RetireJapan

I was thinking of opening an IBJ account because they have an English UI, but I notice they don't have a Tokutei Kouza account, so that would mean I'd need to calculate my own taxes, right? (and submit a tax return?)
So now I'm wondering if opening an account at somewhere like SBI Securities might be better. I'd need to translate the UI, but I wouldn't have to mess around with taxes (right?)

For someone who's going to be doing basically passive investing, probably in just the main famous ETFs or something, does Interactive Brokers have any big advantages/disadvantages over other Japanese brokers? Other than the language thing.

Unless you are a US citizen, or want to invest in something more exotic not available through a Japanese broker, or really can't handle the Japanese interface, I don't think IB has any real advantage.

Japanese broker gives you access to iDeCo and NISA, tokutei tax deducting accounts, low investment limits (0), low fees, good connections with banks etc.

Anyone else?

As Ben often says - once you figure out which buttons to push the Japanese UI isn't that hard. It looks very complex, but if you are regularly buying the same stuff, a few buttons are all that are needed and it becomes almost like muscle memory!

RetireJapan wrote: ↑Wed Sep 06, 2023 12:27 am Unless you are a US citizen, or want to invest in something more exotic not available through a Japanese broker, or really can't handle the Japanese interface, I don't think IB has any real advantage.

Japanese broker gives you access to iDeCo and NISA, tokutei tax deducting accounts, low investment limits (0), low fees, good connections with banks etc.

Anyone else?

Absolutely. You miss out on so much by NOT using a Japanese Broker.

IBKR used to be the only real way to access American Options, futures, and the whole of the NYSE/NASDAQ etc. Now it is pared down, and not attractive to any non-American investors IMO.

SAXO bank currently is the only provider of American options.

I agree with everyone here. The only nice thing about IB these days is they offer really tight spreads and no fees on currency exchange. My experience with Japanese brokers is that they do not offer particularly attractive exchange rates (but curious if anyone has a different experience).

eyeswideshut wrote: ↑Wed Sep 06, 2023 1:38 am My experience with Japanese brokers is that they do not offer particularly attractive exchange rates (but curious if anyone has a different experience).

0.25 yen spread per dollar seems to be the going rate still (0.06 if you go via SBI net bank).

Thank you all!

I think I've been looking into this stuff for so long that everything has changed in the meantime. Back when I was first looking it seemed like Japanese options were pretty impenetrable and going with an English language option from overseas was a much easier bet. But these days the overseas options have dried up and the Japanese options seem more accessible (plus auto-translation has improved a lot, and this forum is super useful!)

At least that makes one less thing to have to worry decide on.