Japan’s Kabutan stock-information site shows different archive ranges depending on the page, not simply whether you log in. Here is what free and Premium users can read, what the downloading rules say, and where to find official alternatives.
You want an older Japanese earnings release. Kabutan’s main disclosure list seems to stop after one month. Surely creating a free account opens the archives?
No. A free login does not extend that limit. But the page for an individual stock offers two years of disclosures, even without an account. [1]
The secret passage was not behind the login screen. It was in a different part of the website.
1. One month and two years can both be correct
According to Kabutan’s official help pages, visitors without accounts and registered free members have the same viewing windows. The site-wide company disclosure list covers the most recent month. On an individual stock’s News page, the Disclosure section reaches back two years.[1]
If you are researching one company’s earnings releases, go to that company’s stock page rather than trying to force the general news archive to go further back. The apparent contradiction comes from where you are browsing, not from a hidden benefit of free registration.
These are viewing windows for listed information. They do not promise that every linked PDF will be available forever.
2. What Premium actually adds
For Japanese-stock disclosures, Kabutan Premium’s Japan-stock plan and combined Japan/US plan provide historical access going back, in principle, to September 2013. A US-only subscription does not grant the same Japanese disclosure archive.[1]
First-time Premium subscribers may use a 30-day free trial with access to the full Premium feature set. The important fine print: billing starts automatically after the trial unless you cancel during the trial period.[2]
Tempted to sign up, collect five years of PDFs in bulk, and cancel on day 29? That leads straight to the next problem.
3. “I’m only saving them on my own computer” is not a permission slip
Kabutan explicitly says its information must not be collected mechanically using programs or scraping.[3] Its general terms also restrict reproducing and accumulating site content, apart from temporary storage needed to operate a computer.[4]
Keeping documents on a private PC or using them only for personal analysis does not, by itself, authorize an automated archive of thousands of files. Paying for Premium does not automatically remove those restrictions.
This is not a claim that every individual personal download is automatically a crime. Copyright exceptions and contractual usage terms are separate legal questions. The practical point is narrower: do not assume an unrestricted mass-download right from an accessible PDF link.
Seeing a warehouse door open is not an invitation to drive a forklift inside.
4. Free official sources beyond Kabutan
The Japan Exchange Group (JPX) publishes the most recent 31 calendar days, including the disclosure date, through its Timely Disclosure Information Service. JPX also asks users not to scrape that viewing service.[5]
JPX separately states that its TSE Listed Company Information Service offers access to ten years of timely disclosures for Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed companies.[6] That is an archive for browsing, not a promise of a free bulk-export API.
EDINET, operated by Japan’s Financial Services Agency, is another valuable research source, but it primarily handles statutory filings such as annual securities reports. Exchange announcements—including earnings digests and earnings-forecast revisions—are a different document category.[7]
5. Choose your source according to the job
- Review one stock’s recent earnings: check the individual Kabutan stock page; free registration does not lengthen the two-year window.[1]
- Look further back manually: use eligible Kabutan Premium access or JPX’s listed-company archive.[1][6]
- Study longer-term financial statements: add EDINET filings, remembering that an annual securities report is not the same as an earnings digest.[7]
- Build a multi-year collection for thousands of companies: first confirm a provider’s authorization for automated retrieval and retention, rather than treating a website viewer as an unrestricted data API.[3][4][5]
The bottom line
On Kabutan, the one-month limit belongs to the main listing; the two-year free window belongs to stock-specific pages. Premium extends history, and JPX offers official historical viewing.
But free to read is not the same as free to harvest and store in bulk. The login screen looked like the boss fight. The real bosses were navigation and usage rights.
References (7)
- 株探ヘルプ「市場ニュース：過去記事の閲覧機能」（2025-09-26更新） support.kabutan.jp
- 株探ヘルプ「『無料体験』とは何ですか」（2025-12-12更新） support.kabutan.jp
- 株探ヘルプ「株探の掲載情報をシステムで自動的に取得することは禁止しております」（2025-02-26更新） support.kabutan.jp
- 株探「株探利用規約」第4条（2026-10-25閲覧） info.kabutan.jp
- 日本取引所グループ「適時開示情報閲覧サービス」（2026-10-25閲覧） jpx.co.jp
- 日本取引所グループ「適時開示情報閲覧サービス」案内／TDnetの概要（2026-10-25閲覧） — ; https://www.jpx.co.jp/equities/listing/disclosure/tdnet/index.html ; https://www.jpx.co.jp/listing/co-search/ jpx.co.jp
- 金融庁「取引所開示と法定開示」の比較、EDINETについて — ; https://www.fsa.go.jp/search/20130917.html fsa.go.jp
