Foreign investors are piling into Japanese government bonds at a record pace:

Open interest in Japan's 20Y government bond futures surged to a record 44,093 contracts last week.

By comparison, in July 2025, open interest was nonexistent when the Japan Exchange Group tried to revive liquidity after 3 years without a single trade.

This comes as cumulative net purchases by foreign investors rose to 3,615 contracts in the first week of February, 22 times above domestic participation.

At the same time, overseas investors bought ~14,000 contracts of 10Y JGB futures in the first 2 weeks of the month, one of the largest streaks on record.

Foreign appetite for Japanese bonds is surging.