Chart assignment
Charts to read and discuss
Read each chart, then answer its questions. Every chart shows its source and date; open it for a table of the numbers and the data to download.
Chart 1 of 1 · Federal budget
How much US debt does Japan own?
The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.
Japan held $1.07 trillion of U.S. Treasury securities in August 2026, up from $326 billion in March 2000. Its holdings peaked at $1.33 trillion in November 2021. These are Treasury's TIC estimates at the end of each month; the series has breaks when annual surveys revise it.
Questions to discuss
- In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
- Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
- Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?
Source: U.S. Treasury, Treasury International Capital (TIC) System, Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Aug 31, 2026
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