Japan
Asia
#179 of 196 worldwide
#33 of 48 in Asia
Possession carries up to seven years, and since December 2024 use itself is a crime. The same reform allowed cannabis-derived pharmaceuticals; THC-free CBD is legal.
Score breakdown ▏world average
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Possession · 25%0/10adds 0.0 of 25 points
Possession of any amount is a crime. Amendments in force from 12 December 2024 moved cannabis under the narcotics law and raised the maximum for possession from five to seven years in prison. First offenders with small amounts commonly receive a suspended sentence, but arrest, weeks of detention and public naming are routine.
Personal cultivation · 25%0/10adds 0.0 of 25 points
Cultivation without a licence is a crime with up to seven years, more if for profit. Licences exist only for traditional hemp farmers and, under the new law, for low-THC and pharmaceutical production.
Punishment & enforcement · 20%1/10adds 2.0 of 20 points
Strict and consistently enforced, with record arrest numbers among people in their twenties. Sentences are often suspended, but the process itself is punishing.
Sharing & gifting · 10%0/10adds 0.0 of 10 points
Transfer to another person carries up to seven years, whether or not for payment.
Consumption · 10%0/10adds 0.0 of 10 points
Until 2024 Japan punished possession but not use — a quirk meant to protect hemp farmers. The amendment closed it: using cannabis is now itself a crime with up to seven years.
Legal access · 10%0/10adds 0.0 of 10 points
No legal source of THC cannabis.
More context not part of the score
The same reform replaced the old plant-part rule with THC thresholds and created licence categories for hemp and for pharmaceutical raw material.
CBD products are legal and popular, subject to very strict residual-THC limits set in parts per million. Nothing with meaningful THC is lawful.
The 2024 law lifted the ban on cannabis-derived medicines, opening the way for an approved cannabidiol drug for severe epilepsy. There is no herbal medical cannabis.
An arrest typically costs a person their job or university place, and foreigners are deported and barred from re-entry.
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