Japan's two-year government bond yield hit a 16-year high on Friday, as bets rose for a Bank of Japan interest rate hike after hawkish comments from the central bank's chief.
The two-year JGB yield rose to 0.47 per cent, its highest since December 2008. It was last up 3.5 bps at 0.465 per cent.
The BOJ maintained ultra-low interest rates on Thursday but said risks around the US economy were somewhat subsiding, signalling that conditions are falling into place to raise interest rates again.
"Comments from Ueda and the backdrop for his comments drove speculation the BOJ would raise its policy rate earlier than expected," said Naoya Hasegawa, chief bond strategist at Okasan Securities.
After the July rate hike, the BOJ had said it could "afford to spend time" scrutinising risks before making policy decision. But on Thursday, Ueda said the central bank would no longer use those words.
"By not using those words, the BOJ opened the door for the next policy shift as early as December," said Hasegawa.
The yields ended lower on Thursday as the market had a mixed interpretation of the BOJ's quarterly report, which mentioned the attention to the future course of overseas economies, particularly the US, strategists said.
On Friday, the five-year yield rose to 0.605 per cent, its highest since Aug. 2. It was last up 2.5 bps at 0.59 per cent.
The 10-year JGB yield rose 1.5 bps to 0.95 per cent and the 20-year JGB yield rose 1 bp to 1.785 per cent.
The 30-year JGB yield was flat at 2.205 per cent.
The 40-year JGB yield was flat at 2.545 per cent.