Updated as of November 2005

Online Trading Gives the TSE a Boost.

As of November 2005, there were 107 stockbrokers with full license for general securities trade transactions registered at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, including some 19 representing foreign securities companies. The number of stockbrokers has decreased over the years from 120-plus in 1997 as a result of restructuring through mergers or acquisitions.

The total number of shares traded on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in FY2004 was 357 billion shares, worth 324 billion yen, coming back quite strongly from a once depressed level of 170 billion shares with a value in 242 billion yen in 2000.

The total market value of shares on the First and Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange combined in 1989, with the peak years coming in the 1980s and 1990s, was 611,000 billion yen. The market lost almost half of its value in 1995 with a total market value of less than 365,000 billion yen. Although it gained some in 1999, it remained near 360 trillion yen until 2000. It slid to a market value of 296 trillion yen in 2001. In 2002, the figure plunged sharply to 247 trillion yen, however, it increased to 315 trillion yen in 2003 and has recovered rapidly since the Japanese economy began picking up in 2004.

According to a survey conducted by the Japan Securities Dealer Association (JSDA), as of November 2005, there was only one company that was undecided about engaging exclusively in online trading or in traditional trading. Some 219 companies have yet to enter the online trading market. Although the trend started with just 11 online stock traders in March 1998, there were 54 online stock traders as of November 2005. The number of online trade customer accounts was 790 million as of November 2005, which increased by 209 million from the previous year. The amount of their online trade volume reached 160 million yen from October 2004 to September 2005, accounting for 27.6 percent of total stocks traded in fiscal 2004, up markedly from 1.8 percent in 1999, and the ratio is certain to continue increasing very rapidly.

One recent negative piece of news was NASDAQ’s withdrawal from the Japanese market in September 2002. NASDAQ Japan opened its operation at the Osaka Stock Exchange in June 2000 with much fanfare, arousing great expectations for business and capital ventures to create innovative markets not present in the traditional Japanese market.

Japan's so-called "Big Bang," launched in the early 1990s following the "British Big Bang," aroused great hopes for both Japanese and foreign financial institutions to enjoy the fruits of the liberalized market. But many Japanese stock brokers and banks have yet to do so, having to overcome many obstacles before success can be achieved.

Nevertheless, light was evident at the end of the tunnel in 2005 with a rapid surge in stock prices, which lifted the Nikkei Average to 15,000 on December 1, 2005 for the first time in 5 years and 5 months.