(For more stories on the Japanese economy, click)
* USD/JPY hits three-week low on Fed bond purchase outlook
* Japan intervened in September for first time in six years
* A strong yen threatens Japan exports, corporate earnings (Adds details, direct quote)
By Stanley White
TOKYO, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Japan's finance minister warned on Tuesday against further yen gains as signs that the U.S. Federal Reserve could increase bond purchases and disappointing data on the U.S. labour market weigh on the dollar.
It is "certainly possible" the Fed could end up buying more than its initially announced target of $600 billion in government bonds, Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Sunday, as the U.S. economy struggles to pick up enough pace to create new jobs.
Bernanke's comments have put a dent in the dollar and helped push bond yields lower globally. Should the yen continue to rise versus the greenback, it could leave Japan in an awkward position after it intervened in September to prevent a strong currency from harming its economic recovery.
"Since yesterday, there have been some one-sided moves," Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said at a briefing.
"I will continue to pay close attention to the markets. I'm not in a position to comment about specific monetary policy moves in other countries."
The dollar slipped to a three-week low below 82.52 yen earlier on Tuesday in Tokyo trade.
Japan sold 2.1249 trillion yen ($25.69 billion) on one day in September, finance ministry data shows, as Japanese authorities intervened for the first time in six years as the yen surged to 15-year highs against the dollar.
Japan has stayed out of the currency market since then, according to finance ministry data.
On domestic tax policy, Noda told reporters after a cabinet meeting that the government should not issue bonds to cover revenue lost from lowering the corporate tax burden.
He also said he could not decide now by how much the corporate tax burden should be reduced
The government is on course to compile its tax policy for fiscal 2011/12, which will serve as a base for drafting next fiscal year's budget due at the end of the month. (Editing by Joseph Radford)