most, no. Since April 2020 indoor smoking in Japanese restaurants and cafés has been limited to sealed smoking rooms where you cannot eat or drink. Small eateries licensed by 31 March 2020, with up to 100 m² of seating and capital of ¥50 million or less, may still allow smoking throughout, and no one under 20 may enter them.

How do you tell if a Sapporo café is non-smoking?

Look at the main entrance. Under Hokkaido's secondhand-smoke ordinance, a restaurant or café that is non-smoking indoors must post a sign saying so there, and every restaurant and café is expected to show either a smoking or a non-smoking sign. The prefecture supplies non-smoking stickers, including by mail to new shops.

Which Sapporo neighborhoods have the most smoke-free cafés?

Maruyama and Odori & Tanukikoji have the most. In Maruyama, Morihico, CAFE びいだま and パパヒデヒコ are non-smoking; near the TV Tower, Marumi Coffee's main store and オニヤンマ コーヒー＆ビア are too. Odori West adds Café 倫敦館, open until 23:30, and 珈琲倶楽部 on Kita 4-jō Nishi 16-chōme.

For café owners

Your café deserves better than a pin someone else dropped

Free listings are free for good. A featured page gives you photos, a menu and your own URL, in your café's own design, for less than a coffee a day.

Get listed, free See a page in its own design