A group of Japanese lawmakers on Friday called for an increase in cigarette taxes in a bid to cover increasing social security costs, Agence France-Presse reports.

The non-partisan parliamentary group headed by senior ruling party member Hidenao Nakagawa called for the price of a pack to rise to up to JPY 1,000 (EUR 6) from around YPY 300 (1.8)  now. This would translate to an approximate 230 per cent price increase.
The proposal aims to put Japan’s tobacco tax in line with other developed countries.The money from the hike would go to improve social security programmes, Nakagawa said.
Economic and fiscal minister Hiroko Ota left open the possibility of raising the tax on cigarettes.
Analysts said that a large tax increase is unlikely. The most likely aggressive outcome would be annual tax increases of JPY 20 per pack accompanied by price increases by manufacturers of JPY 10 per pack.(pi)