The Finance Ministry has long been known as the most powerful and elitist of Japan's bureaucracy. When Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda repeatedly tried in March to appoint a former vice finance minister as the new Bank of Japan governor — only to be rejected by the opposition-controlled Upper House — some opposition leaders charged that Fukuda's insistence on tapping a former Finance Ministry bureaucrat was evidence that the whole government is controlled by that ministry.
But its power in recent years has seen ups and downs as it has undergone organizational changes.
Following are some questions and answers regarding the ministry: