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BLOG: Japan, Ivory, & CITES SC78
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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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REPORTS: Opportunity for Action: Japan’s Legal Ivory Trade
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Japan’s Law (or Act) for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LCES or ACES) is currently undergoing a statutory review, the first since 2017. Now is the time to make amendments to effectively close the market for ivory. An assessment and drafting are underway and an amendment bill will be submitted to the National Diet in early 2026.Actions regarding the closure of domestic ivory markets, including recommendations for Japan, within CITES are relevant and could influence the Government of Japan’s decisions on including the closure of Japan’s ivory market in the bill. Japan has a real opportunity during the LCES revision process to make a strong statement supporting elephants by closing its domestic ivory market. See the report here.

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BLOG: Tokyo’s Ivory Paradox: Promoting Trade While Promising Reform
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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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REPORT: Submission of the briefing on TMG’s subsidies to ivory industry to the Governor
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On June 11, 2024, JTEF and Environmental Investigation Agency based in Washington D.C. submitted a briefing: “Tokyo Metropolitan Government Subsidies to Ivory Industry Stakeholders” to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (See the summary the briefing on EIA website). It revealed that Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs has paid subsidies annually [yearly average of around 4 million JPY (33,000 USD)] to Tokyo’s leading ivory industry association with the goals of igniting the resumption of international ivory trade, increasing the domestic demand for ivory crafts and products, and facilitating the trade in ivory. Project Examples The ivory association described in the application form dated July 5th, 2021: “Currently, Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana whose president was replaced and…

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REPORT: Three years after inscription of Iriomote Island on the World Heritage List
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JTEF Yamaneko Patrol published a report to assess the development of the management and protection of Iriomote Island, a World Heritage site, which were made by the State Party, give insights on an emerging issue, and provide recommendations and submitted it to IUCN that is responsible for monitoring World Natural Heritage sites on behalf of the World Heritage Committee (WHC). Unfortunately, JTEF & Yamaneko Patrol identified stagnant visitation controls and creation of new tourism business opportunity inside the World Heritage properties. Around three years have passed since July 26, 2021, when WHC adopted a decision that inscribes Iriomote Island and other areas in Japan on the World Heritage List, requesting the State Party to take immediate steps to improve the…

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BLOG: Japan is Revising its Law on Ivory Trade – Time to Finally Close the Market
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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: Reality Check – Japan’s Legal Domestic Ivory Market – Toward he 77th Meeting of the CITES Standing Committee (SC77)
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The 77th Meeting of the CITES Standing Committee (SC77) will be held on 5th to 10th November 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland. Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund (JTEF) and Envitonmental Investigation Agency (EIA) published a briefing Document for delegates to SC77. Overview ● Japan’s legal framework for the control of the trade in elephant ivory is designed and built to regulate and facilitate commercial ivory trade and support ivory traders. ● Japan’s ivory market is open – all pre-Convention ivory and ivory imported in the two CITES-approved sales can be traded. ● Japan should be included in the analysis of ivory seizures related to domestic ivory markets under Decision 19.99. At CoP19 in November 2022, Parties agreed to launch an analysis…

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PRESS RELEASE: International community relies more on Tokyo than on Japanese government on regulating over open domestic ivory market
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Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund and 16 NGOs in the world sent a letter to the Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike in January 2023, requesting to enact an ordinance to be adopted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly to close the ivory market in Tokyo with only very narrow exemptions if necessary. The Advisory Council on Regulation of Ivory Trade designated under the initiative of the Tokyo Governor on January 28, 2020 was closed on March 29, 2022, issuing the final recommendations after some delay due to COVID-19 pandemic. The most potential and noteworthy recommendation is: “[…] The Tokyo Metropolitan Government should consider legal or other effective means to ensure that the ivory trade does not contribute to elephant poaching and illegal…

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