As part of the end of year windup, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper has created a Facebook page where readers can discuss solutions to various issues facing Japan. The current topic of debate is the declining birthrate.
Takuro Morinaga, an economic analyst, weighed in with this controversial proposal, “If we levied a ‘handsome tax’ on good-looking guys, that would serve to correct a little bit of the unfairness in dating, making it easier for homely guys to find a partner and the number of marriages would increase.”
Morinaga goes on to say, “There’s a lot of discussion about income disparity, but no one is talking about attractiveness disparity. Good-looking guys get an insane amount of women. At one time, some of them are dating over a 100 women. The result is that women are converging around one type of guy.”
Photo: EPA
照片：歐新社
He goes on to point out the prevalence of the “lady-killer” in popular culture as evidence that good-looking guys do better with the fairer sex.
Morinaga suggests doubling the income tax on good-looking guys while reducing the tax rate for homely guys by 10 to 20 percent. Currently, the highest rate of income tax in Japan is 40 percent, so this would mean high-earning, good-looking fellows are in for an 80 percent income tax rate.
(Liberty Times)
作為年終總結的一部分，日本《朝日新聞》設立了一個臉書專頁，讓讀者討論日本面臨的各種問題的解決方法。當前討論的話題是不斷下降的出生率。
經濟分析家森永拓郎在討論中提出了這個頗具爭議性的提議：「如果我們對帥哥開徵『英俊稅』，就能糾正約會中的那點不公平，進而讓其貌不揚的男子能更容易找到對象，使得結婚的人數上升。」
森永接著說：「關於收入差距的討論很多，但是沒人談論吸引力差距。長得帥的男人得到的女人多得幾近瘋狂。一些帥哥甚至同個時期和上百個女人約會。結果是女人都繞著同一種類型的男人打轉。」
他還指出流行文化中盛行的「師奶殺手」就是帥哥更得女士青睞的證據。
森永建議，把帥哥的個人所得稅加倍，同時降低相貌平凡男子的稅率百分之十到百分之二十。目前，日本所得稅稅率最高為百分之四十，這意味收入高人又帥的男子要繳納的所得稅稅率將達到百分之八十。
（自由時報／翻譯：陳成良）
The 2025 Seoul International Book Fair was held from June 18 to 22 at the COEX Convention & Exhibition Center in Seoul, South Korea. This year, participants from 17 countries attended, with over 530 publishing houses and related organizations taking part. For the first time, Taiwan participated in the book fair as the Guest of Honor, bringing together more than 85 publishers and presenting a curated selection of 550 titles. A delegation of 23 Taiwanese creatives traveled to Seoul to attend the event, including 13 literary authors, six illustrators, and four comic book artists, among which were a film director, an
In late 2024, the suicide of acclaimed Taiwanese author Chiung Yao at 86 sparked a societal debate. She expressed her desire to avoid the difficult aging process and sought to govern her own death rather than leave it to fate. Her statements propelled the issue of “euthanasia” back into the public arena, posing the question of whether Taiwan should legalize euthanasia to grant patients and the elderly the right to die with dignity. Euthanasia, the intentional ending of a life to relieve suffering, is legal for humans in countries like the Netherlands and Belgium but remains prohibited in Taiwan.
A: Wow, the 36th Golden Melody Awards ceremony is set for this weekend. B: I like all the nominees for Best Mandarin Album: Incomplete Rescue Manual by various artists, Outcomes by J.Sheon, Invisible Color by Terence Lam, The Dreamer by Khalil Fong, Haosheng Haochi by Trout Fresh and Ordeal by Pearls by Waa Wei. A: Despite struggling with serious illness, Fong managed to finish his last album before he died. B: With his hit Twenty Three, he is also nominated for Best Song, Lyricist and Composer, and will receive a Special Jury Award for his album. A: And
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