Tomomitsu Oba, a former vice minister for international affairs at the Finance Ministry and renowned figure in the field of currency policy, died in May of a heart attack, his family said. He was 94.
Oba was a key figure in the 1985 Plaza Accord with the United States, Britain, France and Germany to stop the U.S. dollar's rise against other major economies' currencies. Some economists believe the agreement led to Japan's asset price bubble that caused the country's prolonged recession when it burst in the early 1990s.
According to Oba's family, he died at a Tokyo hospital on the evening of May 11. A funeral and memorial service was attended only by close friends and relatives.
Born in Tokyo in 1929, Oba joined the Finance Ministry in 1953 after graduating from the University of Tokyo. He served as vice finance minister for international affairs for three years, beginning in 1983.
It was in this capacity that he worked with then Finance Minister Noboru Takeshita to successfully negotiate the September 1985 Plaza Accord for market intervention to promote the U.S. dollar's depreciation against the currencies of the other participating major economies.
In the wake of the agreement, the Japanese yen continued to rise against the dollar, and by the following year, it had gone from around 240 yen to the dollar to briefly reaching the 150 level.
But some financial experts believe Japan's subsequent interest rate cuts to keep the yen's sharp appreciation from causing a recession brought about the asset price bubble.
After his stint as the top currency diplomat, Oba continued to influence the government's international finance policy, including in his capacity as president of the Japan Center for International Finance, a position he filled twice for a total of 16 years.
Oba was a published author of books including a collection of business jokes, reflecting his belief that a measure of laughter was necessary for good negotiations even at the national level.
