British American Tobacco Japan announced that its two heated tobacco products, “glo Hilo” and “glo Hilo Plus”, will be officially launched nationwide in Japan on September 1st. The prices are 3,980 Japanese yen (approximately 28 US dollars) and 6,980 Japanese yen (approximately 49 US dollars) respectively.
British American Tobacco Japan said that “glo Hilo” is a heating tobacco device that uses the new special tobacco cartridge “virto”. Its feature lies in the dual heating of infrared rays and quartz. Through the TurboStart technology, the device can be heated to approximately 370 degrees Celsius within 5 seconds.
The “glo Hilo Plus” also adopts the TurboStart technology and has the feature of completing heating within 10 seconds. Meanwhile, it is equipped with the EasySwitch pen, providing users with a 2-in-1 design option that can be used as a pen-type device or integrated with the charging case.
In June 2025, the glo Hilo series was first launched in Nihonbashi Prefecture, and the exclusive cartridge virto was simultaneously introduced. At that time, Tadeu Marroco, the CEO of British American Tobacco (BAT), announced on the social media platform linkedin that this was “the company’s most groundbreaking high-end innovative product to date.”
Subsequently, British American Tobacco announced that it would promote the “Glo Hilo” series nationwide starting from September 1st.