After weeks of anti-nuclear protests, it was refreshing to see a different kind of rally makes it way around Tokyo. My heart goes out to these housewives who united in a singular voice and with multiple pots and pans, making a noise about the government’s plan to double Japan’s 5% consumption tax.
No longer the Desperate Housewives, nearly 200 of them descended upon a shopping street in central Tokyo, beating pans with ladles and shouting slogans. Compounding the problems for the government, after anti-nuclear protests and anti-TPP, this is the third dimension they need to deal with. And trust me, you can take on anyone but an angry women!
Known as the apron protesters, the women argued that a tax increase would eat into their household budgets and will dislodge their daily consumption patterns. The going is pretty tough at the moment for Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, besides the protests, he also has to digest and figure out a way to clamber out of the public debt, which is slated to be well over 230% of national output this year.
[Via Businessweek]