yes they do, you do not even have to be a Japanese resident. But most likely most every broker has a very poor inventory of shortable Japanese stocks unless you can afford to trade via Nomura or Daiwa.
says the retired self-directed-trader who rents a little flat, trades through Kabu.com and has a full-hard-on for everything Japanese culture related. Give us a break.
Yes, a foreign resident in Japan can do short selling on TSE provided that the broker allows him to open a margin account. The cost of borrowing the shares is determined by The Japan Securities Finance Company. If there is a shortage of shares, the cost varies from 0.05 yen per share to 50 yen or more in extreme cases. But the majority is 0.05 yen. All the brokers promote margin trading. If the shares are not available in their inventory, they borrow them from The Japan Securities Finance Company. So the requirements are that you be a resident, and have a margin account, and that the stock is eligible for shorting.
What? That is totally INCORRECT. Every broker can and in fact does set their own lending rates for stock borrows. Also, the borrow rates are set as a percentage of notional, traded, not as an absolute yen amount. The exact percentage can and does fluctuate from one day to the next. And the stock loan and be called in at any time in the exact same way as it works internationally. Also it is incorrect that unavailable shares can be borrowed at all times from the JSFC. When the free float does not allow for stock borrow then even the JSFC cannot magically shake those shares out of their sleeve. You are making up completely incorrect information. Also, one does NOT have to be a resident to borrow and short Japanese stocks. In fact I short Japanese shares at times from my residence in HK and via access to my broker who locates stock borrows. Goodness. Everything you said in this post is totally and entirely incorrect. You are on ignore because you are a total shill and do not know the slightest about this industry and how it work. But you pretend to be a know-it-all.
You're most welcome. Sorry I misread your original post. If it is of any interest to you, here is a current list of shares and the charges in red from the Japan Securities Finance Company. http://www.nisshokin.com/gyakuhibu/
I think Matsui, Kabu, SBI have decent inventory for shorts as they are widely used by residents. The 0 or very low commission offered by matsui for daytrading is written on its site, but I wonder what are the tricks? Do they sell the flows or what? Can anyone provide reasonable facts about how the daytrading commission rates work ? How could they offer a daytrading tier that is substantially lower than the normal one?
There are no tricks or small print to worry about. But if you don't want to day trade, SMBC Nikko Securities, the 3rd largest Japanese broker, also offers ￥0 commission without the day trading rule. http://www.smbcnikko.co.jp/service/fee/ez_margin/index.html But be it ￥0, ￥80, or even a few hundred yen, unless you're trading only very small lots, what's the difference? Your problem is not being a resident which is required to open an account.
My dumb question is then how do they make money off 0 commission? and how can you be so sure they don't sell flows or there is nothing against your orders? so what is the economics for them?
Well, while the commission is 0, there is the small interest payment of between 2 and 3% depending on the broker. So that would be just 30 to 40 yen per trade for the average small lot trader. But the brokers are also interested in gaining market share by offering 0 commission, and hope that the customer will also trade other products, which seems to be working as they've been offering this for years.