For a Tokyo-listed ordinary share with a September 30, 2026 dividend record date, the last regular trading day that normally carries the right is Monday, September 28. The first regular trading day without that right—the ex-dividend date in this T+2 example—is Tuesday, September 29. The record date itself is not a last-minute purchase deadline.
The reason is Japan's regular cash-equity settlement cycle. JPX says regular domestic-stock transactions settle on the third business day counting from the trade date, commonly called T+2. A September 28 purchase therefore normally settles on September 30; a September 29 purchase normally settles on October 1. This guide applies that rule to the September calendar, but it is not a substitute for the issuer's terms or your broker's deadline.
Key takeaways
- September 21, 22 and 23, 2026 are JPX cash-equity market holidays, so September 24 is the next regular trading day after the holiday block.
- For a September 30 record date and a regular T+2 transaction, September 28 is normally the last rights-carrying trading day and September 29 is normally ex-dividend.
- A company chooses its own record date. SoftBank Group's English shareholder page, for example, lists September 30 as its interim dividend record date; that is an issuer example, not a market-wide dividend declaration.
- Confirm the issuer's record date, the instrument, your broker or custodian's cut-off and the actual dividend terms before acting. A record date is not a forecast, payment date or investment recommendation.
The September 2026 answer
The three consecutive cash-equity holidays are what make this month's count easy to get wrong. JPX's current market-holiday calendar lists September 21, 22 and 23 as exchange holidays. The September 22 closure is a statutory holiday between the two national holidays; derivatives holiday trading does not mean the TSE cash-equity market is open.
For the specific example below, assume an issuer has set a September 30 record date. SoftBank Group's general stock information is a concrete English-language example: it identifies the company as a TSE Prime issuer and states September 30 as its interim dividend record date. It is included to show how an investor verifies an issuer date, not to imply that every Japanese company uses that date or that a dividend amount has been declared.
Swipe horizontally to view all columns.
| Date | JPX cash-equity status | T+2 / record-date consequence | What the date is not |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 21–23 | Closed | Do not count these days as regular TSE cash-equity trading or settlement business days | A three-day opportunity to place a regular TSE equity trade |
| Thursday, September 24 | Open | First regular trading day after the holiday block | The last rights-carrying day for a September 30 record date |
| Monday, September 28 | Open | A regular purchase normally settles Wednesday, September 30 | A guarantee of dividend payment, amount or broker eligibility |
| Tuesday, September 29 | Open | A regular purchase normally settles Thursday, October 1; this is the ex-dividend date in this example | A market-wide price prediction |
| Wednesday, September 30 | Open / record date in the example | The September 28 regular purchase normally reaches its T+2 settlement date | A same-day buying deadline |
The table uses the official holiday calendar and the standard regular-transaction rule; it does not override a corporate action notice, a special transaction, or an account-level instruction. Swipe horizontally if your phone does not show all columns.
Why September 28 is the last regular trading day with the right
JPX describes a regular transaction—the basic form of domestic-stock trade—as settling on the third business day after the trading day, expressed as T+2. JPX's transaction-rules page says regular transactions account for more than 99% of trades. Put simply, count the trade date as T, then count two following business days.
That produces this limited, mechanical sequence:
1. A purchase executed on Monday, September 28 has Tuesday, September 29 as T+1 and Wednesday, September 30 as T+2. 2. If the issuer's stated shareholder record date is September 30, that regular purchase normally settles on the record date. 3. A purchase executed on Tuesday, September 29 instead has Wednesday, September 30 as T+1 and Thursday, October 1 as T+2. It normally settles after the September 30 record date.
This is why the record date and the last trading day differ. It also explains why the cash-equity holiday block matters: calendar days do not do the work; JPX business days do. JPX's clearing and settlement overview adds that regular exchange-market stock transactions use central clearing at Japan Securities Clearing Corporation and book-entry transfer in the JASDEC framework on the second business day after trade date.
The calculation is deliberately narrow. It applies to a regular TSE domestic-stock transaction and a September 30 record-date example. It does not establish the rights timing for an ADR, an overseas quotation, an ETF, a foreign stock, a rights issue, a stock split, a securities-lending position, or a broker's customer-account workflow.
Four checks before relying on an ex-dividend date
The market calculation is only the first layer. Use this checklist before treating any ex-dividend date as operationally complete.
Swipe horizontally to view all columns.
| Check | Primary place to verify | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer and instrument | The issuer's shareholder or corporate-action page; the exact Tokyo code | Record dates can be company-specific, and an ADR is not the Tokyo ordinary share |
| Record date and dividend terms | The issuer's release, financial results or board-resolution notice | A record date does not by itself fix the amount, payment date or final authorization |
| JPX business-day count | JPX market-holiday calendar and the regular-transaction rule | Weekends and exchange holidays shift T+2; do not count calendar days |
| Account deadline | Your broker, custodian or plan administrator | Funding, FX, stock-loan, margin and election cut-offs can be earlier or different |
Two mistakes deserve particular attention. First, do not confuse a company's usual September 30 record date with a promise that it will pay a particular interim dividend. SoftBank Group's investor FAQ independently lists September 30 as the interim shareholder record date, but readers should still use the relevant current corporate disclosure for payment terms.
Second, do not transfer the timing automatically to a U.S.-traded depositary receipt. The receipt, depositary, broker and underlying Tokyo share can have distinct corporate-action handling. If you are checking an issuer across markets, ATG Press's Japanese tickers and ADRs guide is a useful companion before you compare symbols.
For the market-plumbing background, see ATG Press's Japan stock settlement: T+2 vs U.S. T+1 guide, the explanation of the standard 100-share Japanese trading unit, and the Japan tender-offer guide. Each covers a different part of the trade-to-rights workflow.
Record date, ex-dividend date and payment date are different
A record date identifies the shareholders recorded for a stated corporate-action purpose. An ex-dividend date is the first trading day in this regular-cycle example when a new purchase normally settles after that record date. A payment date is when a declared dividend is actually paid. They answer different questions and should never be substituted for one another.
The safe process is therefore modest: find the issuer's date, count actual JPX business days under the regular transaction convention, then check the account-level instruction. That avoids both the common “buy on the record date” error and the opposite error of treating the market's T+2 convention as a complete personal trading instruction.
Sources
- Japan Exchange Group — Types of Transactions — accessed September 21, 2026.
- Japan Exchange Group — Clearing & Settlement Organization — accessed September 21, 2026.
- Japan Exchange Group — Market Holidays — accessed September 21, 2026.
- SoftBank Group — General Stock Information — accessed September 21, 2026.
- SoftBank Group — Investor FAQ — accessed September 21, 2026.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
