Are taxes in Japan high by world standards?

The tax burden ratio to the national income of Japan in 2003 was 20.9% with the national taxes and local taxes combined.
The amount was 76.5 trilion yen.
The tax burden ratio in 1994 was 23.2%, and so there has been a gradual decrease.
The United Kingdom, at 41.4%, is one of the countries with the hiehest tax burden ratio.
In France and Germany the ratio is 39.8% and 31.2% respectively.
European countries generally have higher tax burden ratios than Japan, but the majority of their taxes are indirect.
If one has the impression that Japanese taxes are very high, that is because the direct taxes, or visible taxes, from one's income are quite hlgh.