During the Upper House election campaign, one of the main issues weighing on voters' minds was the implications of the consumption tax hike in October, which will become reality the third time around after being postponed twice.
The decision to double the 5 percent consumption tax to 10 percent in two stages was made in 2012 by the then-ruling Democratic Party of Japan — which has since disintegrated — and the Liberal Democratic Party and its partner New Komeito.
To what extent it will dampen the economy is uncertain, but Abe and his ruling coalition are betting they've sufficiently prepared voters in advance to accept the second stage of the hike and that the political backlash will be limited despite widening economic disparities.