TOKYO, April 28 (Reuters) - Japanese government bond

yields edged lower on Monday, under pressure from a decline in

U.S. Treasury yields, with traders seeing little chance for any

near-term policy tightening by the Bank of Japan.

The 10-year JGB yield fell 1.5 basis points

(bps) to 1.315% as of 0427 GMT, tracking a drop of about 3 bps

for equivalent Treasuries to hit an almost

three-week low of 4.233% in Asian hours.

Benchmark 10-year JGB futures rose 0.21 yen to

140.64 yen. Bond yields move inversely to prices.

Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and Japan's top

currency diplomat, Atsushi Mimura, both on Monday denied a

weekend report in the local media, saying U.S. Treasury

Secretary Scott Bessent expressed a desire for a stronger yen

versus the dollar.

Any request from Washington over the exchange rate could

increase pressure on the BOJ to tighten policy more quickly. The

central bank is widely expected to leave rates unchanged at its

two-day meeting ending Thursday.

Japanese markets are closed Tuesday for a public holiday.

"Barring a joint effort by the U.S. and Japan to guide the

yen officially and substantially higher against the dollar, the

Bank of Japan is unlikely to face unreasonable pressure to raise

interest rates to influence the exchange rate," Mizuho chief

bond strategist Noriatsu Tanji wrote in a note.

Mizuho projects the BOJ will likely raise rates by a quarter

point to 0.75% by July but that will be the final increase for

the current tightening cycle.

The five-year JGB yield fell 0.5 bp to 0.89%,

while the two-year yield was flat at 0.685%.

The 20-year yield declined 1 bp to 2.21%.

The 30-year yield, by contrast, rose 2.5 bps

to 2.72%.