Japanese corporate disclosure & shareholder communication
What can overseas investors actually find?
Japan IR Index examines the information Japanese companies publish in English. We give IR teams and CFOs a practical basis for identifying gaps, comparing peers and deciding what to improve next.
Every number on this site comes from a document you can open yourself.Free to read, and no company pays to be covered. Why
Featured article
The English notice asks you to vote. The voting website is in Japanese.
Most English AGM notices send voters to a website with no English screens. Who this affects, and what a notice should say.
Key findings
All six findings →Counts below use the existing assessments of the 128 covered companies. Scores of 0–2 identify items worth reviewing; unreviewed items are counted separately. A “not found” answer counts as 0, so the same counts can be recomputed from the answers CSV on the data page (rows with status not_found). Review dates differ. These figures are neither market-wide estimates nor counts of regulatory breaches.
- 2026-10The English notice asks you to vote. The voting website is in Japanese.Most English AGM notices send voters to a website with no English screens. Who this affects, and what a notice should say.
- 2026-10Explaining a capital decision so investors can judge itPlans usually explain why a use of capital pays; single decisions such as buybacks and acquisitions rarely do. The four questions investors ask, with examples of clear explanations.
- 2026-10Six gaps in English IR, from 128 companiesThe six questions with the most companies scoring 0–2, how they differ by industry, and the fixes.
- 2026-10What shareholders asked at AGMs in 2026The questions in the published AGM Q&A summaries of TSE Prime companies in four sectors, counted by theme.
Find a company
All companies →Search the 128 companies covered.
The questions long-term foreign investors and activists actually put to Japanese boards, in shareholder proposals and engagement: how each was asked, what an answer needs to contain, and how companies answered and shareholders voted, from timely disclosures and extraordinary reports. Use it to prepare an AGM Q&A book.
- 01Excess capital and capital efficiency"Aren't you holding too much equity and cash?" Answered with the cost of equity, a target capital structure and a cash allocation.
- 03Unwinding cross-shareholdings"Why keep them, and how far will you cut them, by when?" Balances, targets, deadlines and annual reviews.
- 05Board composition, election and removalRemoval, election and term proposals. They pass on a simple majority, so the outcome can actually move.
- 10The economics of M&A and disposals"What are you paying, what will you earn back over how many years, and at what price do you walk away?"
Recently updated records
Explore company reviews →A corrected record means we fixed our own errors; it is not a change in the company’s disclosure.
| Company | Ticker | English-disclosure score / 100 | Coverage | Updated | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| THK | 6481 | 81.5 | 34/34 | 2026-10-23 | Record corrected (19 answers) |
| Taiheiyo Metal | 5541 | 78.3 | 34/34 | 2026-10-23 | Record corrected (20 answers) |
| Sodick | 6143 | 84.3 | 34/34 | 2026-10-23 | Record corrected (15 answers) |
| SMC | 6273 | 81.0 | 34/34 | 2026-10-23 | Record corrected (17 answers) |
| Sapporo Holdings | 2501 | 85.0 | 34/34 | 2026-10-23 | Record corrected (9 answers) |
| Sanken Electric | 6707 | 76.5 | 34/34 | 2026-10-23 | Record corrected (16 answers) |
| REPROCELL | 4978 | 47.2 | 34/34 | 2026-10-23 | Record corrected (10 answers) |
| Nabtesco | 6268 | 94.3 | 34/34 | 2026-10-23 | Record corrected (6 answers) |
| Marumae | 6264 | 76.4 | 34/34 | 2026-10-23 | Record corrected (18 answers) |
| Kuroda Precision | 7726 | 21.0 | 34/34 | 2026-10-23 | Record corrected (12 answers) |
Tools and methodology
- Improvement guidesWhat to fix first, and what it takes.
- Peer practices and examplesFor each question, documents from companies at the top score.
- Self-audit checklistCheck your own disclosure on the 34 questions, in Excel or PDF.
- Download the dataEvery answer and score, as CSV.
- MethodologyThe 34 questions, the scoring and how we check.
About the Index
Since April 2025, domestic companies listed on the Prime Market have been required to disclose financial results and timely disclosure information simultaneously in Japanese and English. Our research examines how this works in practice, using companies’ published materials.
TSE: English disclosure and global investor dialogue ↗ · TSE: implementation of English disclosure requirements ↗
Coverage policy
We keep adding companies, starting with mid-sized firms, where English-language information and research are thinnest. Companies are selected with priority given to mid-sized companies with limited English coverage: first the semiconductor supply chain and, since October 2026, peer groups of ten, starting with mid-sized pharmaceutical companies. Scores are reviewed quarterly. Corrections and coverage requests go to the Contact and corrections page.