Heat-not-Burn Products Rapidly Rising in Japan According to Survey

Heated-tobacco product use is rising in Japan, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s 2018 National Health and Nutrition Survey.

The survey asked smokers what tobacco products they used, and 30.6 percent of men and 23.6 percent of women responded that they use heated-tobacco products. These products were popular with those between the ages of 20 to 40. The 2018 survey was the first to ask about heated-tobacco products.

The largest number of responding smokers said they smoke only paper-rolled cigarettes—68.1 percent of men and 76.1 percent of women—but more than 50 percent of men in their 20s and 30s said they use heated-tobacco products.

The proportion of men who smoke was down to 29 percent, the survey showed. This is the lowest rate since 1986 when the survey began. Only 8.1 percent of women said they smoke.

The rate of nonsmokers encountering secondhand smoke at home, work or restaurants has declined since questions about secondhand smoke first appeared on the survey in 2003.