Japan’s cabinet has agreed to end the country’s bizarre ban on late-night dancing, following a committee recommendation earlier this year.

The 66-year-old anti-prostitution ‘fuzoku’ laws have had a detrimental impact on the country’s club culture in recent years, with nightspots typically subject to a 1am curfew and an effective ban on dancing in clubs.

“The biggest thing that will change in this law is that you can now dance at night,” says Kenji Kosaka, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. “Visitors from overseas would come here to Japan and they’d wonder why they can’t dance, even though you can dance at night anywhere overseas.”

The cabinet’s decision must now be ratified by parliament, which Kosaka believes will be straightforward, as his own party holds a majority in both houses of Japanese parliament. Reuters suggests that the decision was partly directed by the promise of a tourism boost with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The changes clear the way for a new category of clubs where people can dance all night, but they also included requirements for lighting to be brighter than 10 lux, about as much as in a cinema before a show starts, to “discourage crimes and bad behaviour”. [via RA]