A lot rides on Masaaki Shirakawa's final year as governor of the Bank of Japan. While his report card is not yet in, he still must battle with the demon called deflation. While Shirakawa has won plaudits for the way he steered the domestic economy in times of crisis, he has his detractors. They say he dropped the ball when it came to nailing deflation and taking the wind out of the strong yen. Amid growing calls from politicians for monetary easing, there is keen interest over who will succeed him. On the morning on April 6, Shirakawa met with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda at a hotel in Tokyo. Afterward, Shirakawa ... (full story)