Japan just spent roughly $72 to $73 billion trying to prop up the yen. And according to the country’s top currency diplomat, Washington didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow.
Atsushi Mimura, Japan’s Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs, confirmed that the United States has not objected to Japan’s currency intervention since late April. In a June interview, he went further, stating the two nations are “in complete agreement” on foreign exchange issues.
The intervention playbook
Japan launched its yen-buying operation on April 30, 2026, marking the first substantial intervention since July 2024. The total buying across April and May amounted to approximately 11.7 trillion yen, or between $72 and $73 billion.
The Japanese currency had been sliding toward 40-year lows, driven by a widening gap between the Bank of Japan’s ultra-accommodative monetary policy and tighter rates elsewhere. By June 30, the yen hit a fresh multi-decade low despite all that intervention spending.
