TOKYO, Jan 16 The yen edged lower toward a 13-month trough against the dollar on Tuesday,

TOKYO, Jan 16 (Reuters) The yen edged lower toward a 13-month trough against the dollar on Tuesday, getting little reprieve despite market expectations for a Bank of Japan rate rise later this week.

Although some sceptics remain, most market players expect the central bank to raise interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.50 percent at a two-day policy meeting that ends on Thursday.

But such a rate rise would be unlikely to give the yen much solace, since the BOJ is likely to take its time before conducting any subsequent rate increases, traders say.

A BOJ rate rise this week is mostly seen as a ''done deal'', said Yuichiro Harada, a senior trader at Mizuho Corporate Bank.

''But market players think any rate rise after that will only take place after the upper house election,'' Harada said, referring to Japan's parliamentary poll expected in July.

The dollar stood at 120.56 yen as of 0133 GMT, up from around 120.45 yen in late London trading on Monday, and near a 13-month high of 120.74 yen struck on Friday.

The euro stood at $1.2925 easing slightly from around $1.2935 in late London.

The Yomiuri newspaper reported on Tuesday that the Japanese government was unlikely to ask for a postponement of any BOJ policy board vote to raise rates at this week's meeting.

Government representatives can sit in on BOJ policy-setting meetings. They cannot vote but can put in a request to delay a policy decision until the next policy-setting meeting, although the central bank can disregard such requests.

Mizuho Corporate Bank's Harada said the Yomiuri report had limited market impact.

Even if the government were to ask for such a delay, it wouldn't make much difference as long as the BOJ goes ahead and raises interest rates anyway, Harada said.

Of 35 traders and analysts in Tokyo's foreign exchange and bond markets that took part in a Reuters survey on Monday, 29 said they expected the BOJ to raise interest rates this week.

REUTERS PKS BST0745