Tobacco Industrial Policy and Tobacco Control Policy in Japan (日本におけるたばこ産業政策とたばこ規制政策)

Tobacco policy initiatives in Japan run in opposing directions. One stronger line is represented by industrial policy promoted established by law and overseen by the nation’s Ministry of Finance. A weaker line, lacking vigorous statutory underpinnings, emerges through administrative tobacco control policy promoted primarily by the nation’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (formerly its Ministry of Health and Welfare). This article first provides an historical overview of this unbalanced tug-of-war through 2003. The article then considers the future of tobacco policy in Japan in the context of Japan’s binding obligations under the international Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). In conclusion, the article hypothesizes that circumstances in Japan are primed for significant improvement domestically but there is reason for concern that Japan will follow the United States in unkindly exporting the enormous public health burden of its tobacco industry to economically weaker nations