Japanese Investors Sold $29.6 Billion of U.S. Debt in Q1 2026

The $29.6 billion Q1 2026 U.S. debt outflow figure is corroborated by three independent sources: the KobeissiLetter X post (the original linked source, published 2026-05-17), a Bloomberg news article published May 13, 2026 ('Japanese Funds Dump Most US Debt Since 2022 as Fed Wagers Flip'), and the @marketsday X post citing Japan's Ministry of Finance data directly. All three agree on the dollar amount ($29.6 billion / ¥4.67 trillion), the asset scope (Treasuries, agency debt, local authority/municipal debt), the Q1 2026 timeframe, and the 'largest since Q2 2022' characterization. The underlying primary source is Japan's Ministry of Finance quarterly securities flow data, a government statistical authority. The claim's additional detail — that this ended a long stretch of net buying (specifically 11 consecutive quarters of purchases) — is also confirmed by the KobeissiLetter post. The small residual uncertainty stems from the Bloomberg article being paywalled and the Ministry of Finance primary data not being directly fetched, though the convergence of multiple independent sources citing the same official data is strong.