In monetary policy, the Bank of Japan uses operations such as purchases of Japanese government bonds, and it publishes a list of the types of operations1. It also publishes the rate for uncollateralized overnight call money as a statistic, and this rate is TONA, the benchmark rate for the yen1. Its ordinary business is set out in the Bank of Japan Act and includes buying and selling Japanese government bonds and other bonds and extending loans2.

For financial stability, the Bank conducts on-site examinations at counterparty financial institutions under a contract with each of them, and also carries out ongoing off-site monitoring. It publishes its assessment twice a year as the Financial System Report3. The materials from its examinations can be submitted to the Financial Services Agency if the Commissioner of the FSA requests them4.

Notes

  1. Bank of Japan, "オペレーション等の一覧" (List of operations; our translation of the title) and "無担保コールO/N物レート" (Uncollateralized overnight call rate; our translation of the title) (both checked on October 13, 2026). The first lists the types of monetary policy operations, such as purchases of Japanese government bonds and the common collateral operations. The second is a statistic that the Bank publishes, including the times at which the preliminary and final figures appear. That TONA is the uncollateralized overnight call rate published by the Bank comes from the sources of the TONA term (in Japanese). ↩ ↩2

  2. The Bank of Japan Act (checked on October 13, 2026), Article 1 (purposes) and Article 33, paragraph 1 (ordinary business) (in Japanese). ↩

  3. Bank of Japan, "日本銀行の金融システムの安定に向けた取組み" (The Bank's efforts toward financial system stability; our translation of the title) (checked on October 13, 2026), on its on-site examinations and off-site monitoring, and on the Financial System Report being published twice a year (in Japanese). ↩

  4. The Bank of Japan Act, Article 44, paragraph 1 (contracts for examinations) and paragraph 3 (submission of materials to the Commissioner of the FSA) (in Japanese). ↩