Japanese government bond yields remained under upward pressure, with the benchmark 10-year yield at 2.855% on August 13, up 1.5 basis points from the previous day and holding near a more than one-month high, as investors weighed persistent inflation pressure and growing expectations of a Bank of Japan rate increase in September. The move followed a sharp rise in shorter-dated yields a day earlier, when the five-year yield climbed to a record 2.1% and the two-year yield rose to 1.63%, its highest level since 1995. Japan's July Corporate Goods Price Index rose 7.2% from a year earlier, easing only slightly from June's 7.3% increase and keeping focus on cost pressures that could feed through to consumer inflation. Swap markets now price in a 75% probability of a BOJ rate hike in September, reinforcing the view that policy normalization is increasingly seen as a realistic scenario. Bond-market moves were amplified by thin Obon holiday trading, with low liquidity allowing relatively small transactions to produce larger price swings. The BOJ's regular government bond purchase operation on August 13 also weighed on sentiment after market participants described the outcome, including the bid-to-cover ratio, as weak. While yields have risen, other Japanese markets have remained relatively orderly, with TOPIX extending its winning streak to six sessions and the yen trading in the low-159 range against the dollar.