First comes the phone-based login verification. Once the brokerage login finally works, the API settings page delivers a fresh insult:
Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /e_api_user/auth/ on this server.
The front door opens; the API room hangs up a “staff only” sign. Unfortunately, this time there is a documented service shutdown worth checking before resetting your credentials again.
What the 403 error actually proves
HTTP 403 means the server understood a request but refused access.[1] By itself, the code does not identify whether the cause is user permissions, an access-control rule or a service restriction.
Tachibana e-Shiten officially announced that its production API would be suspended from 3:30 p.m. Japan time on 23 October 2026, citing its response to a “PHP issue.” The affected services also include the API demo environment, BRiSK Next, real-time stock-price board, mobile-only site, AI earnings calendar and account applications.[2]
As checked on 26 October, no restart date was specified in that announcement. The shutdown is a compelling reason to inspect the notice first, although the company has not explicitly confirmed that this exact 403 page was produced by the shutdown.
Did the API ever go down before?
There is a documented history, but demo-environment downtime is not identical to a production-API outage.
The API launched in October 2020.[3] Tachibana's general system-incident archive lists incidents in February, March and October 2021; those entries should not automatically be counted as production-API outages.[4] By July 2021, Tachibana had announced that its API demo environment was unavailable because of a defect.[5] The company's API history records the demo environment returning in September 2022.[3]
The October 2026 calendar also included planned, separate maintenance windows: 16 October, 4–5 p.m., and 24 October, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.[6] The PHP-related multi-service suspension began on 23 October. Combining all these events into one continuous outage would be misleading.
These published notices do not provide a complete uptime history or establish whether October 2026 is the longest production-API interruption.
What automated traders should do
e-Shiten markets a free API for Japanese-equity trading programs.[7] That makes remote automation attractive. But the ability to submit orders from anywhere does not guarantee the endpoint will always accept them.
During an announced shutdown, check the official status before repeatedly changing login credentials. After service restoration, test your API settings and build safeguards against duplicate orders, unknown order status and unexpected service interruptions. Prepare a manual fallback and decide in advance how a strategy handles positions when orders cannot be submitted.
Bottom line: this is not the first recorded service interruption. Earlier records concern the demo environment, while the October 2026 notice explicitly includes the production API. A 403 error is not enough to prove the precise technical cause, but the official shutdown notice is the first place to look.
Automation was supposed to remove human chores. Instead, the first job is reading the outage notice.
Official and technical sources
References (7)
- MDN, “403 Forbidden developer.mozilla.org
- Tachibana Securities, e-Shiten login notice (PHP issue, 2026-10-23) tr2.e-shiten.jp
- Tachibana Securities, API release and change history e-shiten.jp
- Tachibana Securities, system incident archive e-shiten.jp
- Tachibana Securities, API demo environment suspension (2021) e-shiten.jp
- Tachibana Securities, homepage maintenance notices (2026-10-16 / 2026-10-24) eshiten.com
- Tachibana Securities, e-Shiten API product information e-shiten.jp
