March 16, 2025

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira on March 13 at a House of Councilors committee meeting demanded that Japan consider imposing higher taxes on the rich which has become a popular tax policy in the world.

At the Upper House Financial Affairs Committee meeting, Koike noted that the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) in its policy proposal entitled “Future Design 2040”, which was released in December 2024, stated that Japan’s Gini coefficient index which measures income inequality is higher than that of, for example, Italy or South Korea.

Koike asked if the government is aware that compared with other G7 countries, Japan has a high level of inequality. Finance Minister Kato Katsunobu in response said that he recognizes the widening economic disparity in Japan.

Koike stressed, “Among G7 countries, Japan ranked at the bottom in terms of improvement of the Gini coefficient through tax redistribution. The reason for this is that the government, while weakening the progressive income tax structure, increased the rate of the regressive consumption tax to 10%, which directly undermines the efficacy of tax redistribution efforts.”

Koike pointed out that even Keidanren in the “Future Design 2024” policy proposes to levy a tax on the assets of the rich. He said, “The JCP disagrees with Keidanren’s explanation that its proposal aims to obtain public understanding for a further consumption tax hike. However, the proposal itself is important.” Stating that the JCP also calls for introducing a wealth tax, Koike urged the government to consider these proposals. The finance minister responded by saying that he acknowledged the importance of reducing inequalities, but failed to give clear response to Koike’s request.