(Adds comment, updates yields)

TOKYO, June 17 (Reuters) - Japan's government bond

yields held steady on Tuesday as investors awaited the Bank of

Japan's policy decision due later in the day.

The 10-year JGB yield was at 1.45%, unchanged

from the previous session, after falling 1 basis point (bp) to

1.44% earlier in the session.

The Bank of Japan is expected to keep interest rates steady

at the end of its two-day meeting and to announce a slower pace

of reductions in its bond purchases from the next fiscal year.

"Investors cautiously await the exact amounts of the cuts in

the bond buying, but they also want to see any signs of the

final goal of the reduction," said Yoshiro Sato, economist at

Resona Holdings.

The BOJ began tapering its massive bond buying last year in

a bid to wean the economy off decades of heavy stimulus and

revive a market that had been left dormant by its dominant

presence.

The BOJ is under pressure from JGB investors to slow the

pace of its tapering after yields on super-long-dated bonds rose

to record highs last month.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance is also expected to

reduce the sale of longer-dated bonds to improve demand for such

bonds.

The five-year yield was flat at 1.010% and the

20-year JGB yield was also unchanged at 2.38%.

As of 0050 GMT, bonds with other maturities had not yet been

priced.