, Columnist
Kuroda Deserves a Second Term as BOJ Governor
The years of deflationary stagnation known as the "lost decades" appear to be ending.
The Bank of Japan governor may be getting a second term.
Photographer: Matthew Lloyd/BloombergThe re-election of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in October was welcomed warmly by stock market investors. The reappointment of Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda to another five-year term starting this April would also be viewed as a reassuring sign of policy continuity.
The Japanese tradition of naming economic expansions after Shinto deities dates back to the 1950s. A fitting name for the current period of growth, already the second longest since the war, might be the “Amaterasu boom,” a reference to the sun goddess who emerged from a long period of seclusion in a cave to bathe the land in growth-inducing light and warmth.