JAPAN

Cigarette Sales Rise for 5th Year in a Row: Sales in Japan rose by 1.1% in fiscal 1993 to a record 332.6 billion cigarettes, according to the Tobacco Institute of Japan. Takahiko Ikeda of the institute, a private national industry group, said the increase reflected the 1.3% growth of Japan’s adult population, to 94 million people, that occurred during the year ended March 31. The government partly owns Japan Tobacco Inc., which is gradually being privatized. Sales of foreign cigarettes reached a record 59.7 billion cigarettes in fiscal 1993, up 6.2% from a year earlier, Ikeda said.