Ito Takatoshi author Columbia University. Center on Japanese Economy and Business contributor originator text Working papers New York Center on Japanese Economy and Business, Graduate School of Business, Columbia University 2004 This paper attempts to explain possible reasons and objectives behind 35 trillion yen (7% of GDP) interventions conducted by the Japanese monetary authorities from January 2003 to March 2004, and to discuss whether interventions achieved presumed objectives, made the movement of the yen flexible but orderly, and helped economic recovery. The motivation of starting intervention in January 2003 was to keep the yen from appreciating in the midst of financial and macroeconomic weakness. The economy started to show some strength in the second half, but interventions continued, with a brief pause of interventions in September. Reasons for interventions after September are two-fold. First, interventions provided opportunities of unsterilized interventions. Second, the monetary authorities were extremely sensitive to speculative activities in the market. Finance Economics 229 http://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:15099 English NNC NNC 2012-10-26 14:36:08 -0400 2012-10-30 16:35:07 -0400 9097 eng