Foreign banks that provided dollars this way would often put the yen they got in return into the money market, or buy Japanese bonds with it.

The Japanese 10-year bond is up a similar amount, to 6.3 percent.

But if interest rates on Japanese bonds also rose about the same amount at the same time, the gain would be intact.

Still, the Japanese bonds are attracting some investors.

After a rally that has lasted more than a decade, few people expect Japanese bonds to rise further.

"We have to imprint in investors' minds that they can't forget about Japanese bonds."

So he has lightened up on Japanese bonds, while emphasizing the yen.

Treasuries offer them a safe investment that yields a much higher interest rate than Japanese bonds.

The last quoted yield on 10-year Japanese bonds was 7.42 percent.

Yes, I thought Japanese bonds would buckle in 2010.