Home to Mount Fuji, cherry blossom trees, fast bullet trains, and the anime industry, Japan is one of Asia’s strongest economies. Considering how fast-paced life is for Japanese people, it’s only natural to see demand for natural relaxing aids from citizens.
CBD has become quite popular in the country in the last few years. As for its legal status, yes, CBD is legal in Japan as long as it doesn’t have THC in it, not even in trace amounts. Products like CBD gummies, oils, tinctures, lotions, and face creams are well-loved by Japanese people.
New businesses are ordering bulk-compliant CBD oil for Japan from American and European manufacturers and further selling it under their own unique branding and labels. Japanese people have the best track record of living long, and it seems like CBD is helping greatly with it. Today we’ll take a deep dive into Japanese CBD culture and how it’s transforming the nation.
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What is CBD?
Cannabidiol, commonly known as CBD, is a natural compound with a wide range of healing and therapeutic effects. Clinically it’s proven to be effective for anxiety, pain, stress, sleep, appetite, mood fluctuations, and even skin health. It’s not just limited to human use, even pets can greatly benefit from it.
CBD oils and treats can help your furry friends during stressful situations, changes in the environment, travel anxiety, post-surgery pain, mobility issues, and more. CBD’s popularity is slowly surging in many parts of the world, and Japan is a good example of that.
Many companies in Japan import raw CBD oil from American and European producers and sell it further by converting it into gummies, oils, hair care products, bath bombs, and plenty of other variants.
CBD mainly works by improving the efficiency of the endocannabinoid system in mammals, which is responsible for maintaining a state of balance in the body by controlling various biological and psychological processes.
CBD Laws in Japan
CBD can be derived from both marijuana and hemp plants both of which are a variety of cannabis sativa. Marijuana plants have only traces of CBD and high levels of THC. So it’s not legal to produce, sell, advertise, or store purely marijuana-derived CBD products with high levels of THC in them.
Anything with even trace amounts of THC can land you in jail for up to 10 years along with a 3 million Yen fine. Japan’s Cannabis Control Act doesn’t make proper distinctions between different cannabis types. The law simply controls which parts of the cannabis plant can be used to make CBD oils and other products. The main condition is that these products must contain zero THC.
Usually, the norm in American and European countries is that hemp-derived CBD with no more than 0.3% THC in it is deemed legal. The same cannot be said about Japan. In this country, CBD products must be completely free from THC.
So if you are planning to bring your full spectrum CBD oil here on vacation, please don’t. Stick with broad spectrum or isolates that don’t have any THC in them.
Future of CBD industry in Japan
Japanese society and government are known for abiding by rules and regulations to the full extent. The same is visible in the cannabinoid industry as well. Here, every regulation around levels of cannabinoids, concentration mentioned on product labels, and health claims are strictly regulated.
In America and Europe, mislabelling of CBD levels on products is a common theme, but in Japan, companies can not get away with it. However, some business owners are concerned about the future of the CBD industry in the country. Recently, the Japanese government proposed quite some changes in the country’s 75-year-old narcotic laws.
As per some regulation drafts that were revealed in May this year, the government is planning to strictly restrict levels of THC in legal CBD products. Usually around the world, THC levels in CBD products are capped at 0.3%, but the Japanese government is planning to cap it to 0.0001% for CBD oils and even lower for beverages, edibles, and other such product types.
Experts feel that this is too harsh and it could cause significant damage to the country’s flourishing CBD industry. This could lead to a complete ban on certain types of CBD products, the same way China did recently.
Toshhinki Inoue, who is the founder of the Chillaxy brand, said that if this happens, then the country’s 90% CBD companies might have to shut their shop. He believes that there’s hardly any CBD product in the country that could follow the 0.001% THC limit, calling it practically impossible to do so. This is still in the consultation phases though, and the results
Public Sentiment for New CBD Regulations in Japan
The new proposed rules received quite some backlash from the public and CBD manufacturers. Listening to this, the government has made some changes by increasing the THC threshold from 1ppm to 10ppm for raw material including isolated powder, but it still can cause trouble.
For Oil and powder it’s 10mg/kg = 0.001% = 10ppm). For Aqueous solution, it’s (0.10mg/kg = 0.00001% = 0.1ppm) and for other items like food, it’s (1mg/kg = 0.0001% = 1ppm). This is still very difficult to detect for labs, and they might have to heavily invest in HPLC and MS equipment. This will make the whole process more complex to adapt.
The End Note
To sum it up, Yes, CBD is legal in Japan. You can easily buy a variety of CBD products like gummies, oils, hair creams, snacks, and beverages that are infused with the goodness of CBD. The only condition is that there must be no THC in these products.
If you are planning to start your own CBD brand in Japan, you can easily get CBD oil in bulk from reputed overseas manufacturers like Arvanna. They will provide you with end-to-end support including quality checks, customs documentation, and shipping updates till the material reaches your warehouse in Japan.