En Japón, la venta de cigarrillos electrónicos está prohibida y estos productos se regulan como medicamentos, lo que significa que no pueden venderse ni distribuirse legalmente sin la aprobación farmacéutica correspondiente. Tampoco se permite la venta en línea de cigarrillos electrónicos que contengan nicotina, y su importación comercial está prohibida. Algunas fuentes no oficiales sugieren que los usuarios japoneses podrían importar hasta un suministro para un mes de cigarrillos electrónicos con nicotina para uso personal, aunque esta información no se ha podido confirmar de manera independiente. A pesar de estas restricciones regulatorias, datos de encuestas de 2017 estimaron que aproximadamente 2,1 millones de adultos en Japón eran usuarios actuales de cigarrillos electrónicos, lo que representaba una prevalencia del 1,9% en el consumo de estos dispositivos entre la población adulta. En ese mismo año, el 11,4% de las personas declaró haber probado los cigarrillos electrónicos al menos una vez. Si dispone de información más reciente o verificada sobre la regulación o el uso de cigarrillos electrónicos en Japón, el equipo de GSTHR agradecería recibir sus aportes por correo electrónico.
Prevalencia
- 1. Tabuchi, T. et al (2017) Heat-not-burn tobacco product use in Japan: its prevalence, predictors and perceived symptoms from exposure to secondhand heat-not-burn tobacco aerosol. Tobacco Control. https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2017/12/15/tobaccocontrol-2017-053947?papetoc=#DC1 2. Calculation based on population size data of people over 15 years of age (16+). Source of population data: World Population Prospects 2019 [Internet]. United Nations; 2019. (Department of Economic and Social Affairs, editor. Population Division). Report No.: Rev. 1. Available from: https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Standard/Population/
- Tabuchi, T. et al (2017) Heat-not-burn tobacco product use in Japan: its prevalence, predictors and perceived symptoms from exposure to secondhand heat-not-burn tobacco aerosol. Tobacco Control. https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2017/12/15/tobaccocontrol-2017-053947?papetoc=#DC1
Regulación
| Year | Value | Reference/Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 or earlier | Prohibidos | 1A |
| 2024 | Prohibidos | 1B |
| 2024 | Prohibidos | 1C |
- Data cross-referenced where possible using the following sources :1. Vapetrotter website. Available at: https://www.vapetrotter.com/laws/ ; 2. Global tobacco control website. Available at:https://www.globaltobaccocontrol.org/node/14052 ; 3. Tobacco Control Laws website. Available at : https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/legislation/
- Act on Securing Quality, Efficacy and Safety of Products Including Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices—Japanese/English— Japanese Law Translation. (1960). https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3213
- Anti Smoking Global Index. Vaping Products. Available at: https://antismoking.global/world-map. Accessed: 22 July 2025.
| Year | Value | Reference/Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 or earlier | Sí | 2A |
| 2024 | Sí | 2B |
- Data cross-referenced where possible using the following sources :1. Vapetrotter website. Available at: https://www.vapetrotter.com/laws/ ; 2. Global tobacco control website. Available at:https://www.globaltobaccocontrol.org/node/14052 ; 3. Tobacco Control Laws website. Available at : https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/legislation/
- Act on Securing Quality, Efficacy and Safety of Products Including Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices—Japanese/English— Japanese Law Translation. (1960). https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3213
- Anti Smoking Global Index. Vaping Products. Available at: https://antismoking.global/world-map. Accessed: 22 July 2025.
- Act on Securing Quality, Efficacy and Safety of Products Including Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices—Japanese/English— Japanese Law Translation. (1960). https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3213
Disponibilidad
- Anti Smoking Global Index. Vaping Products. Available at: https://antismoking.global/world-map. Accessed: 22 July 2025.
Regulaciones y restricciones
Publicaciones
¿Por qué se necesita la reducción del daño del tabaco y qué evidencia hay de que funciona?
Nuestro último documento informativo explica la importancia de la reducción de daños del tabaco, además de presentar una serie de estudios de caso de distintos países que demuestran el poder de los productos de nicotina más seguros para reducir las tasas de tabaquismo.
Trends in Current Use of HNB Tobacco / E-Cigarette, Both Sexes, Japan
Takahiro Tabuchi , Silvano Gallus , Tomohiro Shinozaki , Tomoki Nakaya , Naoki Kunugita , Brian Colwell
Surveys of the adult population show the initial uptake of heat-not-burn (HNB) devices in Japan. In 2015, 1.3 percent of adults were using e-cigarettes (despite their illegality) but only 0.3 percent were currently using IQOS and 0.3 percent Ploom TECH HNB devices. One year later, in 2016, these levels had not changed greatly. By 2017, e-cigarette use had increased to 1.9 percent, while use of IQOS had increased to 3.6 percent, use of Ploom TECH increased to 1.2 percent, and use of the glo HNB product was 0.8 percent. The other sources of information about HNB come from market data. Philip Morris International’s (PMI) IQOS uses ‘HeatSticks’ which accounted for 0.4 percent of the tobacco product market in December 2015, rising to a 14.1 percent share of the tobacco market by December 2017.56 In two years, IQOS has overtaken specific cigarette brands – for example PMI’s own Marlboro which has about eight percent of the tobacco market.
The other sources of information about HNB come from market data. PMI’s IQOS uses ‘HeatSticks’ which accounted for 0.4 percent of the tobacco product market in December 2015, rising to a 14.1 percent share of the tobacco market by December 2017. In two years, IQOS has overtaken specific cigarette brands – for example PMI’s own Marlboro which has about eight percent of the tobacco market.
See also p. 55 of the report: No Fire, No Smoke: The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction 2018 — Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (gsthr.org)
Weekly Google Search Volume for HNB Tobacco / E-Cigarette 2013-2017 (Past 4 Years) in Japan
Takahiro Tabuchi
In 2014, Philip Morris International introduced the IQOS heat-not-burn (HNB) device to the Japanese market, initially as a test in the city of Nagoya. It was then rolled out across Japan in 2016. Japan Tobacco International had started Ploom sales online in December 2013 and launched Ploom TECH in March 2016. British American Tobacco started selling its HNB glo device in December 2016. There was extraordinary interest in IQOS, as reflected in internet searches in 2016. This Figure shows weekly Google searches from 2013 to 2017, normalised to 100 to show relative search volume.
See also p. 55 of the report: No Fire, No Smoke: The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction 2018 — Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (gsthr.org)