The man they call 'Mr BOJ' shaping policy behind the scenes

Tokyo

MASAYOSHI Amamiya is viewed as so essential to operations at the Bank of Japan (BOJ) that he's known inside the central bank as "Mr BOJ".

With the shift in recent months from a blitz on deflation to a long-haul campaign that's set to outlast governor Haruhiko Kuroda's term, Mr Amamiya is at the fore of managing interest rates and nudging consumer prices towards the BOJ's distant 2 per cent inflation goal.

The 61-year-old could also be among contenders in early 2018, when Shinzo Abe's g…