Market Research Results for Ivory Substitutes The Japan Wildlife Conservation Society (JWCS) conducted an online market research survey in August 2025. The results are as follows. – 88.3% of respondents answered, “There are no ivory products I want to buy or plan to buy in the future.” – 64.1% answered, “If a new material of the same quality as ivory were developed and sold at the same price as ivory, I would choose ivory substitutes.” – 63.6% answered, “I knew that elephants are killed for their ivory.” – People who choose ivory over substitutes tended to be unaware of the killing of elephants, while those who knew about the killing […]

A “Seigan-syo” (an official petition based on the Japanese Constitution) to be submitted to the House of Representatives on the closure of Japan’s domestic ivory market I. Points of the petition 1. Two African elephant species, symbols of international biodiversity conservation, are under threat from poaching for their ivory trade. As a result, African savannah elephants have declined by 60% over the past 50 years, and African forest elephants have declined by 86% over the past 31 years. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List assessed the risk of extinction of the two species as “very high”(EN) and “extremely high”(CR) respectively. 2. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of […]

Most ivory-consuming countries have closed their domestic markets, but in Japan you can still buy ivory legally on the shops. However, preparations have begun to revise Japan’s Act for Conservation of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The law regulate the ivory trade, and this is an opportunity for Japan to close its domestic ivory market with international cooperation. JWCS supported the request letter handed over to the Minister of the Environment by the Japan Tiger Elephant Conservation Fund (JTEF). EIA biog https://us.eia.org/blog/japan-is-revising-its-law-on-ivory-trade-time-to-finally-close-the-market/

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Advisory Council on Regulation of Ivory Trade concluded on 29 March 2022 and compiled a report. Then, in October 2022, before the 19th Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP19), the TMG sent a letter to the national government “Re: Action on Tokyo’s Ivory Trade”. The letter requested stricter ivory trade management due to concerns about ivory being taken out of the country as a result of the increase in the number of people entering the country in the future. However, despite incidents of ivory illegally exported from Japan being seized in China, the Japanese Government did not change its assertion at the Conference of the […]

JWCS is participating in CITES-related meetings: the 75th session of the Standing Committee on 13 November, the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties from 14 to 25 November and the 767th session of the Standing Committee on 25 November. The meetings will be livestreaming on the CITES  Youtube channel. The agenda of interest for Japan is as follows. ・While other countries around the world are closing their domestic ivory markets, Japan has no regulations on the sale of ivory products and is under pressure to deal with illegal exports from Japan. ・A proposal has been submitted for Appendices II listing of Requiem sharks, including blue sharks, which are […]

NGOs sent a letter to the governor of Tokyo,TMG to follow through on its commitment and take action to address concerns about Tokyo’s ivory trade by implementing the recommendations of the Advisory Council to guide Tokyo’s path forward. Re: Advisory Council’s Recommendations on Tokyo’s Ivory Trade Refarence: YouTube Why Closure of Japanese Ivory Market is Require?

The final meeting of the ‘The Advisory Council on Regulation of Ivory Trade’ was held on 29 March by Tokyo Metropolitan Government. At the meeting, recommendations were compiled, which were a significant step forward from the draft report discussed at the previous meeting. The report said that efforts should be made to promote appropriate ivory trade, and that (1) the government should be encouraged to tighten management, (2) efforts should be made to prevent ivory being taken out of the country, and (3) ordinances and other effective methods should be considered. The report records that “Voices from Abroad to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government” includes letters sent to the Governor of […]

NGOs sent a letter to the governor of Tokyo after it became possible that the governor’s report from the advisory committee would not include he consideration of ivory trade regulations based on an Ordinance and other measures. Re: Specific Recommendations by the Advisory Committee on Regulation of Ivory Trade Needed

The Tokyo Olympic Games are over, but that hasn’t eliminated concerns about tourists coming to Japan to buy ivory. Thirty-one NGOs from around the world, including the JWCS, have sent a letter to the governor of Tokyo asking her to close a ivory market.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has been having expert committee meetings on ivory trade regulation. It conducted a questionnaire to ivory dealers in Tokyo and submitted a report to the committee. JWCS has translated it into English. Report of the ivory market survey  December 2020 Policy Coordination Section Policy Coordination Department Office of Governor for Policy Planning Tokyo Metropolitan Government  The original Japanese version is available on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government official website. 『象牙実態調査報告書』 The official site for this committee is here.