Designated smoking area in the city centre, Tokyo, Japan. Photo Credit: Jon Hicks/Getty Images
Society JapanTobacco Giant Plans to Stop Selling Traditional Cigarettes
As part of its long-term goal to replace conventional cigarettes with less harmful ones, a tobacco giant gives itself a decade to phase out traditional cigarettes in Japan.
“We want Japan to be the first market” for the phase-out, says Jacek Olczak, the CEO of the multinational cigarette and tobacco manufacturing company Philip Morris. The tobacco giant “will realize a smoke-free society in Japan within 10 years.”
The company plans on achieving this feat thanks to its IQOS, a short cigarette that is inserted into a device. Inside, the tobacco is heated and vapor is released. Since 2020, across Japan, regular cigarettes are prohibited in most restaurants, and in the street in many places. Heated products can be lit up but under certain conditions.