The Ministry originated in the 6th century, when the was established as a
state treasury in ancient Japan. When a modern system of government was introduced after the
Meiji Restoration, the was established as a government body in charge of public finance and monetary affairs. It is said that new ministry employees are subtly reminded that the Ōkura-shō predates by some 1269 years when the new Constitution was imposed on the nation by the U.S. occupation forces in 1947. The Ministry has long been regarded as the most powerful ministry in the
Japanese government. After various financial scandals revealed in the 1990s, however, the Ministry lost its power over banking supervision to a newly established
Financial Services Agency. It also lost most of its control over monetary policy to the
Bank of Japan when the Diet passed a new Bank of Japan Law in 1998. In addition, it lost its ancient Japanese name when it was renamed the in January 2001, although its English name remained the same. In financial markets, the Ministry is famous for its active foreign exchange policy. Its top civil servant on the international side, Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, is often quoted in the financial press. Former Vice Minister
Eisuke Sakakibara was known as "Mr Yen", whereas his successors
Haruhiko Kuroda and
Zenbei Mizoguchi were often referred to as "Mr. Asian Currency" and "Mr. Dollar", respectively. The ministry has been criticized for attempting to stop major media networks from broadcasting negative informations against the ministry, mainly by hounding newspapers and others until a mistake is found in the declaration of incomes, whether it is a minor one or not. Among the newspapers and other media networks affected by this action are
Chunichi Shimbun,
Sankei Shimbun,
Kyodo News, and more. Following the
2024 Japanese general election, criticisms against the ministry skyrocketed, mainly due to the ministry hesitating to pass a proposal by the
Democratic Party For the People to reduce the income taxes. The ministry was compared to the
Aum Shinrikyo on the internet, with the ministry nicknamed "Zaimu Shinrikyō"(ザイム真理教) on social media platforms. Several protests calling for the dissolution of the ministry in front of the ministry were held from February 21, 2025. The protests, initially at the size of around a thousand spread across cities, with organizers holding protests in regional cities such as
Fukuoka and
Takamatsu. The lack of initial media attention towards this protest compared to others was criticized on the internet. The protests themselves received mixed reactions, with
Hiroyuki Nishimura describing the protests as "a waste of time, money, and power", criticizing the protests' lack of force to cause any changes. Nishimura cited French protests in the interview, referring to how buildings were
torched during protests.
Shigeru Ishiba denied the accusation that the ministry held too much power over both deciding budgets and taxes, referring to how countries such as United States had similar systems. People who attend these demonstrations tend to be supporters of the
Reiwa Shinsengumi and
Sanseito, as well as those steeped in conspiracy theories. == Organizational structure ==