Japan will strive to maintain market confidence by conducting appropriate debt management, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Tuesday, as the 10-year government bond yields broke above the upper cap of 0.5% set by the central bank.

Asked whether the Bank of Japan (BOJ) should take any steps to rein in rising bond yields and correct market distortions, Suzuki told reporters that such a decision must be left up to the central bank to decide as an independent institute.

Speculation is rife in financial markets that the BOJ will take further steps to address rising bond yields at its two-day policy-setting meeting that ends on Wednesday. It surprised markets last month by widening the 10-year yield cap.

"Government bond yields are set by various factors in the market," Suzuki said. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Christopher Cushing)