The benchmark 10-year JGB yield rose one basis point to minus 0.230%. On Friday, it had briefly dropped to minus 0.255%, its lowest since July 2016.

The 20-year JGB yield gained 1.5 basis points to 0.095%, while the 30-year JGB yield was up 2.5 basis points at 0.205%, both pulling back from their three-year lows reached Thursday.

On Friday, Der Spiegel magazine reported that Germany's coalition government was prepared to set aside its balanced budget rule in order to take on new debt and launch stimulus steps to counter a possible recession.

In addition, China's central bank unveiled a key interest rate reform on Saturday, in a move viewed as a guided rate cut, to help steer borrowing costs lower for companies and support a slowing economy that has been hurt by a trade war with the United States.

Those stimulus hopes helped both JGB yields and U.S. Treasury yields rise on Monday from multi-year lows.

Key 10-year JGB futures dropped 0.02 point to 154.83, with a trading volume of 15,686 lots by late afternoon trade.