Brace yourself, Japan’s consumption tax increase is coming!
The much disliked 消費税 (shouhizei) will be going up from 8 to 10 percent on October 1, 2019. This twice-delayed tax hike brings back painful memories, with the last raise, from 5 to 8 percent in 2014, plunging the country into a brief recession.
Keeping consumers and businesses happy
The Abe administration may feel a 2 percent tax raise is essential to boost the economy, but Japanese consumers and retailers sure aren’t happy about it.
To appease the people, the government offered to subsidize a point-back system for cashless transactions at small and medium-sized retailers. Consumers using credit cards, smartphones, and QR codes for their purchases will get loyalty points worth 2 percent of their purchase in return. So, if you’re smart with your payments, you could end up paying a tax rate of 8 percent— as if nothing ever changed!
Ain’t nobody got time to check so many pages!
But here’s the catch. A lot of Japanese retailers weren’t actually equipped to deal with cashless payments. So, in the past few months, many of them began implementing measures to be able to accept more payment methods.
However, consumers needed a resource that listed which store would be able to accept a cashless payment and enable them to benefit from the point-back system. You know, something like a store locator online or a special payment mark by the cash register.
The solution that Japanese officials came up with? A list of all the stores offering cashless payment throughout the country displayed in a 3,600-page PDF.
これ政府のキャッシュレス推進の広報なんだけど、使えるお店押したら3600ページもあるPDFに飛ばされて官公庁頭大丈夫?ってなってる。 pic.twitter.com/8Jk6UITfov
— かなぽん (@kanaxpon) September 1, 2019
これ政府のキャッシュレス推進の広報なんだけど、使えるお店押したら3600ページもあるPDFに飛ばされて官公庁頭大丈夫?ってなってる。
= This is the government’s cashless payment promotion, though I wonder what went through the government officers’ heads when they made it so a 3600-page PDF would pop up when you click on (the button to search for) cashless payment-friendly stores.
Obviously, @kanaxpon isn’t the only one doubting the sanity of the officials who thought publishing this PDF would be an awesome idea.
ちょっと伸びてるんでPDFのリンク貼っておきますね。これ、都道府県全部の店載ってるからもう意味わからないし、これ紙で印刷するもんなら税金の無駄な気がhttps://t.co/XHIcFLyQSA
— かなぽん (@kanaxpon) September 1, 2019
ちょっと伸びてるんでPDFのリンク貼っておきますね。これ、都道府県全部の店載るからもう意味わからないし、これ紙で印刷するもんなら税金の無駄な気が
= This is buzzing, so I’ll share the PDF link here. This document lists every store in all the prefectures. Does this make any sense? Won’t printing this on paper be a waste of our taxes?!
Yes, it would be a waste. And bad for the environment too. What were these guys thinking?
Get to know what the particle ん means at the end of a sentence.
Let’s forget about taxes for a couple of minutes and focus our attention on ん, that you’ll find before a predicate or a verb. ん is the short version for the particle の which, when ending a sentence or clause, brings on various nuances:
- Explaining causes or reasons for something
どうして窓を閉めましたか。= Why did you close the window?
寒いのです。= Because I’m cold.
When you are asked this kind of question with の or ん, you’ll usually reply using the ん.
- Emphasize or show surprise
そうなのですか。= Is that so?!
- Stating clearly an opinion
もういらないのです。= I don’t need it anymore.
- Softening a request
トイレに行きたいんですが・・・= I’d like to go to the toilets… Could you let me go?
While の is polite, ん has a more casual feel.
Vocabulary
Japanese | Romaji | English |
これ | kore | this |
政府 | seifu | government |
キャッシュレス | kyasshyuresu | cashless |
推進 | suishin | promotion |
広報 | kouhou | publicity |
けど | kedo | but |
使える | tsukaeru | can use |
お店 | o mise | shop |
押す | osu | push |
ページ | peeji | page |
ある | aru | be (for non-being) |
飛ばす | tobasu | skip to |
官公庁 | kankouchou | government office |
頭 | atama | head |
大丈夫 | daijoubu | okay |
なる | naru | become |
ちょっと | chotto | rather, a little |
伸びる | nobiru | grow, buzz (for social media) |
リンク | rinku | link |
貼る | haru | stick |
都道府県 | todoufuken | prefecture |
全部 | zenbu | all |
載る | noru | put on |
から | kara | because |
もう | mou | already |
意味 | imi | meaning |
わかる | wakaru | understand |
紙 | kami | paper |
印刷する | insatsu suru | |
税金 | zeikin | tax |
無駄 | muda | vain, wasteful |
気 | ki | feeling, impression |
For more on learning Japanese
- Learn Japanese with our original study materials on GaijinPot Study
- Questions about studying Japanese in Japan? Take a look at the Japan 101 section on Higher Education and Studying Japanese
- Join our GaijinPot Study Facebook group to connect with fellow learners
- Learn more about the GaijinPot Study Placement Program
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