Nothing says "socialism" better than the redistribution of wealth. In fact, redistributing wealth is what taxes are all about, and no tax redistributes wealth more honestly than inheritance taxes.
In a true socialist system, the state would claim all your property when you die, assuming that the state allowed private property in the first place. Inheritance taxes force a person's progeny to make their way in the world through their own devices rather than through their parents'. However, most people think that if they made their money through hard work and talent they should have the right to leave the fruits of their labors to their offspring, even if it means those offspring become lazy, fat and selfish as a result.
In 1991, inheritance taxes took 7 percent of all the money left by dead people for a total of ¥4 trillion. Last year, about 4 percent of legacies ended up going to the Japanese government, amounting to ¥1.2 trillion. That's a significant decline, especially considering the fact that more people died last year than in 1991.