David Wagner comments

Classic mistake: The reporter is not the viewing audience....

Dont' worry. He won't last long. Whether its due to the 75 pending lawsuits against him, collusion with Russia to subvert the US election, or something else, he'll be impeached. I'd give it a year.

A year?????

My two years on Japanese TV were similar in the sense that the pay was terrible. However, unlike this woman, I was given tremendous freedom to design, edit and "star" in my show. My producer trusted me and set me free....

Um....why did t he driver a) stop and b) open the door?

I'd be squirming if I were one of the millions of Japanese who own Japan's debt....

I see a Hollywood movie in the works. Brilliant!

How do you turn the Titanic?

Not a sustainable business model.....

It all started with a lack of information about why the train had stopped. Welcome to the world of indirect communication.

@davidwagnerasia: A PR nightmare but a chance also for Toyota to shine depending on how it handles things...

Educator 60 - You DO have to renew your PR status every 7 years.

Also, the article is wrong concerning a five year grace period. In fact, one has to have have lived in Japan 5 out of the past 10 years with the status of PR.

Interesting, Alex. How do you know it is only for PR holders who exit AND let their PR status lapse? What happens to someone who, upon renewal of the PR status after 7 years, is not renewed by Japan (for whatever reason)? BTW, the article implies it is for people with a PR status who remain a resident for 5 years from July 1, 2015 that are affected. My understanding is that is incorrect and is cumulatively 5 years out of the past 10 years holding the PR status.

Many issues with the "exit tax" remain unclear:

1) Non-Japanese who have Permanent Resident status are allow to retain that status and not live in Japan. How would the law be applied? 2) Non-Japanese who have the PR status and have JPY 100,000,000 in non-real estate assets may have already paid tax in their respective countries. Is that retroactively applied? 3) As it is a new law, no country has included it in their "Tax Totalization Treaty" with Japan. How will this be applied going forward? 4) Non-Japanese residents who have Permanent Resident status and go back and forth between another country and Japan and have residences in both countries. How would the law be applied? 5) Non-Japanese residents who have Permanent Resident status in Japan and retire in Japan with assets earned before retirement in excess of JPY 100,000,000 earned prior to the enactment of the law. Would they be required to pay tax if they exit Japan?

The article is correct in the notion that the "exit tax" will act as a deterrent for non-Japanese to settle in Japan.

Japanese should not segregate those who will soon be paying for their pensions

Odd....they weren't haunted by conscience when committing the crime.....

If he wants some good media training, he should call me.....Lord knows he needs it!

Hiffically bad...

So the city bureaucrats decide what parents should do....now we're really in trouble

I love it - a public shaming for not towing the party line.

Disturbing. This can't be what Japanese want. But since when has the what citizens wanted been a priority in Japan?

Nice article, Kumi!

We'll know her true impact when all the OL's start wearing what Caroline wears. Stay tuned....

Mislabeling has no consequences. What laws exist in Japan for mislabeling? None? In the case of mislabeling of food known to contain high levels of radiation, there have been zero prosecutions.

Hardmentougblokes has a point....

When people lie time and time again, it is hard to know or believe the truth

Yeah, but what about the debt to all the holders of Japanese debt? I suspect that will come with a 60% haircut

If there hadn't been lies and deception from the beginning, perhaps more people would believe what they are told now

True, roughy 90% of Japan's debt is owned by Japanese. But once they stop buying because they realize they won't get most of their money back, Japan will turn to global markets for funding a larger and larger portion of the debt. And, in time, it is those markets that wil determine what happens to the debt. At some point, the debt becomes unserviceable and will be restructured. Bond holders will be a fraction of what they put in back.....

The debt will eventually need to be restructured, leaving Japanese bond holders taking a bath...