Takuro Morinaga

Takuro Morinaga (森永卓郎, Morinaga Takurō, born 12 July 1957), is a Japanese economist at Dokkyo University, Saitama, a suburb to Tokyo. He is also a television program editor.[1] As an economist he has been highly publicized, expressing his views in television and radio on an array of subjects, from politics to manga to video games. His ideas have elicited a large number of reactions on the internet and in media.

Biography

Early life

At an age of 9, Morinaga began collecting model cars after his father gave him one. Today he possesses over 20,000 miniature cars.[2]

Otaku

In 2006, Takuro Morinaga estimated the global market for otaku to be between 26 billion and 34 billion dollars.[3]

Tax on the beautiful

Morinaga has proposed increased taxes on men who are beautiful and rich, stating this on Nippon TV, which caused quite an Internet-stir.[4]

His proposal intend to model the tax according to the appearance of the taxpayer. His idea was that if the ugly are tax-advantaged, they will have an easier time being charming and engaging in dating, which would result in more marriages, increasing birth and growth in Japan. His proposal classifies single men into four broad categories: the hunks, the normal, the moderately ugly, and the ugly. These groups would be developed by a beauty assessment board consisting of a jury of five women selected at random.[5]

Takuro Morinaga has long been interested in the issue of single people and has published two books on the topic: Akujo to shinshi no keizaigaku (The economics of the femme fatale and the gentleman, 1996), and Hikon no susume (Incitement for celibacy, 1997).[6]

Works
  • Akujo to shinshi no keizaigaku (The economics of the femme fatale and the gentleman, 1996)
  • Hikon no susume (Incitement for celibacy, 1997)
  • Surviving in an Era of ¥3 Million Annual Income (2003)[7]

References
  1. "YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2011-08-05. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
  2. "Exploring Akihabara, Japan's Electronic Market: NIPPONIA No. 46". Web-japan.org. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
  3. "In Japan, 'nerd culture' grows - World news - Asia-Pacific | NBC News". NBC News. 2006-02-05. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
  4. "ÉCONOMIE. Il faut taxer les beaux gosses !" (in French). Courrier international. 2012-04-27. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
  5. "Un économiste japonais préconise de taxer les beaux et de soulager les moches". Rtl.fr (in French). 2016-09-07. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
  6. "PORTRAIT. Takuro Morinaga : un économiste du célibat" (in French). Courrier international. 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
  7. Tanikawa, Miki (11 June 2005). "Income gap in Japan:Part-timers sink below poverty line". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
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