The ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the opposition camp unofficially began campaigning Thursday for the July 11 Upper House election, by releasing their platforms, and both sides seemed to be dancing around a tax hike.
In a precarious move, the DPJ decided to put priority on fiscal reform and economic recovery, but also announcing it will begin "nonpartisan negotiations on tax reforms, including a review of the consumption tax."
"Talking about the consumption tax has long been considered taboo" in politics, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said. "But we decided to break the ice and write about it in our manifesto."