DEFENSE: Japan's leaders defended the economic strategies championed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a day after Tokyo stocks suffered their worst loss since the 2011 tsunami disaster.
BETTER COMMUNICATION: Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda acknowledged a need for better communication with financial markets and the need for careful handling of aggressive monetary policies aimed at breaking the world's third-largest economy free of deflation, or falling prices, that has hobbled growth by slowing investment and consumer spending.
STANDING FIRM: Kuroda, Abe and other officials said they will stick to the "Abenomics" program of extreme monetary stimulus, government spending and reforms aimed at reviving growth after two decades of stagnation.
