Independent research on how Japanese companies allocate capital and govern themselves.
We read the primary Japanese record — articles of incorporation, commercial-registry filings and statutory disclosures — and explain what it means for investors outside Japan.
Why this exists
Foreign capital now sets the price of Japanese equity: overseas investors accounted for 59% of cash-equity trading value in 2024 and held 32.4% of listed shares at the last survey. Yet the documents that decide control and exit sit in Japanese, in a form that rewards local practice over translation.
The gap is not information. It is interpretation. English coverage of Japan is plentiful at the level of the news and thin at the level of the instrument.
Method
- Primary texts first: the Companies Act as published by the Ministry of Justice, exchange rulebooks, and the commercial registry.
- Every statutory reference checked to article, paragraph and item.
- Company examples only where a structure is documented in a primary source. No example is inferred.
- Where a proposition cannot be verified, it is marked and not relied on. Where practice is described rather than law, the text says so.
What we do not do
- We do not give investment advice, target prices or recommendations. Nothing published here is a view on the merits of any security.
- We do not sell legal, tax or accounting advice. The author is a licensed judicial scrivener; that qualification is why the filings are legible, not a service offered through this publication.
- We do not accept payment from issuers for coverage, and we hold no position in any company named.
Contact
[email protected] — for licensing, corrections, or a question about an edition.
ZenPivot Research · ゼンピボットリサーチ. Independent research on Japanese capital policy and governance.