🚨 Japanese Yen just broke 162.40, its weakest level since 1986. Beyond the July 2024 intervention low is entirely.

Japan already spent ¥11.73 trillion, $72.4 billion, defending it at 160 between April and May. The defense bought maybe three weeks before USD/JPY round-tripped right back through it.
Nobody is asking why the intervention failed so fast. It's not that Japan didn't spend enough. It's that intervention treats the symptom. The actual driver is the rate differential between the Fed and the BoJ, and that gap hasn't meaningfully closed.
You can sell reserves to buy yen all day. If the yield gap stays wide, carry trade flow refills the short within weeks. That's exactly what happened here.
Katayama said "we stand ready to take appropriate action whenever necessary." That's the same language used before the April intervention. The market has now seen this movie once. It knows the defense has a shelf life.
Next intervention buys time, not a trend reversal. Until the rate gap closes, 162 isn't a floor, it's a waypoint.