BoJ Core CPI YY (Aug) 2.6% (Prev. 2.3%)

Episodes of sustained upside drift in this series have tended to front-load speculation on the pace of normalisation, with the transmission running through JGB front-end and belly yields first and the yen second, and the response in JPY typically strongest when the print arrives ahead of a policy meeting rather than in the lull after one. The distinction worth drawing is whether the acceleration is cost-push from import prices and energy or demand-pull from services and wage pass-through, since the bank has historically treated the former as ignorable and only the latter as validating tightening; the breakdown and the fresh-year pay-round pipeline are the usual tells. Watch whether board members characterise the move as broadening in subsequent commentary, and how the next Tokyo CPI reads as a lead. As a single print it confirms direction rather than changing the sequence; the calendar question is how it sits against the bank's own quarterly outlook revisions.