TOKYO, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Japan's 10-year government

bond yield hit a near 15-year high on Thursday, after U.S.

Treasury yields rose on stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation,

while investors braced for an early interest hike by the Bank of

Japan as the yen weakened.

The 10-year JGB yield touched 1.37%, its

highest since April 2010, earlier in the session. It was last at

1.355%, up 1.5 basis points from the previous session.

"The market turned cautious about the BOJ's interest rate

hike as U.S. yields rose and the yen weakened," said Takafumi

Yamawaki, head of Japan rates research at J.P. Morgan

Securities.

U.S. Treasury yields bounced on Wednesday after inflation in

the world's largest economy came in stronger than expected last

month, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve is

likely to pause its rate-cutting cycle for an extended period.

The U.S. dollar jumped to a one-week high against the

Japanese yen overnight.

A weaker yen puts upward pressure on import costs, driving

bets on the BOJ's interest rate hike.

The five-year yield rose to 1.02%, its highest

since October 2008, and was last flat at 1%.

The two-year JGB yield rose to 0.805%, its

highest since October 2008, and was last at 0.79%, down 0.5 bp.

The 20-year JGB yield rose 2 bps to 2.015%

and the 30-year JGB yield rose 2 bps to 2.32%.