Tokyo, January 11, 2012 --- Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) (TSE: 2914) has announced that it will launch The Peace, the masterpiece in the history of the Peace brand, offering the ultimate experience of aroma, in early February across Japan at a limited number of retailers(*1).

Peace has been a long-selling premium brand whose aroma has made it immensely popular with consumers ever since its launch in 10-cigarette packs in 1946. The new product to be launched, ''The Peace,'' was developed out of a desire to give consumers a more luxurious and relaxing smoking experience. A product for which nothing was spared to make it the best, from the selection of ingredients to the blending, processing, flavors, and even the packaging, The Peace will be sold at Yen 1,000 for a 20-cigarette pack.

(*1)A limited number of retailers: approximately 3,500 stores that do face-to-face sales.

The Peace is made from 100 percent select Virginia tobacco, which is known among the different types of leaf tobacco for its particularly mellow but rich aroma. Furthermore, the full aroma of the select tobacco leaves of this Virginia blend is brought out by expert blenders. The Peace is also the first brand in Japan to employ a process called ''new trimming'' whereby unpleasant aroma and taste are eliminated by flash heating the fine cut tobacco. As for the flavor ingredients, a more stringent selection process than with ordinary Peace was used, resulting in more tobacco aromas being brought out.

A sealed flat tin was adopted first in cigarettes, so consumers could get the most enjoyment out of the aroma of The Peace from the moment it's opened. The package is designed in memorably deep and gleaming metallic navy blue in keeping with the brand color, with the signature ''dove carrying an olive branch'' featured in a gold motif, giving the package an elegant and luxurious presence.

Through the launch of The Peace, JT aims to preserve and carry on the culture of enjoying the aroma of cigarettes.

The package for Peace was designed in 1952 by Raymond Loewy, who is considered by many to be the ''father of industrial design.'' As the streets were filled with poor-quality goods and black market imports in the chaos following the end of World War II, Peace was a brand developed by staking the prestige of Japanese cigarettes. The brand was named as a symbol of the hope that an age of peace would follow the tumultuous postwar years. The ''dove carrying an olive branch'' mark was inspired by the story of Noah's Ark in the Book of Genesis. It symbolizes dreams, hope, and the desire for peace.

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Japan Tobacco Inc. is a leading international tobacco product company. Its products are sold in over 120 countries and its internationally recognized cigarette brands include Winston, Camel, Mild Seven and Benson & Hedges. With diversified operations, JT is also actively present in pharmaceuticals and foods. The company's adjusted net sales(*) were JPY 1.946 trillion (US$23,415 million(**)) in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011.

* Adjusted net sales on a consolidated basis do not include excise tax and revenue from the imported tobacco, domestic duty free, the China Division and other peripheral businesses in the Japanese domestic tobacco business. Nor does it include excise tax and revenue from distribution, contract manufacturing and other peripheral businesses in the international tobacco business.

** Translated at the rate of JPY 83.15 per $1, as of March 31, 2011