Japan’s top currency diplomat, Atsushi Mimura, has warned financial markets to take seriously Tokyo’s message that it is prepared to respond to excessive weakness in the yen.
Mimura said Japan’s prime minister, finance minister and the United States had delivered a “very clear” message about concerns over the yen’s recent decline. He added that he would closely monitor whether markets continued to heed the warning.
The comments come after US President Donald Trump raised concerns about yen weakness during talks with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also discussed the currency during a telephone conversation, with both sides acknowledging concerns over the yen’s valuation.
Mimura declined to say whether Japan was considering another intervention in the foreign-exchange market. However, he said he remained neither satisfied nor reassured by recent movements in the currency, signalling that Japanese authorities continue to monitor the market closely.
The yen has remained under pressure despite a recent Bank of Japan interest-rate increase, with investors watching the gap between Japanese and US interest rates and assessing the possibility of further policy action.
A sustained yen decline could increase import costs for Japan, particularly for energy and other commodities, while adding pressure to household and business spending.
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