* BOJ's Kuroda surprised with hawkish tone in first live briefing
* Stronger tone aimed at correcting expectations of further easing
* Central bank's policy and yen outlook unchanged
By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Izumi Nakagawa
TOKYO, April 10 (Reuters) - Japan's central bank governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, gave the yen its biggest boost in over seven months and sent Tokyo stocks tumbling with hawkish comments this week, but his aim was more to jolt market psychology than to signal a change in policy.
Kuroda seized the opportunity to speak directly to financial markets on Tuesday, when the Bank of Japan (BOJ) introduced live news conferences, reinforcing his core message that the recovery in the world's third-biggest economy was steadily banishing 15 years of deflation.
Nearly a year after unleashing an unprecedented burst of asset purchases - printing money to buy government bonds and forcing long-term bond yields lower - Kuroda has been consistently bullish about achieving his 2 percent annual inflation target.
But with entrenched expectations that the BOJ would take further easing measures in the next few months, he spoke more forcefully than before - and was heard in real time.
Previously, his media briefings after BOJ decisions were not broadcast live. Instead, reporters were prevented from publishing his remarks until the briefing ended, when summary headlines would spill out on traders' screens in a single barrage.
Tuesday's hour-long, live presentation featured some unusually strong language, and it hit its mark.
"I guess Governor Kuroda always appears to be brimming with self-confidence, but for people seeing him for the first time, this must have been vivid," said Izuru Kato, chief economist at Totan Research. "He was so confident, he may have seemed hawkish."
Most of about a dozen economists and market participants interviewed after Kuroda's performance said their forecasts had not changed but that the bookish central banker's bullishness may have pushed back market expectations of further stimulus.
Most also said the yen's pop was likely the result of short positions - investors betting that the Japanese currency would fall - getting squeezed, rather than a new uptrend for the yen, which has dropped sharply during Kuroda's year of easy money.
The U.S. dollar fell more than 1 percent against the yen on Tuesday after Kuroda's remarks, accelerating its decline in overseas trade to 101.55 yen, its lowest level since March 19. The Tokyo stock market, already closed for the day when Kuroda spoke, tumbled 2.1 percent on Wednesday.