Despite misgivings in his own party, Prime Minister Naoto Kan has pledged to raise the 5 percent consumption tax in a few years to fund snowballing social security costs and avoid a fiscal crisis like the one that engulfed Greece.
"We decided to break the ice and mention it in our manifesto," the Democratic Party of Japan leader said last week, calling for full debate on tax reform and crediting an opposition plan to double the sales tax to 10 percent.
Even when the dangers of ignoring fiscal reform are obvious, talk of raising taxes is a political taboo because the parties that attempt it usually get slapped in subsequent elections.