Demand for English-language information about the Bank of Japan has grown in recent years.

The BOJ said that it recorded 450,000 hits on its English Web site in January, up 40 percent from a year earlier.

Overseas analysts apparently watch every effort made by the BOJ to lift the nation out of its prolonged period of deflation.

The site includes the bank's monthly economic views, statistics and the minutes of Policy Board meetings.

The number of visitors to the site started to rise in the first half of 2003, when it saw an average of 290,000 hits each month, up 26.3 percent from a year earlier.

Toshihiko Fukui became BOJ governor in March that year, prompting hopes he would do better than his predecessor, Masaru Hayami.

"The need for the BOJ to release information in English is getting very strong," said Hiroyuki Oie, head of global information services at BOJ.

The BOJ seeks more translators so it can expand and speed up the translation of documents into English.