US Helps Prop Up Yen, but Japan Demands Trump Drop the Pokémon Memes
The United States joined Japan in a rare currency intervention to defend the yen on August 1, its first joint yen-buying action since 2011. Yet Tokyo is demanding it stop using Mario, Pokémon, and Naruto in government memes.
At the same time the United States has taken significant steps to support Japan's currency, Japan's government continues to raise concerns about copyright infringement, pressing Washington over its unauthorized use of it's beloved intellectual property in official social media posts.
Washington Steps in for the Yen
The yen had slumped to roughly 163.7 per dollar, its weakest level in about four decades, before the joint action pushed it back toward 155. President Donald Trump framed the coordinated currency intervention as a gesture of goodwill rather than a policy shift.
"They have a weakening yen, and they wanted a little bit of help. And we're always there for Japan."
Trump, Al Jazeera
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the US bought yen alongside Japan's Ministry of Finance, adding that Washington backs Tokyo's push to correct what officials call an undervalued currency. The last time the US intervened on the yen's behalf was 1998.
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