For Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda, this week's BOJ meeting is a go-through-the-motions exercise. He'll look across the table and get his colleagues' assessments of inflation and growth before standing pat on the BOJ's ultra-loose policies.
That's because Kuroda is really looking some 300 km west to Toyota headquarters near Nagoya. One reason he's eyeing Japan Inc.'s premier company is wages. Executives around Japan love a precedent, and none would impress them — and the BOJ — more than the auto giant sharing its expected $16 billion-plus profit with workers. Stinginess by Toyota and other corporate champions benefitting from his historic monetary easing is the reason Kuroda is getting so little traction.
There's another reason why Toyota is central to Kuroda's calculations: Donald Trump.