Japan joined the World Bank Group in August 1952. Loans that were taken out by Japan focused on improving infrastructure, having electrical power generation, improving water, establishing basic industry development and improving transportation. Japan now is the second-largest creditor to the World Bank, and in 1970 established an office in Tokyo.
Shifting from Borrowing to Lending
Japan finished repaying its debt by 1990, at which point the World Bank and Japan established the Policy and Human Resources Development Fund (PHRD). Between 1950 and 1960 Japan was seen as the "Major Borrower" because of the total amount of loans they were taking out. At the turn of 1967, Japan graduated from "Borrower Status," instead becoming a creditor. From 1970 to 1980, Japan went forward to become the 2nd Largest Shareholder during 1984.
Japan's influence within the World Bank Group
Masonori Yoshida is the current executive director for Japan within the World Bank. Yoshida works closely with 24 other executive directors within the World Bank to fight global poverty and also focus on development with 189 other countries. Yoshida previously held the alternative executive director role from 2000 to 2003 and became the executive director for Japan on August 6, 2018. Masonori Yoshida has not only kept within the World Bank Group but has also jumped to the International Monetary Fund and served as the Adviser to the European Department. Japan's voting power within the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development is 193,708 number of votes and currently holds about 7.79% of the votes within the IBRD. In the International Development Association (IDA), Japan has a total of 193,708 votes and that makes up about 7.79% of the votes. In the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Japan has a total of 163,349 votes and has about 6.01% of the votes. In the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) Japan has a total of 9,205 of the total number of votes which makes up 4.22% of the votes. Kenichi Nishikata became the alternative executive director for Japan in July 2017. Nishikata served as the Senior Adviser for the executive director of Japan from 2006 to 2009 and then became the alternative executive director for Japan. Nishikata has held several different leadership roles within Japan which made him a perfect fit as executive director.
Past Projects
In total, Japan has had about 31 Loans from the World Bank. The final repayment was in July 1990. Since then Japan has become one of the top contributors that funds the World Bank.
Joint ventures with the World Bank
The Government of Japan and the World Bank Group both have joint ventures, used to strengthen the relations between the government of Japan and the organization. The joint ventures are the Japan Policy and Human Resource Development Fund (PHRD), Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF), Climate Investment Fund (CIF) and Learning from Mega Disasters.
Japan policy and the Human Resource Development Fund (PHRD) In the JSDF, the Government of Japan has funded $3.0 Billion US dollars. The overall purpose for the Japan Policy and Human Resource Development Fund is to help with preparation and implementation which involve the World Bank. The PHRD has been very innovative when it comes to climate change because recently has started co-financing projects that are completely related to climate change. The PHRD is one of the largest funds within the World Bank, and Japan supports it since 1990, and within the last couple of years the PHRD has paid for at least one-third of the IBRD and IDA loans. Japan Policy and Human Resource Development Fund has also been credited with pushing for innovations. The top ten recipients during Fiscal Year 2006 of PHRA TA Grants were Vietnam receiving 10.8 million, Azerbaijan receiving 7.5 million, Kyrgyzstan receiving 4.7 million, The Philippines receiving 4.2 million, Albania receiving 4.0 million, Senegal receiving 4.0 million, Kenya receiving 3.2 million, Nigeria receiving 3.0 million, The Gambia receiving 3.0 million and Indonesia receiving 2.9 million.