[Intl-tobacco] Japan: The Land Cigarettes Call Home

[Robert Weissman]

COLUMN ONE: THE LAND CIGARETTES CALL HOME

Source: Los Angeles Times
Date: 2002-11-20
Author: Mark Magnier , Times Staff Writer
URL: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-smoke20nov20.story
ID: 109314

Teruo Araki wheezes as he glances down at the oxygen tanks that
accompany him everywhere.  . .
The fist-sized tumor removed from his lung is hardly uncommon in
a nation where half the male population smokes. What is rare is
the 75-year-old Araki's willingness to speak out =97 and file the
first smokers' lawsuit against Japan's major tobacco interests.
 .

In other countries, governments are leading the anti-smoking
fight with aggressive health warnings, advertising bans and
multibillion-dollar lawsuits. Here, the government is tobacco's
biggest supporter =97 and biggest investor. . .

JT has argued in and out of court that the health risks are not
scientifically proved. Atsuro Ito, a JT spokesman, said warning
labels and health policy are determined by the government. The
company, Japan's only domestic producer, is intent on finding
new tobacco products with greater appeal for consumers,
including women, he added. "We leave it to their judgment
whether to buy them or not."

Although JT produces Marlboro cigarettes for the Japanese market
under license from Philip Morris Cos., which has admitted that
its cigarettes cause cancer, JT continues to deny any causal
link. Yet the Japanese company, which has diversified into
pharmaceuticals and food, also has invested millions researching
drugs to combat lung cancer.

Meanwhile, JT gave away 1.2 million cigarettes to 5,000 nursing
homes last year during the annual Respect for the Aged holiday,
and each year it distributes thousands of special
crest-emblazoned smokes to volunteers who help maintain the
Imperial Palace in Tokyo. . .

JT also sponsors hundreds of "manner ads" a week. The 10-second
television spots advise viewers not to fling their butts or
otherwise disturb nonsmokers.

"The message is, it's all right to smoke as long as you don't
litter," said Watanabe, the center director. "It's also a type
of insurance. By sponsoring these ads, they're pretty sure the
networks won't do any negative programs on tobacco health
issues." . .

The greatest source of industry clout is the Tobacco Business
Law, one of a string of related measures dating to 1904. The law
says the government must own at least 50% of JT in perpetuity
and, as a matter of national policy, "promote the healthy
development of the tobacco industry and ensure stable revenue in
the interest of a sound national economy."

"This law is the heart of evil," said attorney Isayama. "This is
the real axis of evil."