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The Bank of Japan and the Yield Curve: A Policy Regime in Transition

For decades, Japan has dealt with low inflation and weak growth, and the Bank of Japan has responded with unusually aggressive policy. Understanding its approach explains much of the yen's behavior.

The bank held short-term interest rates at or below zero for many years and bought large amounts of government bonds. Starting in 2016, it also adopted yield curve control, targeting the yield on ten-year Japanese government bonds around zero, with a band that it later widened in steps. Any adjustment to that band has produced sharp moves in the yen, because markets treated it as a signal about the future of policy.

The Tankan survey, released quarterly, gauges business sentiment among Japanese companies and is the main data release watched by traders. Other important figures include national inflation data and wage growth, especially annual wage negotiations in spring.

The BoJ's unusual stance means that interest rate differences with other countries have been large, supporting carry trades that borrow in yen. When the bank signals a shift toward tightening, those trades can unwind, strengthening the yen quickly.

Policy has been changing in recent years, so it is worth checking the current framework rather than relying on past patterns.

Authorities have also intervened to support the yen when moves were deemed excessive.

Practical step: look up the BoJ's current policy settings and the date of its next meeting, and add both to your calendar.

BoJ meetings have produced some of the biggest surprise moves in yen pairs, partly because they don't always prepare the market. Size down into those meetings even if the consensus is no change. The decision doesn't have a fixed time either, it usually comes out sometime around midday Tokyo, which is early morning for us, before the London open. So if you hold USDJPY or a yen cross overnight, the meeting can happen while you're asleep. I'd either close before or cut size and widen the stop. The governor's press conference later in the Tokyo afternoon can move the yen again, sometimes in the opposite direction to the first reaction.

Spring wage negotiations are worth adding to the calendar. Strong results there have been one of the main signals people watch for whether the BoJ can keep tightening. The first results from the big union federation usually come out in March, with updates over the following weeks. Strong pay rises support the idea that inflation can stay around target without the bank's help, which gives the BoJ room to raise rates. That tends to support the yen and put pressure on carry trades. It's not a release that moves the yen within minutes like a rate decision, but it shapes the bigger picture for the spring and the meetings that follow.