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Articles in order of posting, most recent first:

Getting back on the horse
by Thomas Dillon

'Code words' provide shortcut
to understanding foreign cultures

by Boyé L. De Mente

Japanese scientists make automated translation breakthrough
by Boyé L. De Mente

All change in Japan
by Matthew MacLachlan

In one remote corner of Japan,
Emperor still considered a god

by Ronald E. Yates

Lafcadio Hearn, rolling stone
who gathered moss in Japan
by David Appleyard

Who is that masked woman?
by Thomas Dillon

The myopic state we're in
by Debito Arudou

Job-hopping losing dishonor in Japan
by Ronald E. Yates

The food we choose to eat: Japan's 'food paranoia'
keeps high-quality produce off the menu

by Duco Delgorge

The high cost of children — don't kid yourself
by Thomas Dillon

Social responsibility: the buzz word nobody gets
by Noriko Hama

Japanese system stifles foreign scientific talent
by Peter Osborne

Seiza — the traditional Japanese sitting posture
by Chyi Lee

NHK — the way it should be
by Thomas Dillon

The lowdown on the cost of 'doing Japan'
by Boyé L. De Mente

Japan remains safe haven for foreign travelers
by Boyé L. De Mente

Kidnapped / Of separations & kidnappings
by Bill Stonehill

Speaking a different language
by Phillip Howe

Loss of the kimono a tragedy
by Bill Stonehill

The extraordinary merits of modern-day karate
by Boyé L. De Mente

A train chock full o' nuts
by Thomas Dillon

'Secret' dolphin slaughter defies protests
by Boyd Harnell

Weather ...for better or worse
by Boyé L. De Mente

Open debate under threat in Japan
by Sheila A. Smith & Brad Glosserman

Hospital death exposes 'tip of malpractice iceberg'
by David McNeill

Tropical Tokyo and the green clams
by Bill Stonehill

Having a baby in Shimane
by Sherry Nakanishi

JAPAN'S HARD LINE: Never give an inch to China
by Gregory Clark

Groping for answers on gropers
by Thomas Dillon

In Japan, fast food is fast becoming
a health hazard
by Ronald E. Yates

When cultures clash — 'sizing' up  the opposition
by Thomas Dillon

The importance of questioning fearlessly
and answering honestly
by Noriko Hama

What not to do in Japan: die
by Thomas Dillon

The iron 'Silk Road'
by Bill Stonehill

Archaeology and racism
by Bill Stonehill

Tokyoites rush to 'commuting hell'
by Ronald E. Yates

Japan's rebels rare, but hard-core
by Ronald E. Yates

Foreigners in Japan say openness all talk
by Ronald E. Yates

Japan's Takarazuka Theater makes women,
and men, of talented girls
by Ronald E. Yates

Japan's 'returnees' face rejection,
find that coming home isn't easy
by Ronald E. Yates

English-language deficit handicaps Japan
by Jean-Pierre Lehmann

The Japanese art of losing to win (1965/2005)
by Boyé L. De Mente

BBC Japan comes and goes
on 'wrong' first-choice satellite
by David Appleyard

Two-wheeler paradise
by Bill Stonehill

A sham anti-smoking program
by Kiroku Hanai

Scales of justice
by Barry Brophy

Mama-san's babies
by Sarah Dale

Who's Alberto Fujimori and what's
he doing sleeping on my couch?
by Bill Stonehill

Organized crime and the forest
by Lance Olsen

Monks fight 'progress' in old city
by Ronald E. Yates

Plethora of barriers narrows
food choices for Japanese

by Duco Delgorge

McEnglish for the masses
by David McNeill

Stranger in a Japanese land
by Bill Stonehill

Our beef with Japan
by Mindy Kotler

Living longer, divorcing later:
The Japanese silver divorce phenomenon

by J. Sean Curtin

EDUCATIONAL REFORM:  Lots of debate, little action
by Gregory Clark

Selling sex in a glass!
by Boyé L. De Mente

Crime and the U.S. servicemen in Okinawa
by Bill Stonehill

Foreigners find divorce means sayonara to kids
by Doug Struck and Sachiko Sakamaki

Why foreign men like Japan (It's the girls!)
by Boyé L. De Mente

Mountains and deserts
by Bill Stonehill

Longtime expatriates all play 'Survivor'
by Thomas Dillon

Home-buyers in Japan up against a stacked deck
by Mark Magnier

Japan, EU and agriculture
by John de Boer

Intellectual alienation spawns hazy policy
by Jean-Pierre Lehmann

Classified ads? Forget about them
by Bill Stonehill

ALEX KERR'S VIEW Japan: A land gone to the dogs?
by Stephen Hesse

International marriages in Japan
by J. Sean Curtin

Educational reform in Japan,
or how to 'kill' children — a report
by Spencer Fancutt

The cold and the kotatsu
by Bill Stonehill

Like Japanese food? Try a spaghetti sandwich
by Bill Stonehill

'Inbred' universities dragging Japan down
by Jean-Pierre Lehmann

Noisiest nation in the world?
by Ronald E. Yates

The harsh reality of high school clubs
by Sven Holm

Law in Japan
by Bill Stonehill

It's either English or stay in the dark
by David Appleyard

Japan through English Windows
by David Appleyard

Conglomerate 'X'
by David Appleyard

When in Rome, do as Romans do?
by Toby Harward

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A sham anti-smoking program
— Conflicts of interest tie Japanese government's hand 

By KIROKU HANAI

(This article first appeared in the Japan Times of May 28, 2001)

On May 31, World No-Tobacco Day as designated by the World Health Organization, a variety of commemorative meetings are scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Shiga Prefecture and other places under the sponsorship of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. WHO's slogan is: Secondhand Smoke Kills. Let's Clear the Air.

The Japanese government translation of "kill" reads "shortens your life," but an anti- smoking nongovernmental organization translates the word as "kills people around you." The government version is like describing homicide as injury. This official translation apparently reflects a political desire to play down the evil effect of smoking. This has to do with the fact that the Finance Ministry is a major shareholder in Japan Tobacco.

The government's halfhearted attitude toward smoking is evident in the paltry funding provided for antismoking measures. The health ministry's fiscal 2001 budget earmarks 37.88 million yen, down 15 percent from the previous year. That is a shame. By contrast, the U.S. government sets aside a huge sum equivalent to tens of billions of yen.

There is only two years left before WHO adopts a framework convention on tobacco control at a general meeting in May 2003. At the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control held last October, the WHO secretariat proposed moving up the voting date by one year. The meeting itself, acting on a suggestion from the Brazilian chair, agreed on the need to take action as soon as possible.

Japan lags far behind the world's no-smoking movement. Cigarette vendors are ubiquitous. Smoking is allowed in workplaces, taxis and restaurants. Tobacco advertising is hardly restricted. The nation must make efforts to catch up with the global trend.

Symbolic of Japan's lag is the fact that the government, along with tobacco companies, has been the defendant in tobacco lawsuits. The opposite is true in the U.S. States where state governments sued tobacco companies, seeking huge compensation.

In 1998, for instance, seven Japanese with lung cancer, larynx cancer, pulmonary emphysema and other ailments attributed to smoking, filed a suit with the Tokyo District Court against the government. The plaintiffs, two of whom died later, demanded compen- sation from the government and JT, on the grounds that (1) the health ministry had failed to carry out its duty to protect the health of the people; and (2) the Finance Ministry had neglected to order accurate and proper labeling to prevent tobacco-related injuries.

During the 16th hearing, which was held in late April, an economist specializing in medical affairs, speaking as a witness for the plaintiffs, spent time explaining elementary subjects such as the epidemiological relationship between smoking and lung cancer. In other industrialized nations the relationship between active smoking and cancer has already been officially recognized.

The witness deplored the fact that health injuries from smoking are still an issue in Japanese courts, despite the fact that world attention is shifting to damage from passive smoking. The hearing, which I observed, left the strong impression that the defendants were trying to prolong the trial by denying the epidemiological data submitted to the court.

With the government in the position of defendant, it is difficult to promote national antismoking measures. The government's position will be further weakened if an inter- national treaty on tobacco control is put in place. And if the five remaining plaintiffs win the suit, millions of tobacco victims will file similar suits, and their enormous demands for compensation could create a big hole in government coffers.

In 1998 in America, tobacco companies agreed to pay a total of $246 billion in settlement money to the 50 states that had filed suits against them seeking refunds for medical expenses incurred in connection with tobacco-related diseases. Japan Tobacco, a party to that settlement, agreed to pay about $2 million each year to the state governments. In light of the U.S. experience, the Japanese government and JT should start negotiations with the plaintiffs to reach a settlement.

In addition to 10 million yen in per capita compensation, the plaintiffs are demanding (1) the prohibition of tobacco distribution to retailers with vendors, (2) a complete ban on tobacco advertising, (3) the nonuse of tobacco brand and tobacco company names in social events and programs, and (4) the enlargement of warning labels on cigarette packs.

It seems the plaintiffs' real objective is to induce the government to change its halfhearted antismoking measures, rather than obtain compensation. If so, a settlement can be reached easily once the government shifts the policy focus from securing tax revenue and protecting tobacco farmers to defending the health of the people.

The Tobacco Business Law requires the government to hold two-thirds or more of JT's shares. However, the company probably will be completely privatized sooner or later, given the spirit in which it shifted to private management in 1985. In fact, JT President Katsuhiko Honda, speaking at a government panel on the fiscal system in February, called for complete privatization so the company could use various methods to raise capital.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry, while it has control over JT, should direct efforts to establish new rules for tobacco advertising, marketing and marking along the lines of an international control regime now in the works.

Tobacco suits here bring to mind a recent Kumamoto District Court ruling in a damage suit filed by leprosy sufferers who had been segregated for many years under a government quarantine policy. The ruling accused the health ministry of neglecting its duty and the Diet of failing to take corrective legislative action. The government and the Diet may also be accused of negligence if nothing is done about tobacco disease, which kills 95,000 people each year.

In the 1997 white paper on health, the government acknowledged for the first time that smoking is injurious to health. The then health minister was Junichiro Koizumi. The hope is that his reform-oriented administration will push antismoking measures on a priority basis. 

© Kiroku Hanai  2001   All rights reserved


 

Further tobacco-related articles by Kiroku Hanai:

 

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This page last updated 2008-06-16
Eyes on Japan compiled and edited by David Appleyard, 2001-2008  |  Privacy Policy