Bank of Japan

Bank of Japan
日本銀行 (in Japanese)

Headquarters in Chūō, Tokyo
Headquarters	Chūō, Tokyo, Japan
Coordinates	35.6861°N 139.7715°E / 35.6861; 139.7715
Established	27 June/10 October 1882
Ownership	At least 55% of all capital must be owned by the Government of Japan[a]
Governor	Kazuo Ueda (9 April 2023 – present)
Central bank of	Japan
Currency	Japanese yen JPY (ISO 4217)
Reserves	US$1.12 trillion (October 2023)[2]
Bank rate	+0.25%[3]
Website	boj.or.jp

The Bank of Japan (日本銀行, Nippon Ginkō, BOJ) is the central bank of Japan.^[4] The bank is often called Nichigin (日銀) for short. It is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo.^[5]

The bank is a corporate entity independent of the Japanese government,^[1] and while it is not an administrative organisation of the state, its monetary policy falls within the scope of administration. From a macroeconomic perspective, long-term stability of prices is deemed crucial. However, the political sector tends to favour short-term measures. Thus, the bank's autonomy and independence are granted from the standpoint of ensuring long-term public welfare and political neutrality.^[6]

History

Background

See also: National Banks in Meiji Japan

Like most modern Japanese institutions, the Bank of Japan was founded after the Meiji Restoration. Prior to the Restoration, Japan's feudal fiefs all issued their own money, hansatsu, in an array of incompatible denominations, but the New Currency Act of Meiji 4 (1871) did away with these and established the yen as the new decimal currency, which had parity with the Mexican silver dollar.^[7] The former han (fiefs) became prefectures and their mints became private chartered banks which, however, initially retained the right to print money. For a time both the central government and these so-called national banks issued money.

Foundation and early development

A period of unanticipated consequences was ended when the Bank of Japan was founded in Meiji 15 (10 October 1882), under the Bank of Japan Act 1882 (27 June 1882), inspired primarily by the National Bank of Belgium (est. 1850) which was viewed as one of the best-designed European central banks of its era. Since then, the Bank of Japan has been partly privately owned. Its stock is traded over the counter, hence the stock number.^[8] A number of modifications based on other national banks were encompassed within the regulations under which the bank was founded.^[9] In 1883, all national banks were stripped of their banknote issuance privilege,^[10]: 34 and the Bank of Japan was given a monopoly on controlling the money supply in 1884. Still, it would be another 20 years before all previously issued notes were retired.^[11]

Following the passage of the Convertible Bank Note Regulations (May 1884), the Bank of Japan issued its first banknotes in 1885 (Meiji 18). Despite some small glitches—for example, it turned out that the konjac powder mixed in the paper to prevent counterfeiting made the bills a delicacy for rats—the run was largely successful. In 1897, Japan joined the gold standard,^[12] and in 1899 the former "national" banknotes were formally phased out.

The Osaka branch of the Bank of Japan is seen in the top right of this 1930 aerial photograph. The wide street in front of the bank is part of the Mido-Suji.

Since its Meiji era beginnings, the Bank of Japan has operated continuously from main offices in Tokyo and Osaka.

World War II and aftermath

The Bank of Japan was reorganized in 1942^[4][13] (fully only after 1 May 1942), under the Bank of Japan Act of 1942 (日本銀行法 昭和17年法律第67号), promulgated on 24 February 1942. There was a brief post-war period during the Occupation of Japan when the bank's functions were suspended, and military currency was issued. In 1949, the bank was again restructured.^[4]

In the 1970s, the bank's operating environment evolved along with the transition from a fixed foreign currency exchange rate and a rather closed economy to a large open economy with a variable exchange rate.^[14]

During the entire post-war era, until at least 1991, the Bank of Japan's monetary policy has primarily been conducted via its 'window guidance' (窓口指導) credit controls (which are the model for the Chinese central bank's primary tool of monetary policy implementation), whereby the central bank would impose bank credit growth quotas on the commercial banks. The tool was instrumental in the creation of the 'bubble economy' of the 1980s. It was implemented by the Bank of Japan's then "Business Department" (営業局), which was headed during the "bubble years" from 1986 to 1989 by Toshihiko Fukui (who became deputy governor in the 1990s and governor in 2003).

A major 1997 revision of the Bank of Japan Act was designed to give it greater independence;^[15] however, the Bank of Japan has been criticized for already possessing excessive independence and lacking in accountability before this law was promulgated.^[16] A certain degree of dependence might be said to be enshrined in the new Law, article 4 of which states:

In recognition of the fact that currency and monetary control is a component of overall economic policy, the Bank of Japan shall always maintain close contact with the government and exchange views sufficiently, so that its currency and monetary control and the basic stance of the government's economic policy shall be mutually harmonious.

However, since the introduction of the new law, the Bank of Japan has rebuffed government requests to stimulate the economy.^[17]

Boom and bust cycles

Japan money supply and inflation (year over year)

  M2 money supply

  Inflation

When the Nixon shock happened in August 1971, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) could have appreciated the currency in order to avoid inflation. However, they still kept the fixed exchange rate as 360Yen/$ for two weeks, so it caused excess liquidity. In addition, they persisted with the Smithsonian rate (308Yen/$), and continued monetary easing until 1973. This created a greater-than-10% inflation rate at that time. In order to control stagflation, they raised the official bank rate from 7% to 9% and skyrocketing prices gradually ended in 1978.

In 1979, when the energy crisis happened, the BOJ raised the official bank rate rapidly. The BOJ succeeded in a quick economic recovery. After overcoming the crisis, they reduced the official bank rate. In 1980, the BOJ reduced the official bank rate from 9.0% to 8.25% in August, to 7.25% in November, and to 5.5% in December in 1981. "Reaganomics" was in vogue in America and USD became strong. However, Japan tried to implement fiscal reconstruction at that time, so they did not stop their financial regulation.

In 1985, the agreement of G5 nations, known as the Plaza Accord, USD slipped down and Yen/USD changed from 240yen/$ to 200yen/$ at the end of 1985. Even in 1986, USD continued to fall and reached 160yen/$. In order to escape deflation, the BOJ cut the official bank rate from 5% to 4.5% in January, to 4.0% in March, to 3.5% in April, 3.0% in November. At the same time, the government tried to raise demand in Japan in 1985, and did economy policy in 1986. However, the market was confused about the rapid fall of USD. After the Louvre Accord in February 1987, the BOJ decreased the official bank rate from 3% to 2.5%, but JPY/USD was 140yen/$ at that time and reached 125yen/$ in the end of 1987. The BOJ kept the official bank rate at 2.5% until May in 1989. Financial and fiscal regulation led to a widespread over-valuing of real estate and investments and Japan faced a bubble at that time.

Japan bonds

Inverted yield curve in 1990
Zero interest-rate policy started in 1995

  30 year

  20 year

  10 year

  5 year

  2 year

  1 year

After 1990, the stock market and real asset market fell. At that time BOJ regulated markets until 1991 in order to end the bubble.

In January 1995, the Great Hanshin earthquake occurred and the Japanese yen became stronger. JPY/USD reached 80yen/$, so the BOJ reduced the office bank rate to 0.5% and the yen recovered. The period of deflation started at that time.

In 1999, the BOJ started zero-interest-rate policy (ZIRP), but they ended it despite government opposition when the IT bubble happened in 2000. However, Japan's economic bubble burst in 2001 and the BOJ adopted the balance of current account as the main operating target for the adjustment of the financial market in March 2001 (quantitative relaxation policy), shifting from the zero-interest-rate policy. From 2003 to 2004, Japanese government did exchange intervention operation in huge amount, and the economy recovered a lot. In March 2006, BOJ finished quantitative easing, and finished the zero-interest-rate policy in June and raised to 0.25%.

In 2008, the financial crisis happened, and Japanese economy turned bad again. BOJ reduced the uncollateralized call rate to 0.3% and adopted the supplemental balance of current account policy. In December 2008, BOJ reduced uncollateralized call rate again to 0.1% and they started to buy Japanese Government Bond (JGB) along with commercial paper (CP) and corporate bonds. ^[18]

Japanese bond market
Negative interest rates started in 2014.

  40 year bond

  10 year bond

  5 year bond

  1 year bond

  1 month bond

In 2013, the head of the BOJ (Kuroda) announced a new quantitative easing program (QE). This program would be very large in terms of quantity, but it would also be different in terms of quality—qualitative easing (QQE). In other words, the BOJ would (and did) also purchase riskier assets like stocks and REITs.^[19] In 2016, the BOJ initiated yield curve control (YCC),^[20] and started its negative interest rates policy (NIRP).^[21] The BOJ is also the largest owner of Japanese stocks.^[22][23][24] In 2024, following announcements of about 5% wage growth by Japan's largest companies,^[25] the BOJ ended eight year of negative interest rates by setting new short term targets of 0 to 0.1%.^[26]

Curbing deflation

Following the election of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe in December 2012, the Bank of Japan, with Abe's urging, took proactive steps to curb deflation in Japan. On 30 October 2012, the Bank of Japan announced that it would undertake further monetary-easing action for the second time in a month.^[27] Under the leadership of new Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, the Bank of Japan released a statement on 5 April 2013 announcing that it would be purchasing securities and bonds at a rate of 60-70 trillion yen a year in an attempt to double Japan's money base in two years.^[28] But by 2016, it was apparent that three years of monetary easing had had little effect on deflation so the Bank of Japan instigated a review of its monetary stimulus program.^[29]

Operations

Objectives

The comprehensive revision of the Bank of Japan Act in 1998 clearly defined the objectives of the Bank of Japan as 'price stability' and 'financial system stability'. This revision affirmed the Bank's operation independent from the government (primarily the Ministry of Finance), and removed the provisions established in 1942, which had been problematic. The 1942 provision, enacted during the Second World War, stated the objective of the bank was to 'Ensure the Appropriate Exertion of the Nation's Total Economic Power, by Regulating Currency, Adjusting Finance, and Maintaining and Fostering the Credit System in Accordance with the Policies of the State (国家経済総力ノ適切ナル発揮ヲ図ル為国家ノ政策ニ即シ通貨ノ調節、金融ノ調整及信用制度ノ保持育成ニ任ズル。)'.^[30]

BoJ's policies are decided at Monetary Policy Meetings (MPM, Kinyu Seisaku Kettei Kaigo, 金融政策決定会合), which are attended by the Policy Board and held every other month.^[31]

Price stability

Stable prices are maintained by seeking to ensure that price increases meet the inflation target. The bank aims to meet this target primarily by adjusting the base interest rate (known as the bank rate), which is decided by the Policy Board.

As of 2024 the inflation target is 2%. Japan has long suffered deflation and disinflation since the 1990s, which has been blamed as one of the main causes of the long-term economic downturn of the once world's second largest economy. For the past two decades, the primary focus of BOJ policies has been to achieve a stable inflation.^[32]

Financial system stability

Financial system is defined as the overall structure of receipt and payment as well as lending and borrowing of money, and its stability refers to 'a state in which the financial system functions properly, and participants, such as firms and individuals, have confidence in the system'.^[33]

Functions

The aforementioned objectives are realised through the exertion of the functions mentioned below.^[34]

• As the sole issuer of banknotes of Japan, BoJ carries out the issuance and management of Bank of Japan notes.
• BoJ implements monetary policy through methods such as policy interest rate (formerly known as the official discount rate) operations, open market operations, and reserve requirement ratio operations, thereby adjusting the volume of money in circulation to stabilise prices and the national economy.
• BoJ facilitates transactions among financial institutions using its current accounts, effectively acting as a 'bank for banks'. (Individuals and corporations (such as general businesses) are not allowed to open accounts with BoJ.)
• BoJ serves as the government's bank for the disbursement and receipt of public funds.
• As a 'bank of banks', BoJ ensures the stability of the financial order through smooth fund settlements via domestic exchange transactions and providing system collateral (acting as the "lender of last resort") through facilities such as BoJ's special lending programme (Nichigin Tokuyu, 日銀特融). Transactions in deposits and loans are restricted to financial institutions designated in accordance with the Bank of Japan Act.
• BoJ conducts international relations activities, including interventions in the foreign exchange market, with other central banks and public institutions worldwide.
• BoJ collects and researches financial and economic information, and compiles and publishes economic statistics.

Financial holdings

Bank of Japan owns 4.7% of Japanese public stocks.^[35] Since 2020 it has owned more domestic stock than any other body.^[36]

Location and branches

The Bank of Japan is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo, on the site of a former gold mint (the Kinza) and, not coincidentally, near the famous Ginza district, whose name means "silver mint". The Neo-baroque Bank of Japan building in Tokyo was designed by Tatsuno Kingo in 1896.

The Osaka branch in Nakanoshima is sometimes considered as the structure which effectively symbolizes the bank as an institution.

• Bank of Japan
• 
  The head office of the Bank of Japan located in Nihonbashi Hongokucho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
• 
  The Bank of Japan Osaka Branch
• 
  The Bank of Japan Otaru Museum in Otaru, Hokkaido

Leadership

Governor of the Bank of Japan
Incumbent Kazuo Ueda since 9 April 2023
Style	His Excellency
Appointer	The Prime Minister
Term length	Five years
Inaugural holder	Yoshihara Shigetoshi
Formation	6 October 1882

The governor of the Bank of Japan (総裁, sōsai) has considerable influence on the economic policy of the Japanese government.

List of governors

#	Governor	Took office	Left office	Previous jobs	Alma Mater
1	Yoshihara Shigetoshi	6 October 1882	19 December 1887	bureaucrat, diplomat	Yale University
2	Tomita Tetsunosuke	21 February 1888	3 September 1889	bureaucrat, diplomat	Whitney Business College, Newark
3	Kawada Koichiro	3 September 1889	7 November 1896	Senior member of Mitsubishi
4	Iwasaki Yanosuke	11 November 1896	20 October 1898	Head of Mitsubishi	Edward Hall's Family School for Boys
5	Tatsuo Yamamoto	20 October 1898	19 October 1903	central banker	Mitsubishi School of Commerce
6	Shigeyoshi Matsuo	20 October 1903	1 June 1911	bureaucrat
7	Korekiyo Takahashi	1 June 1911	20 February 1913	bureaucrat	Meiji Gakuin
8	Yatarō Mishima	28 February 1913	7 March 1919[37]	banker	University of Massachusetts Amherst
9	Junnosuke Inoue (First)	13 March 1919	2 September 1923	central banker	University of Tokyo
10	Otohiko Ichiki	5 September 1923	10 May 1927	bureaucrat (Ministry of Finance)	University of Tokyo
11	Junnosuke Inoue (Second)	10 May 1927	12 June 1928
12	Hisaakira Hijikata	12 June 1928	4 June 1935	central banker	University of Tokyo
13	Eigo Fukai	4 June 1935	9 February 1937	businessman central banker	Doshisha
14	Seihin Ikeda	9 February 1937	27 July 1937	Head of Mitsui	Keio Gijuku Harvard University
15	Toyotaro Yuki	27 July 1937	18 March 1944	central banker	University of Tokyo
16	Keizo Shibusawa	18 March 1944	9 October 1945	banker	University of Tokyo
17	Eikichi Araki (First)	9 October 1945	1 June 1946	central banker	University of Tokyo
18	Hisato Ichimada	1 June 1946	10 December 1954	bureaucrat (Ministry of Finance)	University of Tokyo
19	Eikichi Araki (Second)	11 December 1954	30 November 1956
20	Masamichi Yamagiwa	30 November 1956	17 December 1964	bureaucrat (Ministry of Finance)	University of Tokyo
21	Makoto Usami	17 December 1964	16 December 1969	banker (Mitsubishi bank)	Keio University
22	Tadashi Sasaki	17 December 1969	16 December 1974	central banker	University of Tokyo
23	Teiichiro Morinaga	17 December 1974	16 December 1979	bureaucrat (Ministry of Finance)	University of Tokyo
24	Haruo Maekawa	17 December 1979	16 December 1984	central banker	University of Tokyo
25	Satoshi Sumita	17 December 1984	16 December 1989	bureaucrat (Ministry of Finance)	University of Tokyo
26	Yasushi Mieno	17 December 1989	16 December 1994	central banker	University of Tokyo
27	Yasuo Matsushita	17 December 1994	20 March 1998	bureaucrat (Ministry of Finance)	University of Tokyo
28	Masaru Hayami	20 March 1998	19 March 2003	central banker	Hitotsubashi University
29	Toshihiko Fukui	20 March 2003	19 March 2008	central banker	University of Tokyo
30	Masaaki Shirakawa	9 April 2008	19 March 2013	central banker	University of Tokyo (B.A.) University of Chicago (M.A.)
31	Haruhiko Kuroda	20 March 2013	9 April 2023	bureaucrat (Ministry of Finance) President of ADB	University of Tokyo (B.A.) University of Oxford (MPhil)
32	Kazuo Ueda	9 April 2023	Incumbent	Economist at the University of Tokyo	University of Tokyo (B.S., B.A.) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD)

Monetary Policy Board

As of 9 April 2023, the board responsible for setting monetary policy consisted of the following 9 members:^[38]

1. Kazuo Ueda, Governor of the BOJ
2. Uchida Shinichi, Deputy Governor of the BOJ
3. Himino Ryozo, Deputy Governor of the BOJ
4. Adachi Seiji
5. Nakamura Toyoaki
6. Noguchi Asahi
7. Nakagawa Junko
8. Takata Hajime
9. Tamura Naoki

See also

• Japanese yen
• Economy of Japan
• National Printing Bureau
• Japan Mint
• List of central banks

Notes and references

Notes

1. The rest are publicly traded over-the-counter in the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TYO: 8301). Neither the Government nor the private investors have voting power over the Bank's operations^[1]

Citations

1. "Outline of the Bank : 日本銀行 Bank of Japan". Bank of Japan. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
2. Weidner, Jan (2017). "The Organisation and Structure of Central Banks" (PDF). Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek. Archived from the original on 28 May 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
3. da Silva, João (31 July 2024). "Japan hikes interest rates for second time since 2007". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
4. Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in Japan encyclopedia, p. 708., p. 708, at Google Books
5. "Guide Map to the Bank of Japan Tokyo Head Office. Archived 2009-06-04 at the Wayback Machine". Bank of Japan. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
6. "金融制度調査会". www.fsa.go.jp. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
7. Nussbaum, "Banks", Bank of Japan, p. 69, at Google Books.
8. Vande Walle, Willy et al. "Institutions and ideologies: the modernization of monetary, legal and law enforcement 'regimes' in Japan in the early Meiji-period (1868-1889)" Archived 16 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine (abstract). FRIS/Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 2007; retrieved 17 October 2012.
9. Longford, Joseph Henry. (1912). Japan of the Japanese Archived 30 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine, p. 289.
10. Cite error: The named reference Kahm was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
11. Cargill, Thomas et al. (1997). The political economy of Japanese monetary policy Archived 28 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine, p. 10.
12. Nussbaum, "Banks", Bank of Japan, p. 70, at Google Books
13. Langdon, Frank C. (1961). "Big Business Lobbying in Japan: The Case of Central Bank Reform". The American Political Science Review. 55 (3): 527–538. doi:10.2307/1952681. ISSN 0003-0554. JSTOR 1952681.
14. Cargill, p. 197. Archived 28 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine
15. Cargill, p. 19. Archived 28 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine
16. Horiuchi, Akiyoshi (1993), "Japan" in Chapter 3, "Monetary policies" in Haruhiro Fukui, Peter H. Merkl, Hubrtus Mueller-Groeling and Akio Watanabe (eds), The Politics of Economic Change in Postwar Japan and West Germany, vol. 1, Macroeconomic Conditions and Policy Responses, London: Macmillan.
17. See rebuffed requests by the government representatives at BOJ policy board meetings: e.g. "Minutes of the Monetary Policy Meeting on November 30, 2000". Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2010. or refusals to increase bond purchases: Bloomberg News. Archived 29 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
18. Kuroda Haruhiko(2013)財政金融政策の成功と失敗
19. "Quantitative and Qualitative Monetary Easing" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 April 2013.
20. "Bank of Japan: Japan Yield Curve Control Regime | Columbia SIPA". www.sipa.columbia.edu. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
21. Ross, Sean (15 October 2023). "Why Negative Interest Rates Are Still Not Working in Japan". investopedia.
22. Andrew Whiffin (1 April 2019). "BoJ's dominance over ETFs raises concern on distorting influence". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2021. the BoJ was ranked as a top ten shareholder in some 40 per cent of all Japan's listed companies last year, according to Nikkei.
23. "BOJ Becomes Biggest Japan Stock Owner With $434 Billion Hoard". Bloomberg.com. 6 December 2020. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
24. "BOJ's ETF buying not distorting markets: Kuroda". Business Times. Reuters. 28 January 2021. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
25. Kihara, Leika (19 March 2024). "Bank of Japan scraps radical policy, makes first rate hike in 17 years". Reuters.
26. Nagata, Kazuaki (19 March 2024). "BOJ introduces first rate hike in 17 years following pay gains". The Japan Times.
27. "Bank of Japan Expands Asset-Purchase Program". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
28. Riley, Charles (4 April 2013). "Bank of Japan takes fight to deflation". CNN. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
29. Stanley White (31 July 2016). "'Helicopter monet' talk takes flight as Bank of Japan runs out of runway". The Japan Times. Reuters. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
30. "安倍元首相「日銀子会社」論の背景にある狙いとは【解説委員室から】：時事ドットコム". 時事ドットコム (in Japanese). Retrieved 18 February 2024.
31. "Monetary Policy Meetings : 日本銀行 Bank of Japan". Bank of Japan. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
32. "無期限緩和、前倒し 脱デフレ「何でもやる」". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 5 March 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
33. "Outline of Financial System Stability : 日本銀行 Bank of Japan". Bank of Japan. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
34. "Functions and Operations of the Bank of Japan : 日本銀行 Bank of Japan". Bank of Japan. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
35. "Bank of Japan to be top shareholder of Japan stocks". Archived from the original on 24 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
36. "BOJ Becomes Biggest Japan Stock Owner With $434 Billion Hoard". Bloomberg.com. 6 December 2020. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
37. Masaoka, Naoichi. (1914). Japan to America, p. 127. Archived 27 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine
38. "Policy Board : 日本銀行 Bank of Japan". www.boj.or.jp. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.

Further reading

• Bank of Japan. Functions and operations of the Bank of Japan (Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, 2nd ed. 2012), online Archived 24 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine
• Cargill, Thomas F., Michael M. Hutchison and Takatoshi Itō. (1997). The political economy of Japanese monetary policy. Cambridge: MIT Press. ISBN 9780262032476; OCLC 502984085 Archived 28 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
• Hamaoka, Itsuo. A study on the Central Bank of Japan (1902) online
• Longford, Joseph Henry. (1912). Japan of the Japanese. Archived 30 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine New York: C. Scribner's sons. OCLC 2971290
• Masaoka, Naoichi. (1914). Japan to America: A Symposium of Papers by Political Leaders and Representative Citizens of Japan on Conditions in Japan and on the Relations Between Japan and the United States. Archived 30 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons (Japan Society). OCLC 256220
• Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 48943301 Archived 4 December 2012 at archive.today
• Ohnuki, Mari, Daisuke Murakami, and Masanori Takashima. "Research on financial and monetary history based on the records of the Bank of Japan Archives: a note." Financial History Review 17.2 (2010):273-280. DOI:10.1017/S096856501000020X
• Sarasas Phra. Money and Banking in Japan (1940) online
• Shizume, Masato. "A History of the Bank of Japan, 1882–2016." (Waseda University, 2016) online Archived 29 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine
• Vande Walle, Willy et al. "Institutions and ideologies: the modernization of monetary, legal and law enforcement 'regimes' in Japan in the early Meiji-period (1868-1889)" Archived 24 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine (abstract). FRIS/Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 2007.
• _____________. (2003). Princes of the Yen: Japan's Central Bankers and the Transformation of the Economy. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-0-7656-1048-5; OCLC 471605161 Archived 28 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Official website (in English)
• Building a national currency (1868-99)
• Japan and World Interest Rates, Interest Rates data and chart daily updated by ForexMotion