Japan and the United States launch first joint yen-buying operation in 15 years
Japan's finance minister confirmed a coordinated yen-buying intervention with the United States, the first joint action since 2011, and said both countries stand ready to act again if needed.
On Friday, Japan and the United States executed a coordinated purchase of Japanese yen, marking the first such joint intervention since the 2011 earthquake response. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said the action was taken under the framework of a September 2025 joint statement to address the yen's sharp decline to a 40-year low of 163.99 per dollar. The intervention occurred during New York market hours and was intended to counter recent disorderly movements in the currency.
President Donald Trump confirmed that Washington acted at the request of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration, noting economic benefits for the United States. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent posted on social media that the United States would not hesitate to repeat joint measures and praised Japan's steps to correct the yen's undervaluation. Both sides emphasized that the coordination ties Japan's economic security to its alliance with the United States, and they remain prepared for further action if market conditions warrant.
Why it matters
The joint yen intervention signals a rare, high-level coordination to stabilize a major currency and could affect global markets.
How the sides frame it
HIGH AGREEMENTBoth camps report the same joint yen-buying operation and its rarity, but left-leaning coverage stresses the gesture of friendship and inflation impact, while centrist coverage stresses the official rationale of countering disorderly market moves and future repeatability.
LEFT
Frames the intervention as a rare cooperative move to curb a yen slide, highlighting it as a friendly gesture and its effect on import costs and inflation.
CENTER
Frames the intervention as a coordinated purchase aimed at countering disorderly currency movements, noting its historic rarity and signaling willingness to repeat the action.
The left emphasises
- rare joint effort to halt the yen’s slide toward 40-year lows
- Trump’s remark that the U.S. is helping Japan as a gesture of friendship
- analysts say the move aims to contain a sell-off that is raising import costs and inflation
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