There is a sales tax in Japan. The current tax rate is 8%. In other words, when you buy a 1,000 yen item, you need to pay 1,080 yen.
Although it was scheduled to be raised to 10% from April 2017, it was postponed to October 2019 from the economic trend.
The increasing of the sales tax is a heavy burden on low income people. Moreover, it surely stagnates consumption activity. Therefore, it may be postponed again depending on economic circumstance and election results.