Tobacco Excise Tax Initiative (fwd)Japan Tobacco Inc. StronglyOpposes The Liberal Democratic Party

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

Japan Tobacco Inc. Strongly Opposes The Liberal Democratic Party Tobacco
Excise Tax Initiative
Source: Business Wire, Wednesday, 12/8/99

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 8, 1999--Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) (TSE 2914)
today issued a statement from Mr. Masaru Mizuno, President and Chief
Executive Officer of JT, in response to the Japanese Liberal Democratic
Party initiative to increase the tobacco excise tax which was announced
yesterday evening.

Mr. Mizuno said, ``We are very surprised at this completely unexpected
news. We have made painful decisions in the past to raise tobacco retail
prices in two consecutive years in response to the consumption tax hike in
April 1997 and the introduction of a tobacco special excise tax in
December 1998. The latter, whose main purpose was to reduce the debts of
the former Japan National Railway, was especially hard to bear.''

Mr. Mizuno insisted that all stakeholders in the industry including leaf
growers and tobacco retailers have been making every necessary effort to
recover from the damage caused by the two prior tax increases.

He also said, ``A further tax increase would inconvenience 33 million
customers nationwide and would damage all those involved in the industry
throughout Japan. The initiative would undermine all the efforts made by
industry stakeholders to recover from previous tax increases. We strongly
oppose this Liberal Democratic Party initiative because it places too high
a burden on a specific industry and its consumers.''

Japan Tobacco Inc., with sales in the year ended March 31, 1999 of US $32
billion (translated at a rate of US $1 = Yen 120), is one of the world's
largest manufacturers of tobacco products and has three of the world's top
five brands in its product portfolio. Since its privatization in 1985, it
has actively diversified its operations into pharmaceuticals and foods.

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Contact:

Japan Tobacco Inc.

Hiroshi Shimizu, General Manager, Investor Relations

81-3-5572-4221

or

Gavin Anderson & Company

Anthony Andora

1-212-515-1995