S/ Kanda Masato, Former Vice Finance Minister / They're totally filled, like this.

His shelves are packed with documents.

S/ Kanda Masato, Former Vice Finance Minister / Moving is a hassle.

This is Kanda Masato on his last day at the office of his former post, vice finance minister for international affairs.

S/ Kanda Masato, Former Vice Finance Minister / I barely had any weekends off.

During his three-year stint as Japan's foreign exchange diplomat, Kanda traveled to 60 countries.

He also dealt with global issues including Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

There was another thing that kept him busy.

S/ Kanda Masato, Former Vice Finance Minister / As we saw excessive fluctuations, we inevitably intervened for the first time in 24 years by buying the yen (in September 2022).

That was the historic depreciation of the yen.

While the market largely thought Japan would not intervene into the foreign exchange market, Kanda led such move multiple times during his term.

He explained why.

S/ Kanda Masato, Former Vice Finance Minister / If energy prices and food prices suddenly soared (due to an excessively low yen), that is unacceptable. If certain money-making moves end up jeopardizing the livelihoods of many people who lead normal lives, we must take some kind of action. Whether an intervention is working is what the market will assess.

He dealt with the currency market that moved around-the-clock.

To do his job, he was given many gadgets.

S/ Kanda Masato, Former Vice Finance Minister / There is a special one like this. There's just a whole lot of them.

He made full use of five devices to face the situation at hand.

S/ Kanda Masato, Former Vice Finance Minister / It's like a permanent battlefield. I will continue to be in one.

On August 1, he became special advisor to the Cabinet, a post considered as the brain of the Japanese government.

S/ Kanda Masato, Former Vice Finance Minister / The value of the Japanese yen has dropped to a third of what it used to be. Japan must increase productivity above all else through things like employment mobility and metabolism promotion. It's not about praying for things to get better, but implementing reforms in a positive manner with a healthy sense of crisis is more important than anything. We should not repeat aiming to maintain the status quo.

These were his thoughts he shared with us on what must be done for Japan's economic recovery.