Japan is taking a measured but attentive approach to global interest in central bank digital currency issuance. In his latest remarks published on Tuesday, Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda Haruhiko noted that the institution has not changed its stance and still does not currently have a concrete plan to issue a CBDC.
However, this non-commitment does not mean inactivity on the CBDC research and development front by any means. In October 2020, Japan's central bank pledged to begin the first of several testing phases for its own CBDC proof-of-concept. Haruhiko has now confirmed that these are due to begin this spring.