The Bank of Japan has given a glimpse into the dark days it faced following the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers. Officials released the minutes from their meetings after the crash.

And they show the central bankers struggling to cope with a growing financial crisis.

The minutes cover 11 meetings, including one in September that took place starting the day after the collapse.

During the meeting, the BOJ's leadership reported that the financial market had completely changed, and was filled with tension.

The problems were just beginning as the economy worsened further. Officials at the Bank of Japan held a flurry of meetings to try and contain the situation. They coordinated with their counterparts around the world to inject huge sums of money into the financial system.

Then on October 31st, the BOJ decided to slash the key interest rate.

But the question was by how much. Officials were concerned that making it too low would disrupt markets.

Then-Governor Masaaki Shirakawa suggested a cut of 0.2 percentage point. But the vote was split down the middle.

In an unusual move, Shirakawa made the final call and pushed forward with his plan. The incident highlighted the precarious nature of policymaking in the face of a historic crisis.