Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent plan sideline talks at the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in North Carolina on August 31 and September 1 to assess the effectiveness of their late-July coordinated yen-buying intervention and the outlook for currency markets, with globally rising long-term interest rates also expected on the agenda. Japan’s Ministry of Finance reported that yen-buying, dollar-selling intervention from July 30 to August 26 totaled ¥15.4 trillion (about $96.5 billion), exceeding the ¥11.73 trillion April-May episode and marking the largest such operation on record. Officials said intervention began on July 30 after the yen fell to the 163 range, followed by Japan-U.S. coordination on July 31 in which the United States is believed to have sold euros to buy yen—the first G7-coordinated action of its kind since the post-2011 earthquake period—publicly confirmed on August 3. The yen briefly strengthened to the 155 range before drifting back toward 159 by August 28, leaving markets wary of further action and focused on whether the Bank of Japan will deliver another rate hike in September as the wide Japan-U.S. interest-rate differential sustains depreciation pressure. Katayama’s G20 appearance remains her first major international outing since the joint operation, alongside attention on Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda’s possible attendance, Economy Minister Ryosei Akazawa’s parallel U.S. visit on the $550 billion investment package, and broader G20 themes spanning global growth, bond yields, Middle East spillovers and financial stability.