Capital Flow Watch

The Bank of Japan (???? Nippon Gink??, BOJ, JASDAQ: 8301) is the central bank of Japan. The Bank is often called Nichigin (???) for short. It has its headquarters in Chuo, Tokyo.
The Bank of Japan has operated continuously since its founding, with the exception of a brief post-WW2 hiatus when the occupying Allies issued military currency and restructured the Bank into a more independent entity.
In the 1970s, the Bank’s operating environment evolved along with the transition from a fixed foreign currency exchange rate and a rather closed economy to a large open economy with a variable exchange rate.
A major 1997 revision of the Bank of Japan Act (jp:?????) was designed to give it greater independence; however, the Bank of Japan has been criticized for lack of independence. A certain degree of dependence is enshrined in the Law itself, article 4 of which states:
In recognition of the fact that currency and monetary control is a component of overall economic policy, the Bank of Japan shall always maintain close contact with the government and exchange views sufficiently, so that its currency and monetary control and the basic stance of the government’s economic policy shall be mutually harmonious.