The Tokyo Stock Exchange or the Tokyo Shoken Torihikisho, is second largest stock exchange in the world with over 4 trillion US dollars in market capitalization and 5 million trading orders daily. It is one of the eight stock exchanges in Japan, including those at Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagoya and Chubu. Registered as a traditional Kabushiki Kaisha or Stock Company, the present hi-tech computerized Tokyo Stock Exchange is a far cry from the original open trading floors. The Tokyo Stock Exchange directory records trading histories of an estimated 2271 domestic and 31 overseas agencies and handles 90% of all securities transactions in Japan.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange was originally established in May 1878 under the name of the Tokyo Kabushiki Torihikijo. It was initially intended to provide a commercial arena for trading government bonds and gold and silver. By the 1920s, the Tokyo Stock Market was dominated by the trading of stocks. The Tokyo Stock Market was closed down in the years from 1945 to 1949 due to the Second World War and the disastrous bombing at Nagasaki. It was reopened in May 1949 under the current name while still under the control of the US authorities. The Tokyo Stock Market presently has around 718 employees and is a part of the Industry Securities Exchange in Japan.
The Stocks listed are categorized into 3 sections- the First Section for blue chip companies, Second Section for midsized ventures and Mothers category for promising new companies. According to current statistics, the Tokyo Stock Market has 1721 First Section companies, 489 Second Section companies and 156 Mothers companies.
The Nikkei is the key Stock Market Index in Tokyo. The Nikkei tracks the fluctuating fortunes of a select number of companies chosen by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun , the Wall Street Journal of Tokyo. The other share trading indices are the TOPIX index which follows share prices of First Section companies and the J30 index, which follows the fortunes of Japan's main industrial companies. The Tokyo Stock Market presently has 89 domestic and 19 foreign securities companies participating in daily trading.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange has a press club known as the Kabuto Club which is affiliated with the main newspapers in Tokyo, like the Nihon Keizai Shimbun . Present Club members are also associated with Business channels like Bloomberg LP and CNBCAsia.
Contact Details of the Tokyo Stock Market-
Tokyo Stock Exchange
Address: 2-1 Nihombashi Kabutocho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
