 Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda during a news conference at the central bank's Tokyo headquarters in April. Photographer: Suguro Yuma/Jiji Press Interest rates are rising around the world and the Japanese yen is getting pummeled, and yet the Bank of Japan has remained steadfast in its commitment to keeping its benchmark yield as low as ever. A growing number of hedge funds are certain it can't hold out much longer, selling short the yen or betting against Japanese bonds.
If they're right, it suggests worldwide rates will rise further still, adding stress to economies that are already sputtering. On a broader level, it would signal an end to the global era of ultra-low interest rates. Japan was the first to initiate such a policy in the 1990s. Now it's the lone holdout, insisting that low rates are a requirement if Japan is ever going to snap out of its long economic funk. As for the investors convinced Japan will cave to market pressure, they aren't the first to bet against the BOJ. Some of global finance's bigger players have tried over the decades, and it's yet to yield anything other than crippling losses. Read The Big Take. | 
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