Ever since Yoshihiko Noda became prime minister last summer he has been staking his political career on approval for an increase of the consumption tax as a means of bringing the national debt under control. In the process he needs to convince everyone that it is the fairest tax there is. His one-note tone of self-sacrifice is starting to make people wonder, though. Last year a majority of citizens said they'd go along with a tax increase, but lately that number has dropped significantly. On April 2, the Mainichi Shimbun published the results of a phone survey that found 60 percent of respondents opposed any increase, a 2 percentage point increase from a month earlier.

So is it fair? The research institute of Daiichi Life Insurance studied the matter and found that a household of four (married couple, two children) with an income of between ¥4 million and ¥5 million would pay out ¥60,000 more a year in consumption tax if the rate went up to 8 percent, which, according to Noda's current proposal, would happen in 2014. Then, when a second boost pushes the rate to 10 percent in 2015, this household will pay out ¥100,000 more than it does now.

In principle, the more money you make, the more you consume and thus the more you pay. And this is true to a certain extent. Daiichi Research found that a family of four making ¥8 million a year will pay out about ¥90,000 more per year when the tax goes up to 8 percent, and ¥150,000 more when it increases to 10 percent. So the gap between the lower and higher income groups at 8 percent is ¥30,000 and the gap at 10 percent is ¥50,000.