The Bank of Japan’s new governor, Ueda Kazuo, marks a break with tradition

The memoirsboj boj of central-bank officials are rarely bestsellers. Ueda Kazuo’s book, “Fighting Zero Interest Rates”, about his time on the Bank of Japan’s policy board, certainly wasn’t when it was published in 2005. But it began to fly off the shelves after Mr Ueda became the surprise choice to run the when the term of the current governor, Kuroda Haruhiko, ends in April. Mr Ueda’s book is now sold out on Amazon Japan and other big booksellers.The rush to parse Mr Ueda’s views reflects the unexpected nature of his selection, which the government presented to parliament on February 14th. Investors had expected Amamiya Masayoshi, a deputy governor, to be picked and to continue with Mr Kuroda’s doveish approach, which is under . If approved, as seems certain, Mr Ueda will become the first academic economist to run the bank in post-war Japan, breaking with the tradition that the governor is drawn from the or finance ministry. Many wondered if Mr Ueda might also represent a break with current policy. News of his selection sent the yen climbing and government-bond yields rising, as analysts scrambled to learn more. One American asset manager titled his research note simply, “Who?”