Fukui Toshihiko

Fukui Toshihikois a Japanese economist and banker who served as governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) from 2003 to 2008.

Fukui earned a law degree from the University of Tokyo in 1958 and upon graduation embarked on a long career with the BOJ. Over the next 40 years, he was appointed to a succession of increasingly responsible positions, including general manager of the Takamatsu branch in 1980; director-general of the banking department in 1986; director-general of the office of policy planning in 1989; and deputy governor of the central bank in 1994.

As BOJ deputy governor, Fukui was widely viewed as the successor-in-waiting to the governor, Matsushita Yasuo, but in 1998 both men resigned their posts in the wake of a bribery scandal involving a senior BOJ official. Fukui subsequently accepted the chairmanship of the Fujitsu Research Institute, a private think tank. In 2001 he was named vice-chairperson of Keizai Doyukai (the Japan Association of Corporate Executives). Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro selected Fukui to replace retiring Hayami Masaru as BOJ governor in March 2003.

Fukui quickly implemented a number of radical policies, including “monetary easing,” which in effect involved flooding the markets with cash in part through increased stock buys from commercial banks. The move had its intended effect, greatly slowing the deflationary pressures that had been blamed for much of the economic malaise that had beset Japan since the early 1990s. During his first year as BOJ governor, the country’s Nikkei-225 stock average showed its best annual performance in three decades, the Japanese economy posted a robust gain, employment numbers increased, export rates grew, and the Japanese yen was traded at its highest level in four years. Although he maintained a somewhat more cautious approach over the next few years, Fukui gained a reputation as one of the world’s strongest central bankers. His term as BOJ governor ended in 2008, and he was succeeded by Shirakawa Masaaki.