Japan is wagering that a hawkish shift at the Bank of Japan and an endorsement from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent can give yen-buying intervention extra bite and help slow the embattled currency¡¯s slide.

It is a strategy reliant on a small cast of heavyweights ¡ª the BOJ, the Japanese finance ministry and Washington ¡ª and aimed less at a dramatic turnaround than at raising the cost of betting against the yen.

Gov. Kazuo Ueda¡¯s hawkish pivot last month marked an inflection point, bringing the central bank into rare alignment with the ?Ministry of Finance (MOF) and presenting markets with a more unified front as authorities seek to arrest the yen¡¯s decline.