Less than three weeks before the Bank of Japan's next scheduled policy meeting, Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda met with former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke over lunch on Monday.
The BOJ issued no statement on the substance of the talks, which come as the central bank confronts a fresh strengthening in the yen this year that risks undermining inflation and weakening the appetite for investment and wage increases. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met Bernanke at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, according to Abe's office.
For Bernanke, offering views on Japan's challenges and policy options would be nothing new. He delivered a famous 2003 speech calling for greater cooperation between monetary and fiscal policy makers to defeat deflation and spur the economy.