The Tokyo Stock Exchange renewed its push today (Tuesday) to bring down the cost of buying Japanese stocks, asking about 270 listed companies to consider splitting their shares. Buying into any of them took at least ¥500,000 (about $3,050) at the end of June, because shares on the exchange trade only in blocks of 100.
Individual investors want that number far lower. TSE said in April 2025 that many of them are looking for lots priced in the ¥100,000s, well below the ¥500,000 ceiling the exchange itself treats as acceptable.
TSE published the letter, signed by President Ryusuke Yokoyama, alongside the launch of a Working Group on Further Promotion of Small-Size Investments. The group will “examine specific measures and other initiatives aimed at further facilitating small-size investments,” the exchange said, with meetings from October.
Retail Demand Is Pulling Lot Sizes Toward ¥100,000
Companies have been responding. Of the 276 that resolved splits in the 12 months to June 30, about 70% were aiming to land in the ¥100,000s, according to the material attached to the letter.
Before those splits, 45% of that group had lots priced at ¥500,000 or more. Afterward, on the exchange’s own calculation, 2% did. The sample leaves out foreign stocks, REITs and TOKYO PRO Market listings.
The pressure is coming from a retail base that keeps growing. Rakuten Securities passed 14 million accounts in April, helped by openings under Japan’s tax-free NISA program.
Across the market, 762 companies have resolved to split their shares since TSE last made this request in October 2022. The letter itself rounds that to about 760.
Sixty-Nine Stocks Still Cost More Than $6,000 a Lot
Sixty-nine companies had lots priced above ¥1 million (about $6,100) on June 30. Kioxia Holdings was the highest at ¥8.97 million, or about $54,700, followed by Fast Retailing, Disco and Keyence.
Some are already moving. Tokyo Electron, at ¥7.72 million, will split its stock five ways on October 1, and Organo plans the same ratio on the same day.
Furukawa Electric completed a 10-for-1 split effective July 1. The largest since the 2022 request was NTT’s 25-for-1 division in July 2023, which took its lot price from ¥418,900 to roughly ¥16,800.
TSE tied the request to the government’s drive to make Japan an asset management hub. International firms have been moving into Japan’s retail market alongside the domestic incumbents.
Brokers Built Workarounds While the Lot Rule Stayed
The 100-share unit is TSE’s own rule, and the exchange has kept it. Its listing regulations state that a lot priced below ¥500,000 is desirable, which is where the threshold in Tuesday’s letter comes from.
Brokers have been selling around the lot size for years. Monex Securities takes single-share orders on a separate screen it calls One Kabu, and SBI Securities offers the option inside its normal order flow.
Rakuten Securities runs an odd-lot service called Kabu Mini, and said in January 2025 that its limit-order function for those trades was the industry’s only one, based on a comparison of the five largest online brokers. Foreign firms have come at the market from other angles, with Interactive Brokers launching NISA accounts through its Japanese unit in mid-2025.
TSE’s study group put the average cost of a Prime Market lot at about ¥250,000 in its April 2025 report, against roughly ¥32,000 for S&P 500 constituents, the Japan Times reported.
Working Group Takes On Shareholder Mailing Costs
Trading participants, institutional investors, transfer agents and listed companies will sit on the group, with relevant authorities and industry associations attending as observers, TSE said.
Its agenda has two halves. One is a review of past efforts to cut lot prices and of where they sit now. The other covers measures to make small-size investing easier, including ways to lighten the load on issuers, such as trimming the documents they send shareholders.
Domestic equity commissions in Japan went to zero years ago, and brokers have competed on foreign stocks and digital assets instead. Rakuten stretched its US trading day to 16 hours in June.
TSE said the notice went to companies whose lot price stood at ¥500,000 or more on June 30, and asked for understanding from any recipient that has announced or completed a split since then.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange renewed its push today (Tuesday) to bring down the cost of buying Japanese stocks, asking about 270 listed companies to consider splitting their shares. Buying into any of them took at least ¥500,000 (about $3,050) at the end of June, because shares on the exchange trade only in blocks of 100.
Individual investors want that number far lower. TSE said in April 2025 that many of them are looking for lots priced in the ¥100,000s, well below the ¥500,000 ceiling the exchange itself treats as acceptable.
TSE published the letter, signed by President Ryusuke Yokoyama, alongside the launch of a Working Group on Further Promotion of Small-Size Investments. The group will “examine specific measures and other initiatives aimed at further facilitating small-size investments,” the exchange said, with meetings from October.
Retail Demand Is Pulling Lot Sizes Toward ¥100,000
Companies have been responding. Of the 276 that resolved splits in the 12 months to June 30, about 70% were aiming to land in the ¥100,000s, according to the material attached to the letter.
Before those splits, 45% of that group had lots priced at ¥500,000 or more. Afterward, on the exchange’s own calculation, 2% did. The sample leaves out foreign stocks, REITs and TOKYO PRO Market listings.
The pressure is coming from a retail base that keeps growing. Rakuten Securities passed 14 million accounts in April, helped by openings under Japan’s tax-free NISA program.
Across the market, 762 companies have resolved to split their shares since TSE last made this request in October 2022. The letter itself rounds that to about 760.
Sixty-Nine Stocks Still Cost More Than $6,000 a Lot
Sixty-nine companies had lots priced above ¥1 million (about $6,100) on June 30. Kioxia Holdings was the highest at ¥8.97 million, or about $54,700, followed by Fast Retailing, Disco and Keyence.
Some are already moving. Tokyo Electron, at ¥7.72 million, will split its stock five ways on October 1, and Organo plans the same ratio on the same day.
Furukawa Electric completed a 10-for-1 split effective July 1. The largest since the 2022 request was NTT’s 25-for-1 division in July 2023, which took its lot price from ¥418,900 to roughly ¥16,800.
TSE tied the request to the government’s drive to make Japan an asset management hub. International firms have been moving into Japan’s retail market alongside the domestic incumbents.
Brokers Built Workarounds While the Lot Rule Stayed
The 100-share unit is TSE’s own rule, and the exchange has kept it. Its listing regulations state that a lot priced below ¥500,000 is desirable, which is where the threshold in Tuesday’s letter comes from.
Brokers have been selling around the lot size for years. Monex Securities takes single-share orders on a separate screen it calls One Kabu, and SBI Securities offers the option inside its normal order flow.
Rakuten Securities runs an odd-lot service called Kabu Mini, and said in January 2025 that its limit-order function for those trades was the industry’s only one, based on a comparison of the five largest online brokers. Foreign firms have come at the market from other angles, with Interactive Brokers launching NISA accounts through its Japanese unit in mid-2025.
TSE’s study group put the average cost of a Prime Market lot at about ¥250,000 in its April 2025 report, against roughly ¥32,000 for S&P 500 constituents, the Japan Times reported.
Working Group Takes On Shareholder Mailing Costs
Trading participants, institutional investors, transfer agents and listed companies will sit on the group, with relevant authorities and industry associations attending as observers, TSE said.
Its agenda has two halves. One is a review of past efforts to cut lot prices and of where they sit now. The other covers measures to make small-size investing easier, including ways to lighten the load on issuers, such as trimming the documents they send shareholders.
Domestic equity commissions in Japan went to zero years ago, and brokers have competed on foreign stocks and digital assets instead. Rakuten stretched its US trading day to 16 hours in June.
TSE said the notice went to companies whose lot price stood at ¥500,000 or more on June 30, and asked for understanding from any recipient that has announced or completed a split since then.
