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According to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), the number of foreign visitors to Japan in June 2024 was 3,135,600 — up 8.9% from 2019, marking a record high for a single month. The total for the first half of the year from January to June grew 6.9% to 17,777,200 — 7 million in one year. Compared to the same period in 2023 (10,712,396), this represents an increase of more than 7 million in one year.
This is the largest number of visitors to walk on Japanese soil in history since the opening of Japan to the outside world in 1854. Many foreigners who come to Japan as tourists are impressed by the cleanliness of the cities with no litter, the kindness of the people, and the delicious Japanese food. The most surprising of all is the ability to drink alcohol in public places. Even in central Tokyo, such as Shibuya, one can see people drinking day and night. With such a lax attitude towards alcohol, some people are therefore rather surprised to learn how deeply vilified marijuana is in Japan. Japanese law does not divide illegal drugs into classes of severity, so cannabis has historically been treated from a legal and social standpoint as identical to ‘hard drugs’ such as heroin and methamphetamines.
As the medical efficacy of marijuana has begun to be accepted in developed, Western countries, attitudes toward marijuana have begun to open up. In particular, the production of industrial hemp, which does not contain THC (the chemical component of marijuana which produces an intoxicating effect) is increasing at an accelerating rate. In Europe and the U.S., the ban on large-scale production of industrial hemp has been lifted, and the market is expanding rapidly. The emergence of this medical cannabis industry is known as the “green rush,” and many companies are beginning to participate.
Japan has made the big decision to authorize the use of medical marijuana from December 2024. This is a big step forward for those affected by diseases that have required cannabis-derived medicines in the past.
However, the number of marijuana farmers has plummeted since the crackdown on marijuana after World War II, and there are now few marijuana farmers left.
The Marijuana Control Law was originally enacted for the purpose of protecting marijuana farmers. It was enacted to protect the domestic industry by distinguishing cannabis fiber, which is necessary for Japanese Shinto rituals and daily life, from foreign-produced cannabis for intoxication. The campaign to crack down excessively on euphoric marijuana has resulted in increasingly harsh restrictions on marijuana farmers, the very people who are supposed to be protected.
How did this happen? Because marijuana varies widely in THC concentrations depending on its variety. Foreign and domestic marijuana look almost the same, but the THC effects are very different. Japanese marijuana does not have any intoxicating effects, but the tendency to regulate them all together has caused tremendous damage to marijuana farmers.
This article will clarify the relationship between Japanese culture and hemp, expand the potential of medical marijuana, and consider what is important in the unique Japanese way of interacting with marijuana.
Cannabis has been cultivated in Japan since the Jomon period. Ancient people used hemp as a fiber, making it useful as a material for daily necessities such as clothing, fishing nets, and rope. Cannabis was also used for food and medicine, and its seeds were a valuable source of food due to their high nutritional value. Mention of hemp can be found in mythology and classical literature, indicating that it was deeply rooted in the life and spirituality of the Japanese people.
During the Nara and Heian periods, marijuana was considered an important national product and was sometimes paid as tax. Cannabis cultivation flourished in various regions, and the techniques and knowledge of cannabis cultivation were passed down from generation to generation. Cannabis has been an essential element in the formation of Japanese culture, and its diverse uses have supported people's lives.
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Japanese marijuana contains almost no THC so inhaling or smoking it does not cause a noticable high. However, after World War II, the Marijuana Control Law was enacted under the guidance of GHQ (the US occupation government), and the cultivation and use of marijuana were severely restricted. Although this law was originally enacted to protect marijuana farmers, it resulted in a significant decrease in marijuana production. Because foreign cannabis containing THC and Japanese industrial hemp were regulated together, many hemp rope farmers were forced to close their businesses.
Traditional techniques and culture were lost, and today only a few traditional crafts using hemp fiber remain. Clothing, crafts, and building materials made from hemp are highly valued as part of Japan's cultural heritage, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to pass them on. The impact of the Cannabis Control Law has had a profound effect not only on agriculture, but also on culture and the economy.
Japan’s national religion of Shinto is animist, with 8 million recorded deities — that rather astounding figure coming from the ancient Shinto belief that almost everything in nature has a totem deity.
In Shinto hemp is considered sacred. Hemp is used in many Shinto rituals, such as shimenawa (sacred rope), bell ropes, and gohei (Shinto staff). These are used to purify the sacred place and purge it of evil, and hemp is considered a symbol of purity and purification.Hemp is also used as a cord to tie the boundary between the sacred and secular worlds. The ogara, or hemp trunk, used in the Bon Festival ‘welcoming fire,’ is an important item for welcoming the spirits of ancestors. Even today, hemp is sold at flower shops, roadside stations, and supermarkets during the Obon season as “Obon sets.”
Hemp is also used for bow strings, kite strings for traditional kite battles, yokozuna kesho mawashi ropes, yunoshina (a ceremonial gift of friendship), high-quality painting and calligraphy paper, and oil-smoked ink for calligraphy. Hemp fabrics (Echigo Kamifu, Omi Kamifu, Noto Kamifu, etc.) used to be made from handspun hemp yarn, but due to the difficulty of obtaining hemp, spun yarn and ramie from China are now used. Currently, only two places in Japan produce hemp fiber: “Nara Sarashi” in Tsukigase in Nara Prefecture, and “Kameko-ori” in Shizukuishi, Iwate Prefecture.
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There are two main cannabinoid components in marijuana. One is THC, which produces euphoric effects, and the other is CBD, which produces sedation. In recent years, the medical benefits of CBD contained in cannabis have been attracting worldwide attention; it has diverse effects, including anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anxiolytic properties, and may be used to treat a variety of diseases. Scientific research and clinical trials are underway, and its effectiveness is gradually becoming clear.
The approval of the use of medical marijuana in Japan will provide new treatment options. For patients who have been unable to benefit from conventional drug therapies, cannabis-derived medicines offer hope. Appropriate use and management in the medical field is required, but the potential is tremendous.
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As for specific disease applications, the cannabinoids contained in cannabis are attracting attention for their effects in a variety of diseases. Medical marijuana is widely used for cancer, in treating serious pain and nausea, neurological incurable multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, arthritis, epilepsy and other seizures, Alzheimer's disease, and other conditions that are difficult to treat with modern medicine, such as those that show no symptom relief with standard treatment.
First, for cancer, it is expected to have the potential to inhibit the growth of cancer cells and reduce nausea and anorexia, side effects of chemotherapy. This will improve the quality of life of patients. In the area of psychiatric disorders, research has shown that cannabis-derived ingredients are effective in alleviating symptoms of anxiety disorders, PTSD, and depression. It can be a new treatment option when conventional therapies are not sufficiently effective. Furthermore, its analgesic effect has been confirmed for chronic pain and neuropathic pain, and it is attracting attention as an alternative to opioid analgesics with fewer side effects. The efficacy of cannabis components has also been studied for intractable diseases such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis, and dramatic improvement of symptoms has been reported, especially in pediatric epilepsy.
Industrial hemp, which can be produced on a large scale, may be utilized to meet sustainable material and energy needs.
The use of hemp, which grows three meters in three months, is said to eliminate the need for deforestation for building materials, a typical application of which is the production of bioethanol. The production of bioethanol from hemp does not use food plants such as corn or wheat, so it does not affect food prices, and it grows quickly, making it ideal for bioethanol production. In the paper industry, the use of hemp may eliminate the need to cut down wood for pulp, which takes more than a decade to grow, and thus help to meet the increasing global production of paper and paperboard.
In the plastics field, hemp-based vegetable-based plastics were first used for automobile parts by Ford Motor Company in the U.S. in 1949, and are now used by major German automakers Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi for car interiors. Vegetable-based plastics are environmentally friendly as they are biodegradable in the soil by microorganisms and the natural environment after disposal. Furthermore, in the field of building materials, the ban on hemp cultivation has been lifted in Europe, and hemp chips, water, and lime are widely used as a building material with high elasticity and heat insulation properties and high workability that can be poured into a frame mold like concrete.
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Japanese hemp, which is low in THC and high in CBD, is said to have almost no intoxicating effect and is considered to be very safe. For this reason, there is a demand for its revival for medical and industrial use. On the other hand, it is important to clearly distinguish between hemp with a high THC content that has an intoxicating effect and hemp with a low THC content, and to actively regulate the former.
Until now, the image of cannabis as a dangerous substance has become firmly established due to the Metropolitan Police Department's zero tolerance campaign and reports in the media. There is an issue with the fact that the difference in THC concentration between foreign-produced and domestic cannabis has not been sufficiently pointed out, and that they have been collectively demonized as evil. In addition, the confusion between medical and recreational cannabis, and the biased claims of safety made by some of the activists campaigning for the legalization of cannabis, as well as the false and prejudiced information that is spread on social networking sites, are also complicating the issue.
In order to resolve these issues, it is necessary to carefully assess the safety of domestically produced cannabis and to build a unique Japanese cannabis industry. It is necessary to deepen the public's understanding through the dissemination of information and education based on scientific evidence. By promoting the use of cannabis in the medical and industrial fields under appropriate regulations and management, we can expect the revival of traditional culture and the creation of new industries in a manner uniquely Japanese.
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