Japan Tobacco International’s Aggressive Pursuit to Spread Addiction

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) distorted logo

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) is the global division of one of the world’s largest cigarette corporations. Like most transnational tobacco companies, it claims to care about the environment and people’s health. Its relentless expansion, however, suggests it cares about only one thing: addicting as many people as it can.

The Japan Tobacco and Salt Corp. was formed in 1949 to “ensure the stable supply of tobacco and secure fiscal revenues.” It was wholly owned by the Japanese government. In 1985, the government established Japan Tobacco Inc.

Japan Tobacco Inc. established Japan Tobacco International (JTI) in 1999 after acquiring tobacco-and-food conglomerate R.J. Reynolds Nabisco’s non-U.S. tobacco business. JTI was created to make and sell cigarettes outside Japan. In 2022, JT Group combined its domestic and international tobacco business under one management team.

Headquartered in Geneva, JTI now has tens of thousands of employees and sells tobacco in more than 130 markets: Key among them are Italy, Japan, Romania, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, the Philippines, the U.K., and Turkey. Among its flagship brands outside the U.S. are Winston and Camel, two of the world’s most popular cigarettes.

The government still owns more than a third of the parent company, Japan Tobacco Group. Though the company has diversified into other sectors including pharmaceuticals and processed food, tobacco accounts for 91% of its business.

Japan Tobacco International’s aggressive expansion

Soon after its formation in the late ‘90s, JTI began expanding and establishing itself as a worldwide tobacco conglomerate. It has acquired cigarette businesses in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Its expansion into Russia, which began in 2000, has paid off: It generated about 20% of JTI’s global profits in 2023.

The company has made interesting moves to capture more of the African market, which a JTI executive described as “very energetic and growing.” In 2012, JTI acquired Egyptian waterpipe tobacco manufacturer, Al-Nakhla, whose products are sold in 80 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. One study suggests that this acquisition was aimed at supporting JTI’s cigarette business.

Brazil, too, has been a key market. Since opening its Rio de Janeiro office in 2000, JTI has established a “research center,” leaf-processing and tobacco-buying units and distribution and sales branches—and it opened its first South American factory in Santa Cruz do Sul in 2018.

The company’s involvement in multiple steps of the supply chain in Brazil allows it to operate with “greater efficiency in processes and profitability in business,” the company claims. All the while, the tobacco epidemic continues to claim the lives of more than 130,000 people in Brazil every year, and costs the country R$1.2 billion (Brazilian reals).

Despite claims that it supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals to curb smoking, it continues to expand its tobacco operations. In July 2023, JTI announced a deal with Azerbaijan’s Tabaterra to export cigarettes to Georgia. In 2024 it began building a factory in Tangier, Morocco, and announced a $40 million expansion of its Torbali, Turkey, plant. In December 2024, an executive raised the possibility of manufacturing its Ploom refill sticks at its Malvar factory in the Philippines, a new and growing market for JTI’s heated tobacco product.

Expansion not limited to tobacco

Global smoking rates began declining around 2008. Perhaps foreseeing the problematic nature of a business that kills millions of its own consumers each year, major tobacco companies were already diversifying.

Today, Japan Tobacco Inc., JTI’s parent company, has holdings in many problematic sectors: chemicals, beer, soda, clove cigarettes and pharmaceuticals. Its expansion into pharmaceuticals may be most worrisome. Among other products, Japan Tobacco Inc.’s companies make medicines for cancer and heart disease. Smoking is a leading risk factor for both, meaning Japan Tobacco Inc. stands to profit twice: by selling products that cause disease as well as the products to treat them.

Leveraging politicians and arts to expand its influence

JTI’s government ties give the company access to politicians and the art world, which it uses to cultivate influence and paint itself as a contributor to society. Conflicts of interest abound.

Japan’s ambassador to Bangladesh has lobbied for JTI, even criticizing Bangladeshi regulations and issuing veiled threats about Japanese investment. An ambassador attended the signing of a 2016 JTI business deal in Ethiopia, while other diplomats have toured tobacco farms and factories in Tanzania, Zambia and Egypt.

JTI also donates to the Japan Foundation—which receives enormous government funding to promote Japanese culture worldwide—and bankrolls numerous cultural endeavors, including:

These types of donations and sponsorships are considered corporate social responsibility. They let tobacco companies portray themselves as good corporate citizens. They also help distract from the disease, disability and death tobacco use causes, and instead associate their name with cultural advancement.

Expanding tobacco businesses harms public health

JTI’s aggressive expansion strategies ultimately serve one goal: more tobacco in the hands of more people. That is why governments must remain skeptical of future expansions of JTI’s businesses. While JTI repeats the typical industry promise of working toward a smoke-free future, it is aggressively expanding its cigarette operations globally, and thus, addiction to harmful products around the world.

Its history of duplicitous statements cannot be ignored. Given that JTI has used its “research foundation” to mislead the public and influence tobacco control policy, policymakers must avoid granting JTI concessions or subsidies in order to protect public health.

Advocates must also be vigilant in reminding policymakers that JTI’s history of subterfuge persists today.