参照項目: 大麻について、 メーリングリスト、 CD ROM About us To avoid any misconceptions, we do not support illegal activity. Our purpose is to educate, to empower people to make rational choices for sane policies. We are a group of private individuals researching and publishing information about all aspects of Hemp in Japan. We created this website to share information that we and our contributors have collected. Since hemp and "drugs" are a taboo subject in Japan, very little information is available about it to the general public in Japan (or about Japanese hemp outside of Japan). Accurate information is essential for making public policy since policies based on prejudice and misinformation will only breed injustice and failure.

About our domain name The character for MA/asa = hemp is an ancient Chinese pictogram. It is composed of the madare radical (top and left) which represents a tilted roof and is used in the characters for words such as "house", "shop", "to live", etc. Under the "roof" are two small characters for "tree" which by themselves mean "small forest". Basically the character for hemp expresses the idea of a "small forest in or at one's house", a "domestic forest". This indicates that hemp must have been one of the earliest plants cultivated in ancient China, from where the Japanese writing system originated.

Related characters are the ones for "to rub, scratch", "to brush, polish" as well as "demon, evil spirit" which is used in "magic", "witch", "devil" and "obstacle". This is because hemp was believed to keep away evil spirits, which is why it was used in many religious functions in the Shinto religion.

Taima is a Japanese word meaning "tall hemp", which means cannabis as opposed to other hemp-like plants such as flax or jute which are also often referred to by the more generic "asa". "Taima" is the legal term used in the relevant Japanese cannabis laws. The word is written using the characters DAI/TAI/oki = big and MA/asa = hemp.

Note: taima.org does not encourage the use of any drugs, licit or illicit. It is not our aim to increase the number of cannabis users, but to promote tolerance, moderation and education. If you're searching for someone who sells illegal substances or for places where wild cannabis plants grow, we can not help you. We're working to change the law, not to break it. If you want to grow cannabis you first need a license. YaHooka: How does this site rate on a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best)? See also: What is Hemp? / Contact info / Mailing lists