The Ministry of Finance currently owns about one billion shares, or 50%, of the former state monopoly.
It is now selling 333 million shares, according to a regulatory filing made in Tokyo.
Japan Tobacco is the world’s third largest tobacco company.
Japan’s parliament passed a set of bills in 2011, which allowed it to implement tax rises and sell shares in state-owned companies to help fund the expected $270bn cost of rebuilding the north-east coast following the earthquake.
Shares in Japan Tobacco closed on Monday at 2,901 yen. Based on that price, the stake being sold is worth about 967bn yen ($10.3bn).
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