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Tuesday September 18, 12:52 PM FACTBOX-Profiles of Bank of Japan Policy Board members Sept 18 (Reuters) - Following are profiles of the nine BOJ policy board members: TOSHIHIKO FUKUI, 72, governor Fukui, a career central banker except for a short stint in the private sector, is the main driver of the bank's monetary policy and is is seen by some investors as one of the most hawkish members of the board. Since rates were raised to a decade-high 0.50 percent in February, Fukui has repeated that the bank will gradually raise them in line with improvements in economic and price conditions. He has underlined the need for rate hikes despite tame price growth, stressing that prices are expected to rise in the long run and the BOJ needs to keep on top of inflation. But the onset of a global credit squeeze sparked by worries over the U.S. subprime mortgage market prompted the BOJ to hold off raising rates, and Fukui has warned that market adjustments will take time. His term expires next March, as do those of the two deputy governors. TOSHIRO MUTO, 64, deputy governor A former finance ministry bureaucrat, Muto has worked closely with Fukui since he joined the central bank in 2003. He had been seen as a leading candidate to succeed Fukui but that changed in July when an upper house election was won by the main opposition Democratic Party, which says protecting the BOJ's independence from government means Muto, as a former bureaucrat, is unsuitable for the post. The Democrats and their allies have a majority in the upper house, which can block the appointment of a new governor. Muto has mostly stuck to the middle ground on monetary policy, rarely straying from the bank's official line. He said earlier this month that Japan's economy shows no sign of inflationary pressures, with prices likely to stay flat in the near term and rise only gradually in the longer run. KAZUMASA IWATA, 60, deputy governor Iwata, a former economics professor at the University of Tokyo, is widely seen as a policy dove. He voted against the BOJ's decision in February to raise rates to 0.50 percent, the first time a deputy governor has voted against a proposal by the governor. Iwata later gave his reason as uncertainty over the outlook for prices and softness in consumption. He said this month that although central banks should give priority to price stability as a policy objective, they should emphasise the need to deal with euphoria in financial markets. HIDETOSHI KAMEZAKI, 64 Kamezaki, a former senior executive vice president of Japan's biggest trading firm, Mitsubishi Corp, joined the board in April. He has broad overseas experience at the trading house. Kamezaki said in a newspaper interview in late June that the bank should take action promptly once it confirmed growth was set to continue. ATSUSHI MIZUNO, 48 A well-known bond strategist before joining the BOJ and the youngest member of the board, Mizuno is a policy hawk. He alone voted at the July and August policy meetings for a rate rise. Mizuno also opposed the bank's view on economic developments in July, saying the economy had deviated slightly upward from the BOJ's outlook report due to greater-than-expected strength in companies, households and overseas economies. He was one of three board members who voted against the bank's decision to hold rates steady in January. But he expressed an unexpectedly cautious view in late August, saying a cut in U.S. rates would change the basis of discussion amid worries about how market gyrations will affect the world economy. SEIJI NAKAMURA, 65 Nakamura, who joined the board in April, was formerly president of MOL Ferry Co Ltd, a unit of Japan's second-biggest ocean freight firm, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines. His career was spent mostly in the finance and planning sections of Mitsui O.S.K. In a newspaper interview in late June, Nakamura toed the bank's standard line that it had no predetermined schedule for rate hikes. KIYOHIKO NISHIMURA, 54 A former University of Tokyo professor and a statistics expert, Nishimura has backed Fukui's proposals since joining the board in 2005. Nishimura said in July that the bank should not wait too long to raise interest rates, while stressing that rate hikes would not necessarily come at fixed intervals. TADAO NODA, 60 Noda, a banking industry veteran, was among the three board members who voted against keeping rates steady in January, calling instead for a hike. He surprised markets by voting against Fukui's proposal to raise the Lombard standby lending rate to 0.4 percent at his debut meeting in July last year, as he wanted a higher rate. In July this year Noda said the BOJ must be convinced of the nation's economic strength before raising interest rates, because of uncertainty over consumer price trends. MIYAKO SUDA, 59 A former economics professor, Suda was among the three board members who voted against a decision to keep rates steady in January, calling for a hike instead. She also opposed the main economic assessment in the bank's monthly report for January, calling for a more upbeat view on private consumption. Seen as a hawk, Suda said in January that the BOJ should not hesitate to raise rates if it is convinced the economy is moving in line with its scenario. She was reappointed to a second five-year term on the board in April 2006.