The falling birthrate in Japan has been a major concern in Japanese society for several years, since if it continues it could have huge economic effects, particularly when coupled with the issue of an aging population.

A television personality and economic analyst, Morinaga Takuro, has come up with a novel solution for combating the problem, which he expounds in an article in the Asahi Shimbun. Likening the capacity of ugly men to date successfully to the economic issue of inequality of income, or the ‘wealth gap’, Morinaga talks about a ‘love-gap’, which he sees as being a fundamental cause of the falling birthrate.

The solution to Morinaga’s ‘love-gap’ is simple: impose tax on ‘ike-men’ [handsome men]. If you’re handsome, attractive, or cool, then Morinaga thinks you should be paying for it. Fair enough, perhaps, if you want to level the playing field for men, but what about women? Is this tax really going to be enough of an incentive for them to close their eyes and think of ….the Emperor?

From Asahi Shimbun:

Morinaga Takuro: ‘Correct The Love-Gap Through Handsome Tax’

‘If we impose a handsome tax on men who look good to correct the injustice only slightly, then it will become easier for ugly men to find love, and the number of people getting married will increase’. Economic analyst Morinaga Takuro proposes such an idea as a strategy to combat the falling birthrate in Japan. It may seem like a surprise move, but the man himself is deadly serious.

‘The income-gap is often focused on, but what’s more severe is the gap in appearance. Men who look good get an unbelievable amount of women. There are even men who’ve had relationships with over 100 women at the same time. Consequently, the problem arises that women only focus on one group of men.’

Morinaga, who has many opportunities to learn about the love lives of these so-called handsome men due to his television appearances, suggests the following.

As important elements of love, Morinaga raises (1) appearance, (2) wealth, (3) charm, and of these, the most significant is appearance. ‘No matter how much ugly men live it up at go-con group dates, in the end the girls always like the ike-men, that is the men who are the most attractive. But people can’t do anything about the way they look. Therefore, by redistrubuting the wealth, we will correct the inequality.

On one hand, while Morinaga’s idea will double the income tax of ike-men, the income tax of men who are not all that attractive will be reduced by 10 – 20%. Since the highest bracket of income tax is 40%, handsome men who have a high income will the be taxed at 80%. The judgement as to whether or not a man is attractive will be made by a jury of a randomly selected women.

For Morinaga, the idea that he supported men who are, like himself, ‘otaku’, is important. While you can’t say that there are no otaku who are not also ike-men, Morinaga sees otaku as men who are not good at love and dating. ‘Their opportunities to encounter women fall, and they become increasingly bad at dating women. They fall in love with the 2D female characters from anime and manga. But I want to tell them that human women are also great fun!’

He also appealed on behalf of the charm of otaku men, saying ‘They are law-abiding, earnest, and faithful. A lot of them are good men.’

Morinaga suggests that the root of the problem of the falling birthrate in Japan is a falling marriage rate. ‘Increasing the number of couples that get married will be the most effective solution.’ As for enhancement of ‘child support’ such as maternity/paternity leave, Morinaga says, ‘We need support for people who already have children. It just doesn’t seem like the number of children will rise.’

Comments from 2ch.net:

名無しさん＠１３周年：

Damn, I’m going to have to pay a fair bit…

名無しさん＠１３周年：

Don’t try and exploit any more from me than you already have!

名無しさん＠１３周年：

Seems like there’d be more income from tax if they taxed the bald and the beastly.

名無しさん＠１３周年：

How can there be a level to judge whether someone is ugly?

名無しさん＠１３周年:

Exempt from ike-men tax=Confirmation from the nation that you’re ugly. You’d want to die before you fell in love.

名無しさん＠１３周年：

I bet the human rights people are livid.

名無しさん＠１３周年：

Moritaku [abbreviation of Morinaga Takuro], are you saying this for real, or is it just part of your act?

名無しさん＠１３周年：

It would be worse to call it a tax break for the ugly

名無しさん＠１３周年：

So, there’d be stuff like hotel discounts for the ugly, and ugly coupons would be handed out and stuff? w

名無しさん＠１３周年：

I could never laugh at such a stupid joke. So were there only handsome men around in the old days?

名無しさん＠１３周年：

Handsome/Average/Ugly. How are these groups demarcated and who decides?! w

名無しさん＠１３周年:

I guess handsome men have to put in the effort to be handsome. Morinaga, before you say stuff about handsome guys, try to make yourself as handsome as possible

名無しさん＠１３周年：

I already have nothing to do with the taxation system.

名無しさん＠１３周年：

Teacher Morinaga, are you sick in the head? You’re not an ugly 2ch dweller, you shouldn’t say such things in the real world!

名無しさん＠１３周年:

I’m ok with it if it comes with a ranking list of who’s paying the most ikemen tax. I guess I’m going to be like 1000th on that list.

名無しさん＠１３周年：

Does he know that these statements are a violation of human rights?

名無しさん＠１３周年：

I guess it’s his job to think of things like this as an ‘economic analyst’?

名無しさん＠１３周年：