Did Japan Make a Mistake with its Sales Tax Hike?

The first stage of the sales tax hike (in April 2014, Japan's national sales tax was hiked from 5% to 8%) has clearly harmed near-term economic growth prospects. There are fears that the second stage of sales tax hike (projected to raise sales tax to 10% in October 2015) may be a bit too much:
http://online.wsj.com/articles/japans-decision-on-increasing-sales-tax-to-resonate-globally-1413148890