Golden Bat (), or Kinshi as it was known from 1940 to May 1949, is a Japanese filterless brand of

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...

s, currently owned and manufactured by

Japan Tobacco The (JT) is a Japanese diversified tobacco company and parent company to Japan Tobacco International, one of the three largest international Big Tobacco product manufacturers in the world. It was established in 1985 as a that inherited the ri ...

History

The brand was launched in 1906. The brand has been known by the alias of "Bat" for a long time. After enforcement of the tobacco monopoly system in Japan, in September 1906 (Meiji 39), it was placed on the market by the then-Monopoly Bureau, the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

(the forerunner of ''"Japan Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation"''). In the present cigarette market, Golden Bat is famous for being the oldest brand in Japan as it reached its centennial in 2006. It used to feature a slender roll, and was manufactured for the general public. Although it is not as popular anymore, there are habitually ardent and deep-rooted smokers of it. That can be the reason leading to an exceptional long seller. As of July 2006, a 20-pack cost 140 yen and was known as the cheapest cigarette in Japan. It was taxed low due to using the low grade of tobacco leaves categorized into third class. Incidentally it was 4 sen (0.04 yen) per a 10-pack when it was put on the market in 1906. Since April 2016, however, tax increases were enforced and Golden Bat lost its preferential tax status. The background of using a bat as the brand, at first exported to China, in which a bat symbolized good luck, was being planned. As a product for export, it had been manufactured since 1905 (Meiji 38), a year earlier than domestic sale. The old-fashioned package that shows golden bats on a moss-green background is extensively known, and it is coming to be re-evaluated as a nostalgic design these days. Although the detail of the design was changed several times due to the extremely long history, the original design has been maintained for the most part. A filtered Golden Bat variant was sold nationwide in 1997. The package was redesigned to be modern, and TV commercials and advertisements were frequently shown. The price, quantity of tar and nicotine were almost the same as most other brands, and it was a kind of a new brand of the oldest tobacco brand of Japan; however, it was discontinued in May 2003. After that, in July 2004, although Golden Bat Box (tea flavor) and Golden Bat Menthol Box (cassis flavor) were put on the market in the

Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...

, these tobaccos also did not lead to stability of purchasing and were discontinued in February 2005. Appearance of the package was changed widely in 2005 because a new text warning was put on it. Habitual smokers of Golden Bat criticized it as destroying history; however, the design has changed afterwards, with silver paper and a tag. Also the roll size of the cigarettes was changed into the same size as the general ones, and both the roll and flavor became thicker than before. It used to have 18 mg of tar and 1.1 mg of

nicotine Nicotine is a natural product, naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants (most predominantly in tobacco and ''Duboisia hopwoodii'') and is widely used recreational drug use, recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As ...

, but during the 100th anniversary of the brand (which was in June 2016) the content has been lowered to 15 mg of tar and 1.0 mg of nicotine.

Controversy

Opium in Chinese sold Golden Bat cigarettes

As part of the plans for the exploitation of China, during the 1930s and 1940s the subsidiary tobacco industry of

Mitsui is a Japanese corporate group and '' keiretsu'' that traces its roots to the ''zaibatsu'' groups that were dissolved after World War II. Unlike the ''zaibatsu'' of the pre-war period, there is no controlling company with regulatory power. Ins ...

had started production of special "Golden Bat" cigarettes using the then-popular in the Far East trademark. Their circulation was prohibited in Japan and was used only for export. Local Japanese secret service under the controversial

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

general Kenji Doihara, had control of their distribution in China and

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

, where the production was exported. In their mouthpieces, there were hidden small doses of

opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

and by this, millions of unsuspecting consumers were addicted into these narcotics, while creating huge profits. Mastermind of the plan, Doihara was later prosecuted and convicted for

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

before the

International Military Tribunal for the Far East The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial and the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was a military trial convened on 29 April 1946 to Criminal procedure, try leaders of the Empire of Japan for their cri ...

sentenced him to death, but no actions ever took place against the company which profited from their production. According to a testimony presented at the Tokyo war crimes trials in 1948, the revenue from the narcotization policy in China, including

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

, was estimated to be 20 to 30 million yen per year, while another authority stated that the annual revenue was estimated by the Japanese military at 300 million dollars a year.

In popular culture

In habitual smokers of Golden Bat, there were some famous writers, and the name of "Bat" appears in their

literary work Literary work is a generic term for works of literature, i.e. texts such as fiction and non-fiction books, essays, screenplays''.'' In the philosophy of art and the field of aesthetics there is some debate about what that means, precisely. What a ...

s. Well-known story writers

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa , art name , was a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period in Japan. He is regarded as the "father of the Japanese short story", and Japan's premier literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him. He took his own life at the age ...

, Osamu Dazai and Chūya Nakahara loved to smoke Golden Bat. Hyakken Uchida liked high-quality cigarettes, such as "Asahi" and "

Peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

", but he mentioned "Bat" as the cigarette he desired to smoke sometimes. The naturalist, Minakata Kumagusu also smoked Golden Bat, and he used its box as a

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository f ...

case of a slime germ he collected. From the pre-war 1940 (Showa 15) until the post-war 1949 (Showa 24), the name of Golden Bat was considered a hostile word and changed into "Kinshi", meaning a golden kite. That was based on the

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

Emperor Jimmu was the legendary first emperor of Japan according to the and . His ascension is traditionally dated as 660 BC.Kelly, Charles F"Kofun Culture"bow was designed; however, it was changed and the bow was removed due to the indication that it can be irreverent if the package features a golden kite perching on the edge of a bow was thrown away and stepped on. In the

Emperor Jimmu was the legendary first emperor of Japan according to the and . His ascension is traditionally dated as 660 BC.Kelly, Charles F"Kofun Culture"Ōgon Bat , known as Phantaman or Fantomas in various countries outside Japan, is a Japanese superhero created by Suzuki Ichiro and Takeo Nagamatsu in autumn of 1930 who originally debuted in a ''kamishibai'' (paper theater). Ōgon Bat is considered by so ...

, naming him after the cigarette brand.

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Golden Bat (cigarettes) Japanese cigarette brands Japan Tobacco brands