Regular Diet session convened
Consumption tax hike is the biggest focus
January 24, 2012, Tokyo, Japan - Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda delivers his policy speech as the ordinary session of the Diet Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda delivers his policy speech as the ordinary session of the Diet on Tuesday, January 24, 2012.
Noda is expected to face a negotiation with the opposition camps on the passage of bills to raise the nation's sales tax from the current five percent to eight percent in April 2014 and the current five percent to eight percent in April 2015. The opposition bloc is taking a confrontational approach and stepping up efforts to (Photo by Natsuki Sakai/AFLO) AYF -mis-