{"id":1839,"date":"2026-06-21T22:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T22:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/tc\/?p=1839"},"modified":"2026-06-21T22:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T22:52:08","slug":"japan-tobacco-certified-as-a-healthy-company-but-issues-remain-with-japanese-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/tc\/2026\/06\/21\/japan-tobacco-certified-as-a-healthy-company-but-issues-remain-with-japanese-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan Tobacco certified as a Healthy Company, but issues remain with Japanese system"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By <span class=\"TextRun SCXW25785773 BCX2\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW25785773 BCX2\">Tomoyasu Hirano<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">On 9 March 2026, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced the names of companies certified as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.meti.go.jp\/press\/2025\/03\/20260309002\/20260309002.html\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u2018Excellent KENKO Investment for Health (KIH) Corporations\u2019 for the 2026 financial year<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. KIH is an initiative launched in 2017, developed using <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/membership.biz-model.org\/files\/journal\/2016-2020\/20200803_01.pdf\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">the \u2018Healthy Company\u2019 concept and the \u2018Corporate Health Achievement Award Winners\u2019 schemes as benchmarks<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. The initiative recognises companies which \u00a0strategically implement initiatives in their business to support and promote employee health. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/2025.kenkokaigi.jp\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">In Japan, where the population is ageing rapidly and birth rates are declining, extending healthy life expectancy and ensuring appropriate medical care are key challenges<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. The KIH certification aims to support companies that actively invest in employee health, by promoting workplace health initiatives and enhancing employee engagement. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245417&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Meanwhile, for companies, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.meti.go.jp\/policy\/mono_info_service\/healthcare\/downloadfiles\/251017_kenkoukeieigaiyou_.pdf\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">certification as an Excellent KIH Corporation is expected to enhance social standing, reduce staff turnover and increase job applicants by reinforcing an image as a \u2018White Company\u2019<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. Although there is no clear legal definition of a \u2018white company\u2019, the term is widely used and recognised in Japan. It refers to companies that maintain sound long-term management whilst prioritising employee wellness and satisfaction through appropriate working hours, adequate leave, fair treatment, consideration for health, and opportunities for growth. On the same day that METI announced the KIH corporations for 2026, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jti.co.jp\/investors\/library\/press_releases\/20260309_J01.html\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) announced on its website that it had been certified for the 10<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">th<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"> consecutive year in the large enterprise category of the KIH Programme, commonly known as the \u2018White 500\u2019 (Figure 1)<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245417&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245417&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1840\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1840\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/tc\/files\/2026\/06\/Japan-Figure-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1840\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/tc\/files\/2026\/06\/Japan-Figure-1-300x144.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"144\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/tc\/files\/2026\/06\/Japan-Figure-1-300x144.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/tc\/files\/2026\/06\/Japan-Figure-1-1024x492.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/tc\/files\/2026\/06\/Japan-Figure-1-768x369.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/tc\/files\/2026\/06\/Japan-Figure-1-1536x738.png 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/tc\/files\/2026\/06\/Japan-Figure-1-2048x984.png 2048w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/tc\/files\/2026\/06\/Japan-Figure-1-640x308.png 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1840\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Figure 1: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jti.co.jp\/investors\/library\/press_releases\/20260309_J01.html\">A webpage announcing<\/a> that JT has been certified as an Outstanding Organisation<\/em><br \/><em>in the \u2018Kenko Investment for Health AWARD 2026 White 500\u2019 for the 10th consecutive year<\/em><br \/><em>(dated 9 March 2026).<\/em><br \/><em>The Japanese text states the following:<\/em><br \/><em>Certified as a \u2018Kenko Investment for Health AWARD 2026 White 500\u2019 for the 10th consecutive year.<\/em><br \/><em>On 9 March 2026, JT was certified as a \u2018Kenko Investment for Health White 500\u2019 (Large Enterprise Category, hereinafter \u2018White 500\u2019) under the scheme jointly administered by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Japan Health Conference. This marks the 10th consecutive year of certification since the scheme was launched in 2017.<\/em><br \/><em>The \u2018White 500\u2019 is a scheme that certifies the top 500 large corporations, selected from those that approach employee health management from a business perspective and implement strategic initiatives, based on the results of the Health Management Survey.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245417&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/channel.nikkei.co.jp\/kenkokeieiaward2026\/kenko031102_1.html\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Ryuichiro Hazama, Director-General of the Insurance Bureau at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) was invited as a guest speaker at the \u2018KIH AWARD 2026\u2019 ceremony for Outstanding Organisations held in Tokyo on 11 March<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. Hazama played a key role in revising the Health Promotion Act in Japan 2017 to strengthen the \u2018P measure\u2019 <\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">(protecting people from tobacco smoke)<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> of the<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"> MPOWER package of measures to support implementation of<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). As the Ministry supports KIH on the grounds that cooperation between companies and insurers to promote employee health is expected to improve employee well-being and reduce medical costs, this is very concerning.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245417&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In the fields of environmental, social and governance \u00a0and\/or sustainable investment, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsi-alliance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GSIR-2024-Main-Report.pdf\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">mechanisms<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> have been established to exclude industries, such as those manufacturing tobacco products and weapons, from investment portfolios. The MHLW should urge METI to take corrective action, including adopting exclusionary measures agains the tobacco industry. It is imperative to strengthen implementation of FCTC Article 5.3 which recocnises there is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the interests of the tobacco industry and those of public health policies. Japan Tobacco must not be permitted to position itself as an organisation that prioritises the health of its employees whilst simultaneously profiting from its lethal products and undermining public health policy. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245417&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245417&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Author\u00a0<\/span><\/i><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;134245417&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Tomoyasu Hirano, Professor, Faculty of Human Sciences, Osaka University of Economics<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><em>ACKNOWLEDGEMENT\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Editage (www.editage.com) was used for English language editing.\u00a0<\/em><span aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><!--TrendMD v2.4.8--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Tomoyasu Hirano On 9 March 2026, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced the names of companies certified as \u2018Excellent KENKO Investment for Health (KIH) Corporations\u2019 for the 2026 financial year. KIH is an initiative launched in 2017, developed using the \u2018Healthy Company\u2019 concept and the \u2018Corporate Health Achievement Award Winners\u2019 [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/tc\/2026\/06\/21\/japan-tobacco-certified-as-a-healthy-company-but-issues-remain-with-japanese-system\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":511,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2161],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-japan"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Japan Tobacco certified as a Healthy Company, but issues remain with Japanese system - Blog - Tobacco Control<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/tc\/2026\/06\/21\/japan-tobacco-certified-as-a-healthy-company-but-issues-remain-with-japanese-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japan Tobacco certified as a Healthy Company, but issues remain with Japanese system - Blog - Tobacco Control\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Tomoyasu Hirano On 9 March 2026, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced the names of companies certified as \u2018Excellent KENKO Investment for Health (KIH) Corporations\u2019 for the 2026 financial year. 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The Japanese text states the following: Certified as a \u2018Kenko Investment for Health AWARD 2026 White 500\u2019 for the 10th consecutive year. On 9 March 2026, JT was certified as a \u2018Kenko Investment for Health White 500\u2019 (Large Enterprise Category, hereinafter \u2018White 500\u2019) under the scheme jointly administered by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Japan Health Conference. This marks the 10th consecutive year of certification since the scheme was launched in 2017. 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The Japanese text states the following: Certified as a \u2018Kenko Investment for Health AWARD 2026 White 500\u2019 for the 10th consecutive year. On 9 March 2026, JT was certified as a \u2018Kenko Investment for Health White 500\u2019 (Large Enterprise Category, hereinafter \u2018White 500\u2019) under the scheme jointly administered by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Japan Health Conference. This marks the 10th consecutive year of certification since the scheme was launched in 2017. 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