Masaaki Shirakawa

Masaaki Shirakawa (Japanese白 川 方 明, Masaaki Shirakawa, born September 27, 1949 in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese economist and was the 30th Governor of the Bank of Japan ( BOJ). He is also a Director and Deputy Chairman of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

After Shinzō Abe, Prime Minister of Japan since 26 December 2012 had already announced Shirakawa's not to renew expiring term of office, he was succeeded on March 20, 2013 Haruhiko Kuroda.

Life

Childhood and education

Shirakawa was born in Fukuoka prefecture. and studied at the University of Tokyo in 1977, he completed an MA in economics at the University of Chicago from.

Career

After his debut at the Bank of Japan, he was appointed in 2006 professor at the Kyoto University School of Government. In 2008, he returned as governor of the Bank of Japan after Toshirō Muto and Koji Tanami had been rejected by the opposition majority in the Senate and threatened a leadership vacuum at the top of the bank. Since April 2009 he is member of the Group of Thirty.