0139 GMT - The yen strengthens slightly against other currencies on the prospects of a swifter pace of BOJ rate hikes. "Markets [have] increasingly priced a faster pace of BOJ policy normalisation," OCBC Group Research's Christopher Wong says in a research report. BOJ Takata's recent comments that policy should respond "more nimbly on a meeting-by-meeting basis have prompted markets to consider whether subsequent tightening could come more quickly than the roughly semi-annual pace previously assumed," the FX strategist says. Markets also "price a high probability of a September BoJ hike," Wong adds. The U.S. dollar edges 0.1% lower to 156.07 yen and the Australian dollar is down 0.1% at 112.41 yen, LSEG data show.