http://www.jstc.or.jp/E-mail desk@nosmoke55.jp〒162-0063 東京都新宿区市谷薬王寺町 30-5-201
Tel 03-5360-8233 FAX 03-5360-6736

19 April 2019
Mr. Atsushi Naitō, Director,
Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Social Welfare and Public HealthMr. Manabu Sakuta, Chairperson
Japan Society for Tobacco Control,
General incorporated association

Written request
When issuing posters and other materials indented to prevent passive
smoking, we request that you avoid any conflict of interest with thecosignatory of those materials in order to convey a clear message to viewers.
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Dear Sir or Madam:
We appreciate the regulations enacted by the Tokyo metropolitan government, Chiba city,
Osaka prefecture and other jurisdictions to prevent passive smoking, which were adopted
from the revised national Health Promotion Law. In Tokyo, we are deeply grateful toGovernor Yuriko Koike and others for this achievement, and we believe that it will be an
important legacy in maintaining the health of citizens after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Nonetheless, I would like to make a formal written request to you when promulgatingthese new regulations.
People have recently reported that on Tokyo’s posters publicizing the passive smoking
regulations the insignia was " incomprehensible" or that they “do not understand what itis trying to express" or that "it does not convey what it is supposed to convey".
・ Why was Tokyo’s “passive smoking prevention poster” made “incomprehensible”? (25March 2019 Yahoo! News, Masahiko Ishida; document 1)
・ Tokyo’s passive smoking prevention poster—not raising awareness about the harms oftobacco? (7 April 2019, Tokyo Shimbun Special Report Department; document 2)
1. Chiba city and the national government have presented more comprehensible content
about the passive smoking regulations in writing and videos. Likewise, as Tokyo
prepares for the Olympics, we would like the city to send a clear and precise message
about implementing these regulations.

Tokyo's posters and videos, also shown on this site(http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/tosei/hodohappyo/press/2018/12/07/07.html), include thephrases and narration: "Aiming towards a city where smokers and non-smokers both can
comfortably spend time." JT also uses the same phrases "smokers and non-smokers", andparticularly "let’s aim towards a city where everyone can comfortably spend time".
Furthermore, we think that the meaning of the motif on the "passive smoking prevention"
posters should be immediately apparent to viewers.
2. Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), to which Japan isa member, states that tobacco control policy should be protected directly and indirectlyfrom the interests of the tobacco industry.
Reference:
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare "Guidelines for the implementation of the WHO
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Article 5, paragraph 3""Regarding tobacco control policies, safeguard public health from commercial profits andother interests of the tobacco industry"
According to a reply by the Tokyo city council, Dentsu Corporation commissioned a projectof passive smoking prevention measures, including the distribution of 1000 copies of therecent poster, but in the process the company earns a significant amount of advertising
revenue as a tobacco-affiliated company. As an example of affiliation, the July 2016
issue of “Selection” mentioned “the explicit ‘news management’ by JT and Dentsu”,
further described as:"The person in charge for the newspaper’s advertisement (whether or not the anti-tobacco
article was placed in one’s own paper) is the person in charge at the central bureau ofDentsu's newspaper. Then information about advertisements can be relayed to JT via
the company’s sales department. Thereafter, it will be brought to the attention of theexecutive officer in charge and the director of JT's communication department."
When bidding for or consigning business operations, it is mandatory to conduct
supervisory oversight of those operations for an effective passive smoking prevention
campaign—whether or not people see a “conflict of interest” for passive smoking
prevention operations, and whether or not people see direct or indirect ties and businessinterests with tobacco companies.
We summarize the aforementioned points:
・ For the Tokyo Olympics, please raise public awareness in the prevention of passive
smoking in a more clear manner.
・ When consigning business operations for public awareness campaigns, please be waryof conflicts of interest with the tobacco industry and supervise the consigning company sothat it does not end up generating poor outcomes in the public awareness campaign.
We humbly request these two points. Thank you for your consideration.
Best regards