Masato Kanda
{{Short description|Japanese bureaucrat}}
{{Orphan|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Masato Kanda
| image = Masato Kanda 20240604.jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|01|17}}
| birth_place = Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan
| alma_mater = University of Tokyo (BA)
St Hugh's College, Oxford (MPhil)
| occupation = Senior bureaucrat at the Ministry of Finance
}}
Masato Kanda (神田 眞人) is a Japanese bureaucrat at the Ministry of Finance. Since 2021, he has served as Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs (財務官, zaimukan), the country's top currency diplomat.[https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/japans-kanda-reappointed-top-fx-diplomat-amid-markets-jitters-2022-06-17/ "Japan's Kanda reappointed as top FX diplomat amid markets jitters".] Reuters. 2022-06-17. Retrieved 2024-03-28. Due to the yen being traded in the weakest range in the past three decades during his tenure, his remarks on the possibility of currency intervention often make news headlines, in which he is sometimes referred to as the country's 'FX Tsar'.{{Cite web |date=2024-03-25 |title=Japan FX tsar Kanda says speculation behind weak yen, ready to take action |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/25/japan-fx-tsar-kanda-says-speculation-behind-weak-yen-ready-to-take-action.html |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=CNBC |language=en}}
He was born in Nishinomiya, Hyogo, in 1965. He attended Nada High School in Kobe, then went on to study law at the University of Tokyo.{{Cite web |title=毎日フォーラム・霞が関人物録：兵庫県（下） |url=https://mainichi.jp/articles/20201109/org/00m/010/012000d |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=毎日新聞 |language=ja}} At the university, he learnt international politics from Yōichi Masuzoe, later Governor of Tokyo. After graduation, he started working for the Ministry of Finance. From 1989, he studied economics at St Hugh's College, Oxford, from which he graduated with an MPhil."CHRONICLE October 2016- September 2017". St Hugh's College, Oxford. 2017-09-17. Retrieved 2024-03-28. Although most of his career has been spent at the ministry, he has also spent a few years each working for the World Bank and the OECD.[https://www.fsa.go.jp/inter/etc/20230405/short_bios.pdf "Short bios"]. Minister of Finance. 2023-05-08. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
In November 2024, Kanda was elected the 11th President of the Asian Development Bank{{cite news |title=Masato Kanda Elected as ADB President|url=https://www.adb.org/news/masato-kanda-elected-adb-president |accessdate=November 28, 2024 |work= Asian Development Bank|date=November 28, 2024}} and assumed office on 24 February 2025.{{cite news |title=Japan's ex-top currency diplomat Masato Kanda takes office as ADB chief |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2025/02/d572f897d5a1-japans-ex-top-currency-diplomat-kanda-takes-office-as-adb-chief.html |accessdate=25 February 2025 |work=Kyodo News|date=24 February 2025}}