Effects of market liberalisation on smoking in Japan
Kaori Honjo, Ichiro Kawachi
Department of Health
and Social Behavior, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston,
Massachusetts, USA
Correspondence to: Kaori Honjo, MPH, Department of Health and Social Behavior, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston MA 02115, USA; khonjo@h sph.harvard.edu
Received 22 September
1999; Revision received 1 February 2000;
Accepted 10 February
2000
OBJECTIVE
To document
the effect of the liberalisation of the Japanese tobacco market on
Japanese smoking rates and on Japanese tobacco industry practices.
DATA SOURCEAsahi
Shimbun (major daily newspaper) from 1980 to 1996.
STUDY SELECTIONReview
of media coverage on the effects of market liberalisation following the
imposition of the USA's section 301 trade sanction.
DATA SYNTHESISThe
opening of Japan's tobacco market to foreign cigarette companies
stalled a decline in smoking prevalence. Smoking rates among young
women increased significantly, and also appear to be on the rise among
adolescents. Aggressive marketing and promotional activities by US and
Japanese tobacco companies in response to trade liberalisation appear
responsible for these adverse trends. Steep increases in sales through
vending machines were also possible contributors to the rising smoking
prevalence among adolescents. On the positive side, market
liberalisation indirectly promoted smoking control efforts in Japan, by
causing an anti-smoking movement to coalesce.
CONCLUSIONMarket
liberalisation in Japan played a significant role in increasing smoking
prevalence among young women and adolescents while helping to transform
the issue of smoking in Japan from a matter of individual choice to a
public health problem.
Keywords: Japan; market liberalisation
© 2000 by Tobacco Control
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