The Health Ministry issued a policy statement calling for a 100 per cent ban on smoking indoors in public places and for the first time categorizing links between passive smoking and diseases like lung cancer and child asthma, Kyodo News reported.

Four risk levels for secondhand smoke are listed in the latest “Tobacco White Paper,” which marks the first time the document has been updated in 15 years, according to Kyodo. The report recommends against setting up smoking areas to minimize the impact of a complete ban.