Caster (cigarette)

Caster was a Japanese brand of cigarettes that was owned and manufactured by Japan Tobacco.[1]

Caster

Two Japanese packs of Caster cigarettes with a text warning at the bottom of the pack
Product type	Cigarette
Owner	Japan Tobacco
Produced by	Japan Tobacco
Country	See Markets
Introduced	July 1, 1982 (July 1, 1982)
Discontinued	November 2016
Markets	Japan
Tagline	"Taste better than Casters", "I'm me, this tastes like"

History

The first Caster variant was launched on July 1, 1982 by the former "Nippon Monopoly Corporation", the newest brand among the brands launched since the current Monopoly Authority was established (the last brand of Monopoly Authority released in October 1984 (- Cosmos was sold until 2003). The name of Caster was taken from the news caster.[2]

Tobacco used in Caster cigarettes used the finest vanilla from Madagascar (Caster Frontier used chocolate fragrance). Later on variants were also introduced, such as Caster Mild, Caster Super Mild and Caster One.[3]

In 2003, Caster Super Mild was released in Hiroshima prefecture with a limited edition design that emphasized the initial letter C of Caster. After that, in the summer of 2004, the 5-packs of Caster cigarettes (at the same time supermarket changed some designs and a yellow line added to under and it was released nationwide from September 2004) were renewed, but the Mild and Super Mild packs were not renewed and were using the old design.

In the middle of April 2007, "Taste better than Casters" was introduced as a catchphrase, the taste, flavor and smell more than usual, the taste of using the vanilla.

In December 2007, all Caster variants got a new design, and the old logo and emblem were restored.

Since early April 2010, the cigarettes have an improved perfume balance and "D-spec" (the name of a low-odor cigarette) was introduced.

Caster Mild is the most popular variant, sometimes abbreviated as "Casemai" in Japanese.[4]

As a result of price revisions in October 2010, the prices of soft packs and box packs which had different prices so far hade been unified A pack of Caster cigarettes is 10 yen higher than in the end of October 2010.

After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, Japan Tobacco announced they would stop selling the Caster One, Caster Menthol variants.[5][6] However, the original duty-free shop only packs of Caster Classic were renewed and were sold again.

The pack design changed again around the beginning of August 2012, as the emblem designed on the upper left became bigger, a new nickname with motif was created as well as a tune that makes the image of a relaxed adult appear. In addition, "Frontier Light" was integrated into the Caster brand and renewed to "Caster Frontier One" (here the "D-spec" was not yet introduced, and the filter was also a common charcoal filter. The product was a dual charcoal filter bundled sheet charcoal filters)). In addition, it was renamed as "ERR 1" at the time of transition to the Winston brand.

In In 2015, all the products except Gold Silk were merged with the Winston brand. (At the same time, the King size of one box was abolished), only gold silk was sold as brand of Caster alone in general sales products, but was discontinued as well in November 2016.

Advertisement

In the 1980s, Japan Tobacco created various poster advertisements in which famous actor Tatsuya Fuji appeared. "I'm me, this tastes like" was a slogan he used in those adverts.[7][8]

In the 1990s, some television advertisements were also made to promote Caster cigarettes.[9][10]

Some old telephone cards also had Caster advertisements on them.[11][12]

Markets

Caster cigarettes were mainly sold in Japan, but were also sold in Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea.[13][14][15][16]

Products

Below are all the variants of Caster cigarettes, with the levels of tar and nicotine included.

Name	Release date	Date of discontinuance	Price in ¥	Tar	Nicotine	Description
Caster Original	July 1, 1982	May 2011 (In duty-free shops around July 2012)	410 Yen	7 mg	0,6 mg
Caster Special	April 1, 1984	July 1992	240 Yen	8 mg	0,7 mg	Released as a King size version of a Caster that was long size at the time (the tobacco blend is somewhat different). Due to the king size it was later discontinued.
Caster Special Box	January 1, 1988	October 1994	240 Yen	8 mg	0,8 mg	Released as a King size version of a Caster that was long size at the time (the tobacco blend is somewhat different). Due to the king size it was later discontinued.
Caster Mild	October 1, 1988	November 2015	420 Yen	5 mg	0,4 mg	Nickname: SYMPHONIC. Changed to "Winston XS Caster 5"
Caster Bevel	September 1, 1990	November 2015	250 Yen	8 mg	0,7 mg	Since September 1995, it became the Bevel brand.
Caster Mild Box	October 1, 1992	November 2015	420 Yen	5 mg	0,4 mg	Nickname: SYMPHONIC. Changed to "Winston XS Caster 5"
Caster Frontier One Box	February 1, 1993	November 2015	420 Yen	1 mg	0,1 mg	In August 2012, it was moved from frontier light box of the frontier brand. The release date is the total from the frontier. Changed to "Winston XS Caster F One Box"
Caster Box	January 5, 1995	October 2003	280 Yen	8 mg	0,7 mg	In duty-free shops renamed and sold again as "Caster Classic Box"
Caster Super Mild Box	December 1, 1995	November 2015	420 Yen	3 mg	0,3 mg	Nickname: HARMONIC. Changed to "Winston XS Caster 3 Box"
Caster One 100's Box	December 2, 1996	November 2015	420 Yen	1 mg	0,1 mg	Nickname: MELODIC. Changed to "Winston XS Caster One 100's Box"
Caster Mild Pure Box	October 1, 1997	June 2002	270 Yen	6 mg	0,5 mg	Products with less smoke before D-spec
Caster One Box	January 11, 1999	August 2015	420 Yen	1 mg	0,1 mg	Nickname: MELODIC
Caster One	December 1, 2000	May 2011	410 Yen	1 mg	0,1 mg	Soft pack
Caster Super Mild	September 1, 2003	November 2015	420 Yen	3 mg	0,3 mg	Nickname: HARMONIC. Changed to "Winston XS Caster 3"
Caster Classic Box	Around August 2012	November 2015	2600 Yen (10 packs)	7 mg	0,6 mg	Sold in duty-free shops only. Once sold as "Caster Box". Changed to "Winston XS Caster 7 Box" around the Spring of 2016[17][18]
Caster Gold Silk 6 Box	Early December 2014	November 2016	440 Yen	6 mg	0,6 mg	Premium items that emphasize mellowness by microfabrication method
Caster Bevel Menthol	June 2, 1992	September 1995	250 Yen	8 mg	0,7 mg	Since September 1995, it became Bevelle bever, light and menthol and was sold until June 2003
Caster Menthol Box	July 1, 2004	May 2011	410 Yen	3 mg	0,3 mg	Initially called "Caster Cool Vanilla Menthol Box"

See also

• Japan Tobacco
• Smoking in Japan
• Fashion brands

References

1. "Cigarette packaging in Japan | PingMag : Art, Design, Life – from Japan". Pingmag.jp. Archived from the original on 2015-10-21. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
2. "「JTスモーカーズID」Webサイト". Sso.auth.jtad.jp. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
3. "Japanese Cigarette Brands". Wonderfulrife.blogspot.nl. Archived from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
4. "平成21(2009)年度第3四半期累計 (4月～12月)紙巻たばこ販売実績について" (PDF). Tioj.or.jp. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-22. Retrieved 2018-01-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. "ご指定のページが見つかりませんでした。" (PDF). Jti.co.jp. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
7. "藤竜也 hashtag Images on Tumblr - GramUnion - Tumblr Explorer". Gramunion.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-11-02. Retrieved 2018-11-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. "caster mild". YouTube. 8 April 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
10. "Caster Box Spot Ad キャスター ボックス 90年代 CM Japan". YouTube. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
11. "CASTER CIGARETTES ON USED PHONECARD FROM JAPAN - eBay". eBay. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
12. "CASTER 1 CIGARETTES ON USED PHONECARD FROM JAPAN - eBay". eBay. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
13. "BrandCaster - Cigarettes Pedia". Cigarettespedia.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
14. "Caster". Zigsam.at. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
15. "Bevel". Zigsam.at. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
16. "Brands". Cigarety.by. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
17. "JT gears up to launch three new Winston products". Tobaccoreporter.com. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
18. "Japan Tobacco International Introduces 15 New Tobacco Products - Cigs4US.biz". Cigs4us.online. Retrieved 29 January 2018.