Tag: Japan

  • JT’s domestic volume down

    JT’s domestic volume down

    Japan Tobacco Inc.’s domestic cigarette sales volume during December, at 9.6 billion, was down by 3.6 percent on that of December 2015, 9.9 billion, according to preliminary figures issued by the company today. The December 2015 figure was down by 2.1 percent on that of December 2014.

    Volume during January-December, at 106.2 billion, was down by 2.8 percent on that of January-December 2015, 109.2 billion. The January-December 2015 volume was down by 2.8 percent on that of January-December 2014.

    JT’s market share stood at 62.2 percent during December, at 61.1 percent during January-December, and at 59.9 percent during January-December 2015.

    JT’s domestic cigarette revenue during December, at ¥57.0 billion, was increased by 1.8 percent on its December 2015 revenue, ¥55.9 billion, which was down by 3.1 percent on its revenue of December 2014.

    Revenue during January-December, at ¥623.8 billion, was increased by 0.9 percent on that of January-December 2015, ¥618.5 billion, which was down by 2.0 percent on its revenue of January-December 2014.

  • Olympic ban on the cards

    Olympic ban on the cards

    Smoking in Japan photo
    Photo by eerkmans

    Japan’s health minister said on Friday that the elimination of second-hand cigarette smoke was the government’s “mission”, and pledged to make efforts to curb public smoking ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

    Speaking at a news conference, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki said other host countries had adopted smoking regulations and penalties in recent years.

    Reducing cigarette smoke was “a big trend across the world”.

    The health ministry hopes to submit a bill to revise the Health Promotion Law and potentially ban smoking in all indoor public spaces.

    In its Tobacco White Paper released last year, the ministry acknowledged that second-hand smoke raised the risk of lung cancer.

    But on Thursday, restaurant industry groups voiced opposition to banning smoking in restaurants and argued that Japan should aim to become a leading country in promoting separate smoking areas.

    Shiozaki shrugged them off, saying it was important to protect people from second-hand smoke with an eye to increasing visitors to Japan.

    The White Paper said setting up sealed smoking rooms did not prevent cigarette smoke from leaking into areas occupied by non-smokers.

    And employees tasked with cleaning up those rooms were affected.