In historic step, Japan PM hikes tax; will cushion blow to economy

By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Stanley White TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took a step on Tuesday that none of his predecessors had managed in more than 15 years – making a dent in the government's runaway debt. Abe, riding a wave of popularity with economic policies that have begun to stir the world's third-biggest economy out of years of lethargy, said the government will raise the national sales tax to 8 percent in April from 5 percent. But at the same time he softened the blow to the nascent recovery. As the tax increase is set to raise an additional 8 trillion yen ($81. …