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BLOG: Release of report from the evaluation committee on the “Endangered Species Conservation Act”: The Japanese government is in turmoil over the closure of the domestic ivory market
 1024 1014 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

Masayuki Sakamoto, Executive Director of Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund It has been nine years since the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) (CoP17) revised its resolution to recommend the closure of domestic ivory markets in 2016. For the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry METI), which protects the ivory industry, and the Ministry of the Environment, which follows suit, the coming months will be a crucial time as they decide whether to move forward with closing Japan’s ivory market. Events in the 2025 Regular Diet Session Lawmakers have become to give an eye on the situation of Japan’s ivory market and reviewing the regulations. During…

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BLOG: Member of Tokyo Ivory Arts and Crafts Cooperative Association arrested for allegedly being involved in illegal ivory exports
 458 449 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

On June 2, 2025, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (TMPD) arrested the executives of Daigo Ivory, Ltd. (Saitama Prefecture). Daigo Ivory Store is a member of the Tokyo Ivory Arts and Crafts Cooperative Association (21 companies). The charges for the arrest were falsely representing cut pieces (divided/cut tusks) or scraps of elephant ivory as mammoth ivory (violation of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act) and violating the compliance requirements imposed on registered businesses engaged in ivory trade (“special international species business”) (violation of the Act on Conservation of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora / ACES). The direct charge is a violation of the domestic law regarding the sale of elephant ivory, but the larger questions that this case raises…

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BLOG: Japan, Ivory, & CITES SC78
 533 518 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

By Amy Zets Croke (EIA Senior Manager, Wildlife Campaigns) and Masayuki Sakamoto (JTEF Executive Director) Among many other important issues relevant to keeping elephants safe from international commercial trade, domestic ivory markets were on the agenda at the 78th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee (SC78). To protect elephants, countries endorsed and encouraged the closure of domestic ivory markets to support the international ban on commercial ivory trade in 2016 at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP17) to CITES. Specifically, Parties agreed by consensus to language in Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev. CoP19) paragraph 5 that “urges those Parties in whose jurisdiction there is a legal domestic market for ivory that is contributing to poaching or illegal…

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BLOG: Tokyo’s Ivory Paradox: Promoting Trade While Promising Reform
 1007 1024 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

By Masayuki Sakamoto, Executive Director of the Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund and Amy Zets Croke, Senior Manager at the Environmental Investigation Agency In Japan, Tokyo’s elephant ivory trade policy approach is in the middle of a paradox. On one hand, Governor Yuriko Koike’s administration has promised reform of domestic trade controls in ivory to prevent illegal export. On the other hand, Tokyo Metropolitan Government has been providing subsidies to increase demand for ivory and work towards pushing for international trade to be reopened. Where does Tokyo leadership really stand? VIDEO: Tokyo’s Ivory Paradox: Promoting Trade While Promising Reform In Africa, elephants continue to be poached for their tusks to supply the trade in their ivory – today, Japan is…

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BLOG: Japan is Revising its Law on Ivory Trade – Time to Finally Close the Market
 299 298 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

On the streets of Tokyo, if you’re looking for elephant ivory products, particularly hanko (name seals), you can pop into a shop and purchase ivory legally and easily. In recent years most ivory consumer countries have closed their domestic markets for ivory. However, one major outlier still remains open for business: Japan. For years, the EIA and JTEF have drawn attention to Japan’s role in the global ivory trade – the very existence of Japan’s ivory market undermines international efforts to protect elephants from the trade in ivory. Elephants are still being poached in Africa, which means that demand for their ivory tusks persists. In April 2024 Vietnam intercepted 1.6 tonnes of elephant ivory smuggled from Nigeria, following the March…

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REPORT: Ripe for Abuse: Japan’s ivory market
 733 737 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

Domestic ivory markets are on the agenda at CITES CoP19, and EIA and JTEF have released a short briefing focused on Japan’s domestic market, the most significant open market today. This report is prepared for briefing the facts and our views to the delegates to CoP19. Japan must recognize that any open ivory market contributes to illegal trade and poaching and must do its part to protect elephants by closing its domestic ivory market. CITES Parties must take decisive action at CoP19 to urge Japan to close its market.

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REPORT: Smugglers’ Source: Japan’s Legal Ivory Market – An Analysis of Chinese Court Decisions of Ivory Illegally Exported from Japan
 1024 924 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

TOKYO (November 1, 2022)— Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund released today a report: “Smugglers’ Source: Japan’s Legal Ivory Market –An Analysis of Chinese Court Decisions of Ivory Illegally Exported from Japan”. Thousands of elephants are killed every year to supply the trade in their ivory tusks. While international commercial trade in ivory has been banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and many Parties have taken steps to close their markets*, Japan’s domestic ivory market remains open, supported by the world’s largest ivory stockpile**. Legal domestic ivory markets threaten the effectiveness of the international ban on commercial ivory trade and undermine the efforts of Parties that have closed their ivory markets.…

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