Masato Kanda (神田 眞人) is a Japanese bureaucrat at the Ministry of Finance. Since 2021, he has served as Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs (財務官, zaimukan), the country's top currency diplomat.[1] Due to the yen being traded in the weakest range in the past three decades during his tenure, his remarks on the possibility of currency intervention often make news headlines, in which he is sometimes referred to as the country's 'FX Tsar'.[2][1]

Masato Kanda
Born (1965-01-17) January 17, 1965 (age 59)
Alma materUniversity of Tokyo (B.A in Law and Politics)
St Hugh's College, Oxford (MPhil in Economics)
OccupationSenior bureaucrat at the Ministry of Finance

He was born in Nishinomiya, Hyogo, in 1965. He attended Nada Junior & Senior High School in Kobe, then went on to study law at the University of Tokyo.[3] At the university, he learnt international politics from Yoichi Masuzoe, later Governor of Tokyo. After graduation, he started working for the Ministry of Finance. From 1989, he studied economics at St Hugh's College, Oxford, from which he graduated with an MPhil.[4] Although most of his career has been spent at the ministry, he has also spent a few years each working for the World Bank and the OECD.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Japan's Kanda reappointed as top FX diplomat amid markets jitters". Reuters. 2022-06-17. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  2. ^ "Japan FX tsar Kanda says speculation behind weak yen, ready to take action". CNBC. 2024-03-25. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  3. ^ "毎日フォーラム・霞が関人物録:兵庫県(下)". 毎日新聞 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  4. ^ "CHRONICLE October 2016- September 2017". St Hugh's College, Oxford. 2017-09-17. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  5. ^ "Short bios". Minister of Finance. 2023-05-08. Retrieved 2024-03-28.