Lawsuit in Japan Proceeds (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

             Published Sunday, May 10, 1998, in the Miami Herald 
             Lawsuit from anti-smoking activist sparks battle
             on tobacco in Japan

             By JOSEPH COLEMAN 
             Associated Press 

             NAGOYA, Japan -- Anti-smoking activist Akinori Ito is angry.
While American
             cigarette makers face tough restrictions at home, he says they
are making a killing
             selling their deadly products in Asia.

             So Ito is doing something never done before in Japan: He's
suing a subsidiary of a
             U.S. tobacco company, cigarette giant Philip Morris Co.

             The suit against Philip Morris -- the largest foreign-owned
tobacco company in the
             country -- marks the opening of a new battlefront for Japan's
small but active
             movement against Big Tobacco.

             The trial, which starts Thursday, is also part of a growing
campaign among
             anti-tobacco lobbyists worldwide to impose domestic U.S.
smoking limits on
             American tobacco companies' burgeoning global marketing and sales.

             ``They can't expand their sales much at home anymore,'' said
Ito. ``So they're
             trying to sell more abroad instead, especially in Asia.''

             Similar suits have been filed in Britain, France and Israel.
All three countries are
             consulting with U.S. lawyers on strategy, and U.S. anti-smoking
groups are
             working on ways to share evidence of health hazards to help
suits filed
             internationally.

             The Japanese case, filed in Nagoya, 170 miles west of Tokyo,
makes an argument
             similar to smoking lawsuits in the United States: Cigarette
companies know
             tobacco is harmful and should pay for the damage it causes.

             Ito and 19 other activists are demanding that Philip Morris
stop importing and
             selling tobacco in Japan, pay each of them a symbolic amount,
about $770, and
             cover the cost of the trial.

             Philip Morris, maker of the No. 1-selling Marlboro brand in the
United States,
             refused to comment while the case is pending.

             The lawsuit is the latest in a handful of cases over the past
several years in Japan
             for tobacco-free workplaces, nonsmoking areas in restaurants
and damages for
             cigarette-related health problems.

             But Big Tobacco is hardly under siege in Japan. The country's
largest producer,
             Japan Tobacco, has defeated three similar lawsuits over the
past decade. Chances
             for this latest suit are equally slim.

             Cigarette producers in Japan face few limits in advertising,
and tobacco haze
             billows in coffeehouses and restaurants. More than half the men
smoke -- the
             highest rate among developed nations.

             ``There's not much awareness about the dangers of tobacco to
smokers and
             nonsmokers,'' said Bungaku Watanabe, head of the Tobacco Problems
             Information Center, an anti-smoking lobbying group in Tokyo.

             Japan Tobacco, a former state-run monopoly that still controls
nearly 80 percent
             of the estimated $35 billion smoking market here, is not much
worried about the
             anti-smoking movement.

             Spokesman Osamu Kamioka said the company is currently facing
only four
             lawsuits -- nothing compared with the hundreds of suits that
American tobacco
             sellers face in the United States.

             The lawsuit follows a steady increase in foreign tobacco
company market share in
             Japan since the business was liberalized in 1985. Foreign
producers share about
             22 percent of the market, with Philip Morris controlling 13
percent in 1997. 

                                                                          
                                                    

                               Copyright © 1998 The Miami Herald