Japan spent 15.4 trillion yen, or about $96 billion, to support the currency between July 30 and August 26, according to finance ministry data reported by AFP via France 24. The ministry’s tally marks the largest monthly intervention on record and underscores how far Tokyo has been willing to go to slow the yen’s slide.
The intervention took place through the Bank of Japan, which acts under finance ministry instruction to limit the economic damage caused by sharp exchange-rate swings. That basic mechanism matters because it shows the action was not a one-off market reaction but a deliberate policy move from the Japanese state. The data did not specify the exact dates of each operation, only the overall window.
The yen had been weakening under pressure from the wide interest-rate gap between Japan and the United States, high oil prices and investor concerns about Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s spending plans. AFP also reported that the currency had fallen to 163.99 per dollar last month, its weakest point since 1986, before jumping to 157.40 on July 31 after a joint Japanese-American intervention.
That July 31 operation was notable in its own right. AFP said it was the first joint intervention by Tokyo and Washington in 28 years to lift the yen. President Donald Trump later confirmed the move aboard Air Force One, describing it as a signal of friendship and saying it was good for the world economy. The report adds a further layer: the intervention was not only about exchange-rate stability but also about broader trade and diplomatic calculations.
The piece also situates Japan’s moves within a longer history. According to AFP, the last time Washington and Tokyo bought yen was in 1998, while the July intervention was the first time since 2011 that the United States and Japan, along with other G7 members, sold yen to stop it rising after a major earthquake. Those references make clear that currency intervention has become an extraordinary rather than routine tool.
The yen’s weakness has a mixed economic effect. Exporters such as Sony and Toyota benefit when the currency is soft, but Japan also imports most of its energy, so a weaker yen raises the cost of oil and other goods. AFP noted that the problem is particularly acute while conflict in the Middle East is squeezing Gulf supplies, increasing pressure on import costs.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama had already signaled readiness to act, and the ministry’s latest figures suggest it did so on a scale large enough to reset expectations. Whether the spending is enough to arrest the trend is another question. AFP said the yen was still trading around 159.6 to the dollar on Friday, showing that heavy intervention may slow declines without fully reversing the market’s view of Japan’s currency.
Event date: 2026-08-28.
