Japan on Friday imposed the biggest tax hike on cigarettes in its history, with some prices going up nearly 40 percent in a bid to encourage more people to quit in a country regarded as a smokers’ haven.
Retailers have made the most of a buying frenzy, with smokers looking to stock up before prices surge following the government tax increase.
The government has authorized Japan Tobacco (JT), which dominates the country’s cigarette market, to raise the prices of cigarettes by around ¥100 (US$1.20) per pack of 20.
The price of popular brand Mild Seven will rise from ¥300 to ¥410 per pack, an increase of 37 percent. Seven Stars will be sold at ¥440, up from ¥300.
The government reportedly hopes to eventually raise the prices to around ¥700 a pack, closer to levels in Europe and North America.
The move is aimed at offsetting an increase in the tobacco tax by a record ¥3.5 per cigarette, or ¥70 per pack, a move proposed by former Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama last year to discourage smoking.
Japan has been slower than its counterparts overseas to introduce indoor smoking bans. Tokyo welcomes smoking in bars and restaurants, but has banned it on pavements.
However, while many Japanese have said they plan to quit, the hike is also encouraging cigarette buying instead of dissuading smokers. Convenience store chain Lawson said it had expanded stocks ahead of the higher prices.
JT increased cigarette shipments last month by one month’s worth, or about 12 billion cigarettes, in anticipation of greater demand. Convenience chain FamilyMart reported that cigarette sales had almost doubled from a year before in the first 25 days of last month.
One person was reported to have snapped up 100 cartons of cigarette packs worth ¥300,000 at a tobacco shop in Tokyo’s working-class district of Ota.
The hike has also led to an increase in the number of burglaries to steal cigarettes, reports said.
In the rural city of Mooka, 100km north of Tokyo, a --47-year-old -jobless man was arrested on Sunday for trying to run away with two cartons from a supermarket.
However, the price increase is also helping smokers kick the habit.
Many stopped smoking in mid-2006 when prices were raised by smaller amounts — mostly by ¥20 per pack.
The ratio of smokers to the male population, which peaked at 83.7 percent in 1966, dropped from 41.3 percent to 40.2 in 2007 after the last price hike.
It stood at 38.9 percent for men last year, compared with 11.9 -percent for women.
A recent opinion poll found that 58 percent of respondents said they would give up after yesterday’s rise.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in