Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa, after four months on the job, is making one of the world's most opaque major central banks more transparent.

When policymakers kept the benchmark rate at 0.5 percent Tuesday, they listed the reasons for the decision. Until July, they said nothing when they held rates steady. The BOJ is increasing the number of forecasts it publishes, and instead of just signaling the direction of borrowing costs during his news conferences, Shirakawa tries to explain his thinking about the economy.

The changes by the University of Chicago-educated Shirakawa, 58, bring the BOJ into line with moves worldwide to help outsiders better understand how decisions are reached.