A recent poll by Mainichi indicates that the support rate for Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda’s Cabinet is at 18 percent, which down six points from a previous poll conducted in April.
As many as 77 percent of respondents said they disagree with the April launch of a new medical insurance system for over-75s, while 74 percent […]

Stories about misbehaving public officials are commonplace - they differ only in the details. But the details usually make interesting reading.
A Wakayama prefecture civil servant has made worldwide headlines with a feat of astonishing dedication.
Tax-payers in Kinokawa wish he could show similar dedication to his job. For it has been revealed […]

One thing that Japanese politicians are always hoping to avoid, but are always causing, is ‘confusion’. And with Golden Week and the end of April approaching, Japanese motorists are getting reading for some ‘major confusion’.
Except of course, there is no confusion in the literal sense. It’s an absolute certainty that petrol prices are going to […]

Many have used it. Some have got away with it. I remember kids at school busting out the “My grandmother died” excuse to explain absences. It never occurred to me they might be lying until it emerged that one lad experienced the loss of three grandmothers in quick succession.
An Osaka tax inspector […]

Well, there goes the dollar. One greenback will now officially not even buy you 100 yen. Some say that this will mean more exports from America to Japan, or perhaps more manufacturing of goods in America. Others think it just signals a long and deep recession. I’d like to hear Mr. Pink’s opinion.

Peter wrote earlier today how Japan is a very cash-based society. Underlining that point, a story has been reported which is not unusual in itself except in its sheer magnitude.
Hearing that someone in Japan has a fortune in cash stashed somewhere about their house is relatively common. There are various reasons for this, […]

according to an article released in february 21st by the economist, the magazine revisted an issue they first discussed in print a decade ago, namely “ japan’s amazing ability to disappoint.”
while the steady economic growth of the past few years has been an encouraging sign, there are major structural problems in the economy which threaten […]

With the government looking determined to push through a tax reform bill that JP reported on last week, it might come as something of a surprise to hear that it’s being reported tonight that they have agreed to drop the bill, or at least the clause concerning “road-designated tax revenues”, which has been facing stiff […]

Not that long ago Japan’s environment ministry was mulling a 2,400-yen tax on each ton of carbon emitted by households using kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas, which are the main heating and cooking fuels in Japan. Even the head of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) got into the act, saying that Japan […]

The opposition DPJ has finally told the government what everyone else has been thinking for some time, namely, “Stop wasting time and public money going on about bloody UFOs and do some bloody work”. I’m paraphrasing, of course.
Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba piped up last week saying he was “troubled over potential legal issues if one […]

The word on the tax front is that the Fukuda cabinet is floating the idea of raising the Japanese consumption tax from the current 5% to somewhere in the range of 11% to 17 %.
To keep Japan’s medical and elderly care at current levels, a consumption tax raise up to 11-17%, up from the current […]

Japan’s Economy, Trade and Industry Minister has said he is planning to demand an 80-billion-yen slice of the 2008 budget to be earmarked to finance projects aimed at preventing global warming.
Once of the projects the nation is considering calls for developing technology to make it possible to store carbon dioxide under the ocean floor.

Most industrialized countries are struggling with the aging of their societies, and with its very low birth rate, Japan generally leads the pack.
There are two systems that provide health insurance and retirement income in Japan, the Social Insurance System (available to any employee of a medium-sized or larger company, and their families) and the National […]

Not to be done by other social networks and online worlds, MSNBC and Associated Press are reporting that Sony will launch its own virtual universe for its Playstation 3 console.
“Home” is a real-time, networked world for the PlayStation 3 in which players create human-looking characters called avatars. They can buy clothing, furniture and videos to […]

The Japanese government’s policy of increasing spending and hiking taxes whenever there is the slightest indication of improving economic numbers is so regular and predicable, would be boring were it not so pathetic.
This week Japan’s Finance Ministry submitted its 2007 budget to the government, reporting that tax revenues have increased by 16.5 percent due […]

As we reported on Japan Talk #045, a government worker in Nara received full wages during a five-year period during which he worked a mere 8 days: one day in 2001, six days in 2003, and one day in 2005.
According to city officials, there was nothing they could do about it, because the man […]

Yokohama Customs officials have cracked down on the U.S. Naval Air Facility Atsugi and their practice of opening a pizza restaurant up to the Japanese public every other Saturday.
The goodwill gesture got into trouble and the restaurant was forced to close to outsiders when people started taking pizzas, which are not subject to Japanese […]

Japan’s Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki has voiced his resistance to calls for reduced consumption tax rates on food and other daily necessities when the government raises the tax rate from the current 5 percent.
“Reduced rates are not necessarily needed,” said Tanigaki, who proposed doubling the consumption tax rate to 10 percent by the mid-2010s […]

The Nikkei stock index hit the 15,000 mark for the first time in five years yesterday, another sign that the Japanese economy is finally on the mend.
With all the good economic news coming out of Japan, there is no doubt in my mind that rising taxes will be just around the corner.

The Liberal Democratic Party’s second in command indicated that the LDP will raise the nation’s consumption tax during fiscal 2007 in order to finance social security programs.
Asked by a moderator on a Fuji TV program whether the LDP’s election manifesto means the consumption tax — currently at 5 percent — will be hiked […]