Don’t Reopen the ‘Demon Gate’ Debate in Japan: Gearoid Reidy

Japan is facing a changing world of tariffs, artificial intelligence, and a potentially existential threat to its number-one export. Yet its approaching election seems set to be dominated by a rehash of a decades-old debate.

Consumption tax, first introduced in 1989 and raised over the years to its current maximum rate of 10% , is shaping up to be the major theme of July’s upper house election — a poll that will determine the fate of embattled Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his minority government.

With the public unhappy with persistent inflation, most recently in the form of a ...