About the research

Joe Chang · Tokyo

Based in Tokyo. After working in investment banking and as a corporate CFO, he has invested in Japanese companies. Noticing how often a company’s English disclosure differs from its Japanese, he began checking what English readers can actually read. He publishes the findings to encourage good disclosure practice.

This work is pro bono. He charges nothing for it, and no company pays to be covered. The scores, the evidence behind them and the method are free for anyone to read and use. He gives them away because he believes clear disclosure makes the market work better for companies and investors alike, and because research like this is only worth something if readers can trust that no one paid for the result.

He may hold shares in companies covered here; scores follow the same rules whether or not he does.

We examine company disclosures and keep evidence for individual findings so readers can check the source themselves.

Professional background

We keep three things apart: what a company has published, with the source and the date we checked it; our scores, which apply the published rules to those documents; and the improvements we suggest. A question we have not checked yet is marked as not checked, which is different from a document we looked for and did not find. A disclosure score says nothing about the quality of the business or its investment merit. When an error is shown with evidence, we correct it.

AI assists with searching, comparison and drafting. Assessments are checked against the published materials.

Methodology · Request coverage

The Tokyo Stock Exchange promotes fuller English disclosure to improve overseas investors’ access to information and support dialogue with companies. 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. They are also required to endeavor to provide other company information simultaneously in English with the same content wherever possible.

TSE encourages improvements to the scope, content and timing of English disclosure beyond meeting the requirements. Timely access to information supports overseas investor participation, a more international Japanese equity market and constructive shareholder dialogue. 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 ↗