Even $2.6 Trillion Can't Buy You Love in Japan

Your move, gentlemen. That's the message Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda tried to communicate this week to a Japanese political establishment that doesn't seem to be listening.

For 15 years now, a revolving door of prime ministers, finance officials and lawmakers have blamed Japan's central bank for all of the economy's woes. If only the BOJ did more, the thinking has long been, deflation would be history, Japanese companies would rule the world again, and living standards would skyrocket. This mindset informed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decision to hire Kuroda one year ago. Kuroda didn't disappoint, unleashing the very monetary shock-and-awe campaign Tokyo wanted. When he unveiled an unprecedented easing program last April, the BOJ pledged that the monetary base would rise to 270 trillion yen ($2.65 trillion) by the end of 2014.