Service is terrible. Interest rates on deposits are zero. Commissions and spreads on investment vehicles - funds, stocks, bonds, fx are terrible. Moving money out of the country is difficult and expensive. Interest on mortgages and other loans are almost 3% over the ten year JGB yield. And to top it off they pay lower tax on profits than their depositors.
I also don't mind paying high taxes. But roughly 40% income plus 8% consumption plus roughly 20% on investment gains plus 50% on inheritance. Seems a bit too high to me. I also have a problem with corporate taxes in Japan being lower than individual taxes. For years we have been sold the idea that that if Japan's largest companies are healthy, then Japan will be healthy. It may have proven true during the growth years, but now we should look at this tax differential as a subsidy from individuals to corporations.
