Two days of talks last week between finance chiefs from the world's biggest advanced economies at a hot springs resort in Sendai were marked by some of the sharpest dissonance in years between the U.S. and Japan over exchange-rate policies.
The tensions at the gathering of Group of Seven central bank governors and finance ministers highlighted a lingering division between the G-7's two biggest members over the trading conditions that can justify government intervention in currency markets.
Underscoring the wider challenge of tackling the global slowdown, the policymakers agreed on common risks to the international economy but showed no appetite for laying down a shared strategy to combat the problem.