据日本媒体报道，随着日本的烟草税计划从10月1日起上涨60日元，日本烟民开始大量储存卷烟。烟草公司和便利店都争先恐后地满足激增的需求。

    药店预期在提税后收入会增多，并且扩大了戒烟产品的阵容，而日本烟草公司将改变其产品结构，以弥补销量的下降。

    日本将把大多数卷烟品牌的税收提高50%以上，这是有史以来最大幅度的提税。从上个月底开始，日本烟草公司的装运量比2009年同期增加了大约20%。该公司预计9月份的卷烟销量将是往常的两倍，而销售的高峰期将在9月下旬，因为许多职员那时候领工资。

    同时，便利店预期以后收入会下降，于是纷纷在月底之前出售尽可能多的卷烟。“卷烟销售大约占我们总销售额的22%，”FamilyMart公司的一位负责人说。

    一些零售商要求顾客预约购买卷烟，以避免脱销。日本烟草公司预计，由于国外烟草税的增加，到2011年9月底，卷烟销售将迅速下降25%。

    Cigarette Demand Soars in Japan

    Nacs Online

    Sep 8, 2010

    With Japan's tobacco taxes scheduled to jump by 60 yen on October 1, Japanese smokers are stockpiling cigarettes, the Yomiuri Shimbun reports. Tobacco companies and convenience stores are racing to keep up with the increased demand.

    Drug stores are looking to cash in after the tax hike by expanding their lineup of smoking cessation products, while Japan Tobacco Inc. will be remodeling its products to counter any decline in sales.

    Japan will raise taxes on most cigarettes brands by more than 50 percent, the largest hike ever. Japan Tobacco's shipping volume has increased since late last month, up around 20 percent from the same time frame in 2009. The company predicts cigarette sales to be twice as much as usual for September, with sales peaking in late September as many employees receive paychecks.

    Meanwhile, convenience stores are scrambling to sell as many cigarettes as possible before the end of the month when they are expecting revenues to drop. "[Sales of cigarettes] account for about 22 percent of our total sales," said an official with FamilyMart Co.

    Some retailers are asking customers to make reservations to purchase cigarettes to avoid running out of stock. Japan Tobacco estimates cigarettes sales will plummet 25 percent through the end of September 2011, based on overseas tobacco tax i