Masaaki Shirakawa (白川方明, Shirakawa Masaaki?, born September 27, 1949) is Governor of the Bank of Japan. His nomination to the post was approved on April 9, 2008. Masaaki ranks 6th on the world's most powerful by Newsweek along with economic triumvirs Ben Bernanke (4th) and Jean-Claude Trichet (5th).

After graduating from high school in Kokura, Shirakawa entered the University of Tokyo, graduating with a degree in economics. He joined the Bank of Japan in 1972, subsequently earning a master's degree in economics from the University of Chicago. His posts at the Bank of Japan included the head of the Ōita branch and an overseas assignment in New York. Shirakawa joined the faculty of the graduate school of public policy at Kyoto University in 2006, and returned to the BoJ in 2008.

This article incorporates material from 白川方明 (Shirakawa Masaaki) in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on April 8, 2008.