Tax and social welfare reforms will be the administration's priority this year, according to Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

But a chasm has already emerged between the ruling and opposition camps, as well as between Kaoru Yosano, the new welfare reform and fiscal policy minister, and many other lawmakers in the Democratic Party of Japan.

What are the debate's political implications? Should the public pension system be financed by premiums or tax revenues? Why are reforms necessary in the first place?