Washington and Tokyo reaffirm that the yen is too weak
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama held a call on the currency a day after Trump raised the weak yen directly with Japan's prime minister.
Assembled by Claude from 8 sources at 7 outlets · Friday, September 25, 2026, Evening edition, 5:22 PM EDT · no human byline
What happened
Japan said Trump voiced concern over the weak yen in his summit with Prime Minister Takaichi reuters.comjapantimes.co.jp. The currency had continued to weaken after both the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan raised interest rates last week japantimes.co.jp.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama then held a virtual meeting on Friday with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, supplementing the leaders' discussion asia.nikkei.com. The two reaffirmed their concern about the weak yen, and Bessent said the desirability of a strong yen reflecting Japan's fundamentals was discussed reuters.comenglish.kyodonews.netbloomberg.com. Katayama said the pair reaffirmed that the yen's undervaluation is problematic nippon.com.
Katayama also tied the exchange to an earlier action, saying the call reaffirmed the shared United States and Japan stance behind July's joint intervention, and that she and Bessent would keep communicating reuters.com. The currency responded: the yen headed for its best day in two weeks after the jawboning finance.yahoo.com, and the dollar fell as oil eased and the yen rallied on the Japanese remarks reuters.com.
Why it matters to investors
Two finance ministries publicly agreeing that a currency is undervalued nippon.com is a different signal from unilateral verbal intervention. It revives the coordination framework that produced July's joint action reuters.com, which is the reference point traders use to judge how far officials are willing to go.
The link runs through rates as much as through the currency desk. Both central banks tightened last week and the yen still weakened japantimes.co.jp, which is the problem officials are trying to address, and uncertainty about how quickly the Bank of Japan can keep tightening has itself weighed on the currency finance.yahoo.com.
For dollar-based investors, the sequence puts the yen inside the American policy conversation rather than outside it, with the Treasury secretary speaking to the desirability of a stronger yen grounded in Japan's fundamentals reuters.combloomberg.com.
What to watch
The first item is whether the language escalates from desirability english.kyodonews.net to a warning about disorderly moves, the step that historically precedes action.
The second is the Bank of Japan's pace. The market's doubt about how fast it can continue tightening is already cited as a drag on the yen finance.yahoo.com, and official statements about currency levels do not resolve that.
The third is durability. The rally came on remarks rather than on flows finance.yahoo.comreuters.com, so the test is whether the move survives the next session without further comment from either ministry.
Sources
- reuters.com: Japan says Trump voiced concern over weak yen in summit with PM Takaichi | Reuters (2026-09-25)
- bloomberg.com: Bessent Discussed 'Desirability' of Strong Yen With Katayama - Bloomberg.com (2026-09-25)
- asia.nikkei.com: US, Japan finance chiefs discuss yen after Trump raises concerns in summit - Nikkei Asia (2026-09-25)
- nippon.com: Japan , U.S. Reaffirm Yen's Undervaluation Is Problematic | Nippon.com (2026-09-25)
- english.kyodonews.net: BREAKING NEWS: Bessent says desirability of strong yen discussed with Japan's Katayama (2026-09-25)
- reuters.com: Dollar falls as oil eases, yen rallies on Japan remarks - Reuters (2026-09-25)
- japantimes.co.jp: Trump shared concerns over weak yen with Takaichi - The Japan Times (2026-09-25)
- finance.yahoo.com: Yen Heads for Best Day in Two Weeks After Katayama Jawboning - Yahoo Finance (2026-09-25)