BOJ officials are working around the clock. Their mission: to carve out a new route money can take from the nation's banks to small businesses.
The project reflects a departure from a BOJ that used to wait for banking reforms to one that is ready to take risks that banks want to avoid.
As a first step, the BOJ is preparing to buy, through banks, securities backed by IOUs. The IOUs are held by small and midsize firms in exchange for products or services sold to other firms, payable at a later date.