Ex-vice minister Oba, renowned for currency policy work, dies at 94

Tomomitsu Oba, a former vice minister for international affairs at the Finance Ministry and renowned figure in the field of currency policy, died in May of a heart attack, his family said. He was 94.

Oba was a key figure in the 1985 Plaza Accord with the United States, Britain, France and Germany to stop the U.S. dollar’s rise against other major economies’ currencies. Some economists believe the agreement led to Japan’s asset price bubble that caused the country’s prolonged recession when it burst in the early 1990s.

According to Oba’s family, he died at a Tokyo hospital on the evening of May...