TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is meeting Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa in Tokyo on Friday morning, Jiji news agency said.

Their meeting comes after the opposition-controlled upper house of parliament turned down a government nominee for the central bank's policy board on Thursday.

Opposition legislators argued that Ryutaro Kono, chief economist at BNP Paribas in Tokyo and a respected central bank watcher, would not be aggressive enough about easing monetary policy.

The BoJ's next policy meeting is April 9-10.