{"id":6539,"date":"2009-06-01T10:45:54","date_gmt":"2009-06-01T14:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/?p=6539"},"modified":"2009-06-01T15:47:54","modified_gmt":"2009-06-01T19:47:54","slug":"witlife-41-drugs-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/2009\/06\/01\/witlife-41-drugs-for-all\/","title":{"rendered":"WITLife #41: Drugs for all!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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WITLife<\/a> <\/strong>is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter\/Translator\/Writer Stacy Smith<\/a><\/strong> (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03).\u00a0 Recently she\u2019s been watching Fujisankei\u2019s newscast in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together <\/em>w<\/em>ith her own observat<\/em>ions.<\/em><\/p>\n

Starting today in Japan, as a result of\u00a0 loosening of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, consumers will be able to purchase nonprescription drugs at convenience stores and supermarkets.\u00a0 With this deregulation, conbini<\/em> and supermarket chain operators will be allowed to sell most nonprescription products such as cold and stomach medicine at outlets staffed with registered sales clerks.<\/p>\n

Currently, consumers can only buy nonprescription products at drug stores where pharmacists are in attendance, but the legal change will allow consumers to buy such drugs at conbini<\/em> around the clock.\u00a0 A conbini <\/em>operator senior official said that the new rules will enable consumers to purchase almost all necessary nonprescription products without going to pharmacies or drug stores.\u00a0 Although seemingly yet another way (on top of bill paying and dry cleaning services) that conbini<\/em> are living up to their name in providing one-stop shopping, some consumers have their doubts.\u00a0 A middle-aged woman featured on the news wondered, “If I take the wrong medicine, who will be responsible?”<\/p>\n

Seven-Eleven Japan President Ryuichi Isaka commented that the new rules provide \u2018\u2018a business opportunity.\u2019\u2019\u00a0 Beginning in June, Seven-Eleven plans to sell nonprescription drugs at some stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area by teaming up with drug store chain operator Ain Pharmaciez Inc.\u00a0 Smaller rival conbini<\/em> operator Family Mart is also scheduled to start selling nonprescription products available for purchase 24 hours.\u00a0 Supermarket chain operator Aeon plans to start selling such drugs next Monday under its own low-priced brand (private brand or PB) at drug stores under its umbrella.<\/p>\n

However, the policy varies for brick-and-mortar and online drug business.\u00a0 Under the new rules, sales of nonprescription drugs on the Internet will be prohibited and some Internet drug sellers have voiced opposition, seeking a legal battle with the government.\u00a0 In the coming days we will see how issues such as personal responsibility and online regulations play out in this new arena.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

************************************************************** WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter\/Translator\/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03).\u00a0 Recently she\u2019s been watching Fujisankei\u2019s newscast in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations. Starting today in Japan, as a result of\u00a0 loosening of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, consumers will be able to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[30,15,18,1,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-japan-trends","category-jetaa-chapters","category-translatinginterpreting","category-uncategorized","category-wit-life"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t