I guess I have seen this before on previous trips to Japan, but if so it slipped my memory. Anyway people who see a picture of a Japanese politicanstaken over the next few weeks will probably see that they are sporting a red feather on the lapel of their suit, and indeed travellers to Japan may notice that many other people are also wearing the same thing.
One way that Japan gets by with lower taxes and less goverment than other places is that it doesn't really have a welfare state. Instead it has a system similar to that which used to exist in England before 1945 where there are lots of charitable foundations who provide assistance. The biggest one of the lot, similar in some ways to the US United Way - with which it is affiliated, is the Akai Hane or Red Feather. The Akai Hane is a voluntry organization which collects money primarily via an annual campaign that starts on October 1 and lasts until December 31 and spends it on all sorts of useful services.
It has a pretty serious budget, having collected some ¥20 billion (US$175 million, €146 million) in 2004, all raised by donation, and all in all it seems be the sort of thing that could usefully be proposed in Europe as an alternative to our welfare states. Obviously it is no substitute for all government spending but it would help communities provide the services they deem necessary without needing to get approval in triplicate fro 23 different ministries and departments in London (and possibly these days Brussels).