How to Buy Japanese Chip Stocks: Tokyo Shares, OTC ADRs and ETFs

Japan’s chip companies sit at key points of the supply chain: Tokyo Electron, Advantest, Disco, Lasertec and SCREEN make equipment that chip factories use; Renesas designs and makes microcontrollers; Kioxia makes NAND flash memory. All are listed in Tokyo. From outside Japan there are three ways to own them:

1. Tokyo-listed shares, through a broker that offers access to the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).
2. Over-the-counter (OTC) receipts in the US, American depositary receipts (ADRs) that trade outside the exchanges.
3. Funds: Tokyo-listed semiconductor ETFs, or broad Japan funds listed in the US.

This guide sets out how each works from the rules of Japan’s exchange, Finance Ministry and tax agency, and the depositaries’ filings. It describes the routes; it does not say which suits anyone.

Route 1: How does trading in Tokyo work?

Item	Rule
Sessions	9:00 to 11:30 and 12:30 to 15:30 Tokyo time
Close	Since November 5, 2024, continuous trading ends at 15:25 and a closing auction sets the price at 15:30
Trading unit	100 shares, standard since October 1, 2018
Daily price limits	Set in yen according to the previous close; they widen after two days at the limit
Settlement	T+2

Because shares trade in units of 100, the price of one unit can be large. The TSE’s listing rules ask companies to try to keep one unit “less than JPY 500,000.” Kioxia split its shares three for one on October 1, 2026, and said it was still considering how to meet that level.

Does a foreign investor need permission?

Japan’s Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act (FEFTA) screens foreign investment in sensitive companies. The Finance Ministry’s rules set a 1% threshold for prior notification when a foreign investor acquires a listed company’s shares in designated sectors. All eight companies in this guide are in its “core sectors,” according to the ministry’s list of July 15, 2025.

The same rules exempt ordinary portfolio investors from prior notification below 10% if they do not join the company’s board or key committees and do not make written proposals with deadlines; a report after the investment is due from 1%. Foreign financial institutions, including mutual funds and ETFs, have a blanket exemption. The ministry says “foreign investors are required to determine whether or not prior notification is necessary,” so the rules, not this guide, decide each case.

Which taxes apply?

• Dividends: Japan’s tax agency lists a 15.315% withholding rate for non-residents on dividends from listed shares (for holders of less than 3%). A tax treaty can lower or remove it, through forms the agency publishes.
• Capital gains: the agency’s guide says non-residents’ income from the sale of assets is taxed only in the cases its rules list; confirm how they apply with a tax adviser.

Route 2: Which Japanese chip companies have US receipts?

None of the eight is listed on a US exchange. Seven have receipts that trade over the counter in the US:

Company	Tokyo code	US ticker	Program	Receipts per share
Tokyo Electron	8035	TELWY	Sponsored, Level I (JPMorgan)	2 receipts = 1 share
Advantest	6857	ATEYY	Sponsored, Level I (JPMorgan)	1 receipt = 1 share
Kioxia	285A	KXIAY	Unsponsored (four banks)	10 receipts = 1 share
Disco	6146	DSCSY	Unsponsored	10 receipts = 1 share
Lasertec	6920	LSRCY	Unsponsored	5 receipts = 1 share
Renesas	6723	RNECY	Unsponsored	2 receipts = 1 share
SCREEN	7735	SCRNY	Unsponsored	5 receipts = 1 share

Socionext (6526) has no ADR program in the depositary records checked. A sponsored program is set up with the company; an unsponsored one is set up by banks without it, so the company has no agreement with the depositary. For Kioxia, a depositary filing of October 6, 2026, after the share split, still describes each receipt as one-tenth of a share. Kioxia: 285A vs KXIAY explains what that receipt gives its holders, and What Is an ADR? covers OTC receipts in general.

Kioxia said on May 15, 2026 that it is preparing to list ADSs on a US exchange, and repeated on September 15 that the schedule, market and method had not been decided.

Route 3: Which funds hold Japanese chip stocks?

Five ETFs on the Tokyo Stock Exchange track Japanese semiconductor indexes:

Code	Fund	Index	Listed
2644	Global X Japan Semiconductor ETF	FactSet Japan Semiconductor	September 28, 2021
200A	NEXT FUNDS Nikkei Semiconductor Stock Index	Nikkei Semiconductor Stock Index (total return)	June 4, 2024
213A	Listed Index Fund Nikkei Semiconductor Stock	Nikkei Semiconductor Stock Index	July 12, 2024
221A	MAXIS Nikkei Semiconductor Stock (Japan)	Nikkei Semiconductor Stock Index	July 19, 2024
282A	Global X Japan Semiconductor Top 10 ETF	Mirae Asset Japan Semiconductor Top 10	November 21, 2024

Global X Japan says 2644 had net assets of about ¥85.2 billion on October 23, 2026, and its official basket file lists 42 stocks. These funds trade in yen on the Tokyo exchange, under the same hours as the shares.

In the US, broad Japan funds hold these companies as part of a larger basket. The iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ), for example, had 10.0% of its net assets in semiconductors and chip equipment on May 31, 2026, according to its holdings report to the SEC. A US-listed fund dedicated to Japanese chip stocks was not found in the filings checked.

How do the three routes compare?

	Tokyo shares	OTC receipts	Tokyo chip ETFs
Currency	Yen	US$	Yen
Hours	Tokyo sessions	US OTC hours	Tokyo sessions
What you hold	Shares	Receipts for shares	Units of a fund
Company’s role	Listed company	Sponsored or not, by program	Fund manager
Trading	On the exchange	Off-exchange, volume varies by name	On the exchange

For how chip stocks weigh in Japan’s two main indexes, see Nikkei 225 vs TOPIX; the Japan map shows the Japanese chip stocks day by day.