The Japanese yen has declined to its lowest level against the US dollar since August 1998, prompting the government to take action.
While many central banks in Asia have hiked the cost of borrowing to mirror the US, Japan has not followed suit.
The Bank of Japan has maintained its ultra-low interest rates to support economic recovery, and this is one of the reasons the yen has fallen in value against the US dollar and other major currencies.
The numbers of Americans filing new unemployment benefits fell to a two month low, suggesting the jobs market is recovering after the flu, according to a report by the US Labor Department on Thursday.
This sparked buying interest in the US dollar, which drove it to a new high against the Japanese currency, at 140.23 yen.
The US dollar gained ground earlier in the week after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said the US central bank would continue to raise interest rates in the coming months.
More Asian central banks are about to hike, some larger than usual. He said that this should help offset some of the pressures from the strong USD.
However, Dwyfor Evans of State Street Global Markets told the BBC that measures to lift the yen could prove futile because of the gap between interest rates in Japan and much of the rest of the world.
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