the telecommunications company in the channel islands see jt group limited . japan tobacco inc. headquarters in toranomon minato tokyo type public company kk traded as tyo 2914 osaka se 2914 nagoya se 2914 fukuoka se 2914 sapporo se 2914 industry tobacco founded june 1 1949 as japan tobacco and salt public corporation april 1 1985 private company minato tokyo japan headquarters 2 1 toranomon minato tokyo japan key people mitsuomi koizumi president and ceo hiroshi kimura chairman thomas a. mccoy ceo of japan tobacco international products see below revenue 2.033 trillion 2012 operating income 459.18 billion 2012 net income 328.55 billion 2012 total assets 3.667 trillion 2012 total equity 1.714 trillion 2012 number of employees 48 529 2011 parent government of japan 33.35 % subsidiaries gelora djaja rjr tobacco company website www.jt.com japan tobacco inc. nihon tabako sangy kabushiki gaisha abbreviated jt is a cigarette manufacturing company . it is part of the nikkei 225 index . in 2009 the company was listed at number 312 on the fortune 500 list . the company is headquartered in toranomon minato tokyo 1 and japan tobacco international s headquarters are in geneva switzerland . 2 as of 2012 the chairman is hiroshi kimura and the ceo is mitsuomi koizumi . 3 it was founded as a public company on april 1 1985 . contents 1 history 2 lawsuits 2.1 1980 1987 jnr shinkansen lawsuit 2.2 1998 2005 tokyo lawsuit 2.3 2005 2010 yokohama lawsuit 3 brands 3.1 jt flagship brands 3.2 other brands 4 smoking etiquette posters 5 environmental record 6 anti illicit trade compliance 7 sponsorships 8 see also 9 references 10 external links history edit japan tobacco is the successor entity to a nationalized tobacco monopoly first established by the government of japan in 1898 to secure tax revenue collections from tobacco leaf sales . in 1904 the government s leaf monopoly was extended to a complete takeover of all tobacco business operations in the nation including all manufactured tobacco products such as cigarettes . the ostensible reason for the expansion of control was to help fund the 1904 russo japanese war but because all foreign tobacco interests in japan at the time were forcibly evicted under the monopolization scheme this also protected the domestic tobacco business for nearly eighty years . 4 the business operated within the japanese government as an arm of the nation s japanese ministry of finance until 1949 when the japan tobacco and salt public corporation nippon senbai k sha was established to enforce restrictive labor relations policies under the u.s. and allied forces occupation of japan . 5 the japan tobacco and salt public corporation remained a complete state monopoly under direct japanese ministry of finance authority until 1985 when japan tobacco inc. was formed as a publicly traded stock company . with periodic incremental sales of the public s ownership beginning in october 1994 japan tobacco became two thirds owned by the japanese ministry of finance in june 2003 6 and the ministry continued to own 50 % until march 2013 . it was announced in may 2012 that the government would sell one sixth of the company s outstanding shares to raise 500 billion to finance reconstruction from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami . 7 in 2013 the japanese government disclosed the details of its plans to reduce its equity interest in japan tobacco by 10 billion devoting the proceeds to reconstruction in northeastern japan . 8 the ministry of finance sold the stock in march 2013 9 selling about 333 million of the 1 billion shares it owned at that time . the government remains required by law to own at least one third of jt s stock . 10 jt international jti acquired in 1999 from r.j. reynolds is an operating division of japan tobacco inc. handling the international production marketing and sales of the group s cigarette brands . it sells camel salem and winston brands outside the usa . japan tobacco also operates in foods pharmaceuticals agribusiness engineering and real estate . it left the beverage industry in september 2015 . 11 12 japan tobacco completed the largest ever foreign takeover in japanese history through acquisition of gallaher group plc in april 2007 . 13 japan tobacco runs the tobacco and salt museum in shibuya tokyo . 14 japan tobacco controls 66.4 % of the cigarette market in japan and will seek more takeovers from 2009 to build on the 1.4 trillion jpy usd 15 billion purchase of gallaher group with then president hiroshi kimura commenting that further acquisitions would be appropriate after the full integration of gallaher by 2009 . 15 16 in 2006 2007 japan tobacco planned to start serbia production and also planned to invest another 100 million . jt paid 35 million euros sic for 98.5 percent of senta tobacco industry in may 2006 with a further 10 million invested since then . the plant has a production capacity of some five billion cigarettes a year . 17 in april 2012 it was announced that mitsuomi koizumi would become president and president hiroshi kimura would become chairman of jt . and chairman yoji wakui would retire . wakui had previously been a bureaucrat at the ministry of finance . koizumi assuming the presidency meant that for the first time since the 1985 privatization neither president nor chairman was from the ministry of finance . 18 koizumi who had been executive deputy president became president in june 2012 . 19 as of 2013 although tobacco consumption was declining the japanese remained heavy smokers consuming an average of 1 800 cigarettes a year compared to about 1 000 per capita in the united states . 8 on october 30 2013 jt announced that it would close four japanese factories and cut 1 600 jobs in japan through voluntary retirements . this was planned to be completed by march 2016 . jt also planned to consolidate 25 branch offices into 15 regional headquarters and close leaf processing and vending machine operations . 20 in september 2015 it was announced that jt would buy the rights for natural american spirit outside the us for 5 billion . 21 22 23 lawsuits edit there have been a number of japanese cases related to smoking either directly or indirectly related to jt . 1980 1987 jnr shinkansen lawsuit edit a group of nonsmokers sued at the tokyo district court demanding that japanese national railways shinkansen bullet trains provide more non smoking cars . the case was filed in 1980 and while the court recognized tobacco s health risks 24 the march 27 1987 ruling rejected the lawsuit on the basis that the plaintiffs had failed to prove their harm to be beyond the limits of toleration . 25 1998 2005 tokyo lawsuit edit in 1998 seven plaintiffs represented by lawyer yoshio isayama sued jt at the tokyo district court for 70 million compensation 10 million per plaintiff for health damage caused by smoking jt cigarettes . while similar cases had been filed in nagoya this was the first such case in tokyo . in addition to financial compensation the plaintiffs also demanded that tobacco sales through vending machines be banned ; that advertising on television and radio be stopped ; that promotions at public and sports events be halted ; that a more stringent warning label be printed on cigarette boxes . 26 the plaintiffs case was dismissed by the district court on october 21 2003 . the court agreed with the 1980s ruling that tobacco had health risks but said that there was no causal link between the smoking habits and the specific diseases of plaintiffs . in addition judge kikuo asaka denied that nicotine was highly addictive . isayama said that the group would appeal the decision to the tokyo high court . 27 on june 22 2005 the tokyo high court dismissed the case by that time brought by only six plaintiffs . three of the plaintiffs had died during the course of the case . judge toshinobu akiyama said he agreed with the district court decision . jun araki the son of one of the deceased plaintiffs said this ruling placed priority on the annual 2.3 trillion yen in tobacco tax revenue over the precious lives and health of the japanese people . he also said the plaintiffs would appeal to the supreme court . 28 2005 2010 yokohama lawsuit edit in january 2005 plaintiffs kenichi morishita koreyoshi takahashi and masanobu mizuno filed a case in the yokohama district court against jt seeking 30 million in damages for smoking related illness . morishita died of pneumonia while the case was being fought and jt used the same argument as in the 1998 2005 tokyo case that smokers were free to quit any time and that cancer and other illnesses had multiple causes . 29 on january 20 2010 the court clearly ruled that there was a link between smoking and lung cancer and respiratory illnesses and said that smoking may be addictive . however the court rejected the demand for damages and said that the plaintiffs had smoked of their own free will and that there was no proof that smoking had directly caused their sicknesses . 30 brands edit jt flagship brands edit cabin link to japanese wikipedia camel outside the usa caster hope mevius natural american spirit outside the usa 31 peace pianissimo peche sakura salem outside the usa seven stars winston outside the usa gelora djaja wismilak spesial wismilak slim wismilak diplomat wismilak diplomat mild wismilak diplomat mild menthol wismilak lights wismilak master sp galan galan slim galan mild galan prima milday bentoel group bentoel biru bentoel biru slim bentoel mild defunct bentoel merah defunct bentoel royal filter bentoel manis bentoel enak bentoel manalagi bentoel filter bentoel executive bentoel international inter biru defunct star mild star mild cool menthol star mild tritek star mild mintek x mild sejati sejati gold joged rawit club mild one mild neo mild uno mild bintang buana bintang buana filter bintang buana raya tali jagat tali jagat filter tali jagat raya hamlet benson & hedges with philip morris international british american tobacco and gallaher group other brands edit amadis apache amber leaf arsenal aspen belomorkanal contessa crescent & star death doral dorchester export a frontier fusion genghis khan gold coast hi lite islands kool kosmos luch lviv macdonald magna mercedes mi ne monte carlo more nasha prima nevskie nil north star now old holborn overstolz peter 1 premier prima russian style slavia sportsman sterling st. michel sweet menthol vantage wave winchester wings ysl ld lucky strike smoking etiquette posters edit jti runs a series of posters designed to educate smokers about smoking etiquette . they can be seen widely around japan especially located near train stations . poster gallery environmental record edit japan tobacco had recent health issues involving their company . contaminated gyoza dumplings made by a chinese company s factory in china which sold its products to jt poisoned ten people including a five year old girl . thousands of other japanese people were going to the hospital because of stomach issues as well . a number of dumplings were found containing dichlorvos and methamidophos from pesticide . 32 the health minister of japan said the contamination at the chinese factory was possibly intentional and the police are investigating for an attempted homicide . 32 the dumplings were from china but japan tobacco has said it does not plan to cease its manufacturing in china . frozen food sales went down by 60 % for the business since this health scare . 33 japan tobacco s stock price fell 7.1 % after they were forced to recall their products and the company also lost a 500 million merger deal with nissin foods because of this incident . 34 anti illicit trade compliance edit japan tobacco inc through its international operating divisions jt international s.a. and jt international holding bv signed a cooperation agreement with the