Masaaki Shirakawa became governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) in 2008, after a long tenure at the central bank. His career spanned a series of significant crisis events in Japan’s economic history, including the economic boom in the 1980s, which was followed by a period of stagnation characterized by low GDP growth, multiple recessions, and persistent deflation. Shirakawa led the BOJ’s response during the Global Financial Crisis of 2007–09 (GFC). He also initiated the central bank’s contingency plan in response to the 2011 tsunami, earthquake, and Fukushima nuclear disaster before stepping down near the end of his term in 2013. This Lessons Learned summary is based on an interview with Shirakawa held in January 2025.
Cardona et al. (Mon,) studied this question.