Diet lawmakers are preparing to launch a nonpartisan antismoking league to cut health hazards and medical costs associated with tobacco, according to organizers.
In a preparatory meeting Thursday, they agreed to urge the government to address various smoking issues with an eye to creating new tobacco legislation.
The organizers said the move is in response to Japan's lack of effective tobacco laws, which has led to an increase in smoking-related illnesses and deaths in Japan.
Lawmakers Keizo Takemi, from the Liberal Democratic Party, Akira Matsu of New Komeito and Satsuki Eda of the Democratic Party of Japan were among those who attended the preparatory meeting.
The league is expected to be officially established sometime late this month.
It will be open to interested lawmakers regardless of whether they smoke, the organizers said.
It will also tackle topics that include the separation of smoking and no-smoking areas in public places, regulating tobacco advertising and education about the health hazards of secondhand smoke, they added.