The Upper House passed the legislation to double the sales tax

The National Diet

August 10th, the Japanese House of Councilors passed the legislation to double the sales tax rate from 5 percents to 10 percents.
Affirmative was 237 and opposing was 188 out of 237 votes in total.
The sales tax rate in Japan will be 8 percents from April 1st 2014 and 10 percents from October 1st 2015.


消費増税法が成立　14年４月に８％、15年10月10％　―日本経済新聞
http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASFS1002H_Q2A810C1000000/?dg=1