Tokyo Stock Exchange

The Tokyo Stock Exchange was first established in 1878. In 1943, ten other Japanese stock exchanges were merged into the Japanese Stock Market, which was later shut down due to World War II bombings. In 1949, the Tokyo Stock Exchange was reopened in Tokyo, Japan under its current name. The Tokyo Stock Exchange held 60% of the stock market capitalisation of the entire world in 1990. This is the world's largest stock market capitalisation ever. Today, the Tokyo Stock Exchange is the second largest in the world in terms of market value.

There are three sections that form the stocks structure of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The First Section is for large companies. Mid-sized companies are in the Second Section. The "Mothers" section handles startup companies with high-growth. As of June 2, 2008, there was a total of 2,413 companies listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The First Section accounted for 1,746 of these companies while the Second Section and Mothers Section accounted for 469 and 198 companies respectively. Foreign stock as of May 2008, were totalled at 25. The Nikkei 225 Index is the main tracking index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Some other indexes used in the Tokyo Stock Exchange include the TOPIX index and the J30 Index.