Japanese finance ministers have for years turned discussions about currency movements into an inane art but Hirohisa Fujii, the new steward of the world’s second-largest economy, is trying a different approach.

Currency comments in recent days by the loquacious Mr Fujii, a 77-year-old veteran financial policymaker, have repeatedly moved the currency markets, briefly propelling the yen on Monday to an eight-month high of Y88.22 against the dollar.