Japan says 3-day yen intervention lifted yen in summer
Total amount of 15.4 trillion yen marks Japan’s largest monthly spending on yen-buying intervention
Published Mon, Nov 9, 2026 · 11:51 AM
[TOKYO] Japan said it intervened in the currency market three times over the summer to prop up the yen, confirming previously reported actions that included Tokyo’s first coordinated operation with the US to support the currency in nearly three decades.
The data showing three days of intervention came as a surprise, as traders had previously thought action came over two days.
Tokyo bought a daily record of 7.98 trillion yen (US$50.4 billion) on Jul 30 and another 5.55 trillion yen and 1.87 trillion yen in the following days, according to the daily intervention data for last quarter released by the Finance Ministry on Monday (Nov 9).
The total amount of 15.4 trillion yen over those three days marked Japan’s largest monthly spending on yen-buying intervention. Japan and the US previously confirmed they jointly entered the currency market on Jul 31, their first coordinated operation to support the yen since 1998.
The rare joint operation with Washington had a big impact on the market initially. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said the intervention was aimed at countering disorderly movements, adding that they stood ready to act again if necessary.
The joint intervention convinced some market players that the yen’s prolonged weakness might have run its course, and Japan’s currency eventually strengthened to 152.89 per dollar in early September before paring gains. It was trading around 158.30 Monday morning in Tokyo.
Monday’s data also confirmed Japan acted alone on Jul 30, a day before a Bank of Japan (BOJ) policy decision. The timing marked a departure from recent practice, suggesting Katayama and FX chief Atsushi Mimura were experimenting with new tactics to catch traders off guard.
Previous interventions, including those during the Golden Week holidays, typically followed BOJ decisions or major economic data releases.
To fund the summer interventions, Japan likely sold some of its foreign securities, including US Treasuries, earlier data showed. Separate ministry figures released Monday put Japan’s foreign securities holdings at US$835 billion at the end of October, up from a month earlier.
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Still, the size of those holdings may not fully reflect Tokyo’s intervention firepower going forward.
Following the joint intervention, Japan and the US confirmed that Japan could tap the Federal Reserve’s Foreign and International Monetary Authorities Repo Facility to obtain dollar liquidity without selling Treasuries outright, challenging the view among some traders that Bessent’s opposition to such sales limits Japan’s ability to intervene.
The three-day intervention came less than three months after Golden Week operations, when authorities spent a then-record amount to support the yen. The currency remained under heavy selling pressure amid growing speculation that the interest-rate gap between Japan and the US would widen.
Tokyo and Washington have repeatedly issued warnings to speculators since the joint intervention. Katayama has stressed that the authorities’ stance remains unchanged and that they are prepared to take bold action if needed.
That adds to messaging from the leaders. US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed concern over yen weakness at their September summit, signalling resistance to further depreciation. BLOOMBERG
