FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tokyo, October 23, 2008 --- Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) (TSE: 2914) today announced the results of its Japan Smoking Rate Survey, a study that has been carried out annually since 1965. The survey, conducted in May 2008, showed that 25.7 percent of Japanese adults are smokers. Other results are summarized below.

Japanese smoking rate as of May 2008

	Smoking rate (percent)
Men	39.5
Women	12.9
Total	25.7

Reference:

The survey of last year showed that the smoking rate of men was 40.2 percent, the smoking rate of women was 12.7 percent and total adult smoking rate was 26.0 percent.

Japanese smoking population as of May 2008 (estimate)

(Unit: millions)

	Smoking population
Men	19.84
Women	6.96
Total	26.80

Note:

Figures were prepared on the basis of an adult population of 50.23 million men and 53.99 million women, using figures from the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications as of April 1, 2008.

Reference:

The survey of last year showed an estimated smoking population of 20.16 million for men, 6.84 million for women, and the estimated total smoking population was 27.00 million.

Outline of the 2008 Japan smoking rate survey

The survey was conducted in May 2008 using a stratified two-stage sampling method, mailed to 32,000 adult men and women nationwide. JT collected 20,000 (63.0 percent) valid responses from the total population surveyed.


Sample age ranges

Percentages: Proportion of sample group

Figures (bottom right of each box): Sample size (number of valid respondents)

	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60+	Total
Men	17.1 percent 1,731	15.2 percent 1,536	15.6 percent 1,580	17.7 percent 1,786	34.4 percent 3,474	100 percent 10,107
Women	11.3 percent 1,122	17.0 percent 1,682	16.6 percent 1,645	19.1 percent 1,887	36.0 percent 3,557	100 percent 9,893
Total	14.3 percent 2,853	16.1 percent 3,218	16.1 percent 3,225	18.4 percent 3,673	35.2 percent 7,031	100 percent 20,000