On March 20, 2013, I succeeded Masaaki Shirakawa as the 31st governor of the Bank of Japan. I wanted to convey in my own words my determination to do everything in my power to overcome deflation, the major issue facing the Japanese economy, at an organization that I was leading for the first time. With that in mind, I prepared my inaugural address for the following day, March 21.
"The BOJ is at a crossroads," I said in the address, trying to convey a sense of urgency to the deputy governors, policy board members, executive directors, and senior staff. The Japanese economy had been plagued by deflation since 1998, a 15-year period. There was no country in the world like this.
