This article reviews the history and recent examples of large-scale foreign exchange intervention and discusses annual and series-by-series intervention amounts and their expected impact.
This article looks back chronologically at the record of large-scale intervention by Japan’s foreign exchange authorities, examining trends in intervention amounts by fiscal year and representative episodes from the past. In 2003, the annual intervention amount reached a record approximately ¥20.4 trillion, with dollar-buying and yen-selling operations conducted over an extended period. The total through March 2004 reportedly reached approximately ¥35 trillion.
In 2024, the annual intervention amount was approximately ¥15.3 trillion, with intervention carried out to curb the yen’s depreciation. The article explains that, in some instances, the yen reversed course and began appreciating immediately after intervention. In 2011, intervention totaling approximately ¥14.2 trillion was carried out and was said to have halted moves beyond ¥100 per US dollar.
More recently, in 2026, intervention to prevent yen depreciation was carried out in 2 episodes, during Golden Week and into the summer, and the total amount could exceed ¥20 trillion. Against the backdrop of the impact of changes in supply and demand over the short and long term, attention is also focused on how these interventions will affect foreign exchange rates over the medium to long term.