Just for people who are new to the Japan Times, I should point out that this article is somehow in the "News" section, not the "Opinion" sections. How they can

Just for people who are new to the Japan Times, I should point out that this article is somehow in the "News" section, not the "Opinion" sections. How they can get away with saying, "If the government really wants to encourage women to work more, it should revoke the tax deduction framework." in a "news" piece without it being a quote, I have no idea, but this is absolutely typical of the Japan Times. I should also point out that the piece is full of misleading information used to bolster their argument. For example: "Prior to 2018, a person who made no more than ¥1.03 million a year in income did not have to pay income tax and could be claimed as a dependent on their spouse’s tax return, meaning a deduction of ¥380,000." This is completely dependent upon the spouse's salary. ¥1.03 million is about $10K, just in case you aren't familiar with the currency. A deduction of ¥380,000 is 38% -- which implies that the marginal tax rate of the spouse is %38 percent. This would be a huge salary for the spouse in Japanese terms. It's important to understand that personal income tax in Japan is very low. However, you have to pay a fixed 7% for pension and health coverage and another 5-10% for city and prefectural tax (depending on where you live). There are no deductions on pension, city and prefectural tax. Typically if you are paying an overall 30-35% tax rate, your personal income tax rate is only somewhere around 15-20%. Have a look here and scroll down to the personal tax rates: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2206.html https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2206.html A 40% marginal tax rate starts at 18 million yen, or $180K. Yes, not so high in SV, but I don't know anyone where I live that makes this much as a salary. A more typical marginal tax rate is 15 or 20%. Like I said, this is typical for Japan Times "news" stories unfortunately. I feel odd saying this because while the piece is terrible, I actually agree with the idea of reducing dependent deductions and the need for more Japanese women to get positions in permanent positions in Japan.