February 27, 2026

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira in his interpellation at the House of Councillors plenary session on February 26 proposed that the government stop providing tax breaks for large corporations and the ultrarich and implement substantial wage hikes and a consumption tax cut in order to revive Japan’s economy.

Koike also stated that Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s attempt to initiate constitutional amendments violates constitutionalism and popular sovereignty and thus is totally unacceptable.

Koike pointed out that lowering the consumption tax rate is the most effective way to tackle the cost-of-living crisis and support struggling small- and mid-sized enterprises. He demanded that the government submit a sales tax cut bill to the Diet without delay.

As ways to secure the finance needed to cover the loss of consumption tax revenues, Koike called for reassessing the policy of giving tax cuts to large corporations and imposing fair tax burdens on the wealthy.

Koike referred to the government plan to place an additional tax burden on individuals with an annual income of 600 million yen, and asked how many people earn over 600 million yen. In response, PM Takaichi said that only 2,000 people do.

Koike raised the issue of the “barrier of 100 million yen” in which the tax burden on individuals decreases for those with annual incomes exceeding 100 million yen. He pointed out that as the income for high-net-worth individuals mainly comes from financial investments, the “100 million-yen barrier” should be removed and the present preferential taxation for large shareholders should be reviewed.

Koike stated that PM Takaichi should not go forward with the proposed military budget of more than nine trillion yen and the full lifting of the ban on exports of lethal weapons and instead should conduct a peace diplomacy utilizing Article 9 of the Constitution. He also stressed that Japan should shift to an independent diplomacy which questions the promotion of military integration between Japan and the United States and the huge military buildup.

Koike grilled PM Takaichi about her policies on issues such as direct support for smaller businesses and a drastic increase in minimum wages which are essential for above-inflation pay hikes, the plan to exclude OTC-like drugs form national health insurance coverage, an adverse revision of the discretionary work system, and the new U.S. base construction in Henoko, Okinawa.