Business / Corporate Feb 27, 2020
Japan Tobacco to let 8,700 domestic employees telecommute as safeguard against virus
Japan Tobacco Inc. said Thursday it has started to allow its domestic employees to work at home, in principle, to prevent them from being infected with the new coronavirus. They include contract and other nonregular workers, said the firm, which employs 8,700 nationwide. The measure ...
Business / Corporate Mar 11, 2019
Japan Tobacco's Canada unit gets court protection after potentially crushing legal defeat in Quebec
Japan Tobacco Inc.'s Canadian unit was granted creditor protection by the Ontario Superior Court after a legal defeat over the risks of smoking threatens the existence of tobacco companies in the country. The court extended protection in favor of JTI-Macdonald Corp. after the company argued ...
National Mar 2, 2019
Japan Tobacco, British American Tobacco and Philip Morris lose appeal in $13 billion Quebec lawsuits
Subsidiaries of Japan Tobacco Inc., British American Tobacco PLC and Philip Morris International Inc. were ordered to pay damages of more than 17 billion Canadian dollars ($12.8 billion) after losing an appeal of class-action lawsuits filed by smokers in Quebec. The Quebec Court of Appeal ...
National / Social Issues Jan 24, 2019
In smoker's paradise Japan, 81-year-old Bungaku Watanabe has spent decades leading a war on tobacco
by Andrew McKirdy
"Is it OK if I smoke during the interview?" I ask Bungaku Watanabe, reaching into my coat pocket. A look of incandescent outrage flashes across the 81-year-old's face, before I quickly reassure him that I was joking. "No. No. No," he says firmly, breaking into a ...
Business / Corporate Aug 14, 2018
Japan Tobacco seeks approval for price hikes from Finance Ministry
Japan Tobacco Inc. on Tuesday filed for Finance Ministry approval of its plans to raise the prices of most of its products in line with the tobacco tax hike set for Oct. 1. If approved, its cigarette prices would go up by ¥20 to ¥40 ...
Business Aug 14, 2018
Turkish lira crash may affect some Japanese companies with operations there
by Tara Patel
Your next vacation in sun-drenched Turkey may now be a lot cheaper. On the flip side, corporate profits from selling goods locally are dwindling by the day when converted to home currencies. The effects of the imploding Turkish currency are now rippling through the boardrooms ...
Business / Corporate Aug 7, 2018
Japan Tobacco Inc. has agreed to buy a Bangladeshi cigarette manufacturer for 124.3 billion taka ($1.5 billion), taking its acquisition strategy to one of Asia's fastest-growing economies. The Tokyo-based company is acquiring the tobacco business of Akij Group, the second-largest tobacco company in Bangladesh, Japan ...
National / Crime & Legal Jul 18, 2018
Japan's watered-down smoking ban clears Diet
by Tomohiro Osaki
Lighting up in public facilities prohibited for the first time as the nation scrambles to combat secondhand smoke in the lead-up to the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Business / Corporate Jan 5, 2018
As people in Japan smoke less, Japan Tobacco's new CEO looks abroad for growth
by Lisa Du
Japan Tobacco Inc.'s Masamichi Terabatake is in the hot seat. The 52-year-old started off 2018 by taking the helm of the world's third-largest tobacco company. While the view from his new Tokyo office may be different than the one from his previous stint at the ...
Business / Corporate Aug 23, 2017
Japan Tobacco targets emerging markets with fewer health controls as rivals go high-tech
by Lisa Du
While most tobacco companies have embraced smokeless products to survive ever-tightening controls, the Japanese maker of Winston and Camel cigarettes is pressing ahead with a more low-tech strategy: Selling smokes to emerging markets. Japan Tobacco Inc., whose domestic market is predicted to shrink 27 percent ...