The is one of the cabinet-level ministries of the Japanese government. The ministry was named the until 2001. The Ministry is headed by the , who is a member of the Cabinet and is typically chosen from members of the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

by the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Overview

The Ministry originated in the 6th century, when the was established as a

state treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

in ancient Japan. When a modern system of government was introduced after the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, the was established as a government body in charge of public finance and monetary affairs. It is said that new ministry employees are subtly reminded that the Ōkura-shō predates by some 1269 years when the new Constitution was imposed on the nation by the U.S. occupation forces in 1947. The Ministry has long been regarded as the most powerful ministry in the Japanese government. After various financial scandals revealed in the 1990s, however, the Ministry lost its power over banking supervision to a newly established

Financial Services Agency The is a Japanese government agency and an integrated financial regulator responsible for overseeing banking, securities and exchange, and insurance sectors in order to ensure the stability of the financial system of Japan. The agency operate ...

. It also lost most of its control over monetary policy to the Bank of Japan when the Diet passed a new Bank of Japan Law in 1998. In addition, it lost its ancient Japanese name when it was renamed the in January 2001, although its English name remained the same. In financial markets, the Ministry is famous for its active foreign exchange policy. Its top civil servant on the international side, Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, is often quoted in the financial press. Former Vice Minister Eisuke Sakakibara was known as "Mr Yen", whereas his successors

Haruhiko Kuroda is a Japanese banker and a former Ministry of Finance government official. He serves as the 31st and current Governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ). He was formerly the President of the Asian Development Bank from 1 February 2005 to 18 March 2013. ...

and Zenbei Mizoguchi were often referred to as "Mr. Asian Currency" and "Mr. Dollar", respectively. Toshio Akagi's wife performed the signature activity of a request for a re-investigation request to investigate the truth about the suicide of a staff member of Kinki Finance Bureau of the Ministry of Finance who was forced to tamper with official documents in relation to the Mori friend case, the fastest record ever in Japan The signatures of 260,000 people gathered, resulting in a total of 300,000 signatures.

Organizational structure

The Ministry is organized in six bureaus that provide the overall functions of the ministry: * Minister's Secretariat * Budget Bureau * Tax Bureau * Customs and Tariff Bureau * Financial Bureau * International Bureau

Independent Administrative Institutions

Six

Independent Administrative Institution An Incorporated Administrative Agency (独立行政法人, ''Dokuritsu gyōsei hōjin'' or ''Dokugyo'' in abbreviation) is a type of legal corporation formulated by the Government of Japan under the Act on General Rules for Incorporated Administrat ...

s are under the Ministry's control: *

Japan Mint The is an Independent Administrative Institution of the Japanese government, responsible for producing and circulating the coins of Japan. The agency has its head office in Osaka with branches in Saitama and Hiroshima. The Japan Mint does not ...

National Printing Bureau (NPB) is a Japanese governmental agency in charge of the production of Japanese paper money, Japanese yen. It also produces various other products, such as postage stamps and the official governmental gazette. History The Paper Money Office w ...

*National Research Institute of Brewing *Nippon Automated Cargo Clearance System *Commemorative Organization for the Japan World Exposition '70 *Japan Housing Finance Agency

Incidents

*On May 20 2022, the deputy vice minister for policy planning and coordination in the Ministry of Finance was arrested for beating and kicking a fellow passenger on a train in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

References

* Hartcher. (1998) ''The Ministry: The Inside Story of Japan's Ministry of Finance.'' New York:

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

. .

External links

Official website
{{authority control Finance Japan Anti-dumping authorities 2001 establishments in Japan Customs services