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The closest I got to scoring in Japan was in 98. Eventhough I knew a local there, it was difficult. One of my friends' contacts in a pub offered a g of pretty below par shit for US$45. This was Osaka btw...
Having lotsa smoke and getting down on some kobe beef. Damn...
If it's growing for profit I think the penalties start around 3 years up to 10, but I think if it's a personally grow they will give probation to most Japanese who don't have records and jobs. A gaijin would get time I'm sure.
This is what I found on the net
People go to jail for possessing less than one gram of hemp and they face many social penalties too (loss of job, expulsion from schools, etc.). Theoretically you can go to prison for five years for a single joint. Larger quantities, cultivation or smuggling will lead to prison sentences of up to seven years. Smugglers caught with a few hundred grams to a few kg of cannabis are routinely sent to prison for 3-4 years.
But I personally know a person who was arrested with a sheet of acid, a few grams of grass, and 2 x's on him and he got off with probation. Another acquaintance had a package of marijuana intercepted at the airport and was caught with 100 x's at his apartment and he got 3 years. So what's written is often different than what's handed out. In many ways the laws are actually more lenient (if you're Japanese).