There is some focus on whether the Japanese government will follow through with planned sales tax hikes. One of the reasons USD/JPY and the Nikkei have been falling is because the answer looks like yes.
One way to maintain confidence in debt market, reduce deficits and trim the shock of a sharp tax increase would be to spread it out. The Nikkei report suggesting tax increases in 1% increments could be a part of that because they give the government more flexibility to back down.
