The consumption tax increase next April will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people's financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the impact of the hike, experts say.

Consumption tax raise misdirected

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirms that the government will raise the sales tax from 5 to 8 percent beginning in April. But will the tax hike lead to an economic downturn

Lifestyle | CHILD'S PLAY

A welcome sign: Tantrums may be on the way out

by Danielle Demetriou

Every parent is all too familiar with The Tantrum. The screaming, the flailing arms, the angry head butting — and the timing (normally in the most inconvenient public place possible).

Issues | JUST BE CAUSE

Triumph of Tokyo Olympic bid sends wrong signal to Japan's resurgent right

by Debito Arudou

International events undermine Japan's democracy. Shame on the International Olympic Committee for being a party to it.

Art

Kohfukuji temple: under divine protection

by C.B. Liddell

Tucked away behind the main museums in Ueno, the Tokyo University Art Museum may not be on most people’s radar, but it is definitely one of the city’s top museums in terms of curatorial quality. Whenever I go there, I am always delighted by ...

MLB

Pirates roar past Reds

Francisco Liriano showed up at PNC Park on Tuesday afternoon in a suit with his suitcase packed for a trip St. Louis. The message reverberated through the Pittsburgh Pirates clubhouse. After 21 years away from the playoffs, it was time for the best story ...

World

‘Diana’ ad taken down at crash site

AFP-JIJI

PARIS – The French distributor of the film “Diana” has removed an advertising poster that sparked outrage for being placed at the site where the Princess of Wales died in 1997.

Distributor Le Pacte said it had the poster for “Diana” removed from near the entrance to the Pont de l’Alma tunnel on Monday, ahead of the film’s French premiere Wednesday.

“We asked for the removal of this poster after controversy in the British media,” a source at Le Pacte said, adding that the poster was only one of about 1,000 put up in Paris to promote the film.

Diana, her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, and their driver were killed after their car smashed into a pillar in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel while being pursued by photographers.

Several British newspapers criticized French promoters for putting up the poster at the site, with The Daily Mail quoting a friend of the princess, Rosa Monckton, blasting the move as “despicable and crass.”

TOKYO (7 a.m.)

News

Economy | ANALYSIS

Households to take hit from tax hike

by Tomoko Otake