What the Dividend Sentence Promises

Each of the thirty-five annual securities reports read here carries an item headed ３【配当政策】, dividend policy, inside 第４ 提出会社の状況, the section on the filing company, after the treasury-share tables and before ４【コーポレート・ガバナンスの状況等】. It is mostly prose, with a short table at the end. In these June 2026 reports of thirty-five of Japan's largest filers it runs from roughly 490 characters (Hitachi) to roughly 990 (Nintendo) once the whitespace is removed, and it usually carries four things: a sentence or two of policy, the number of dividends a year and the body that resolves them, the per-share dividend for the year just closed, and a short table of the resolutions with their dates and totals. This piece is about the first of the four — what the policy sentence promises, in the words each company printed — and it reads five items closely: Toyota, NTT, Mitsui & Co., Shin-Etsu Chemical and SMC.

This desk located the item in all thirty-five PDFs (35 of 35), cut the text from 【配当政策】 to the next heading, deleted the whitespace so that a word broken across a line break would still be found, and read each item twice. The first reading was a string match for four words: 配当性向, the payout ratio; DOE, dividend on equity, which the reports also print as ＤＯＥ; 累進, progressive; and 安定, stable. The second reading, which is the desk's, asked whether the item names a percentage or a yen amount as a target, guide, floor or formula for dividends after the year reported; the sentences relied on are quoted in the sources, and a ratio the item itself limits to the year just closed (Kyocera's) is not counted. Only this item was read, so a target a company states elsewhere in its report, or outside it, is not counted here. Per-share dividends are quoted only where the item prints them, and nothing is added or divided: where a report prints an interim and a year-end figure without an annual total, no total appears here. Yen are converted to US dollars at ¥163.8 = US$1 for reference.

Nineteen of the thirty-five items name a target, guide, floor or formula for the dividend going forward — a number, as distinct from the amounts paid or planned; sixteen do not, and in most of those the policy sentence rests instead on 安定, on 増配 (an increase) or on the phrase 累進配当; Daikin names the ratio without a number, Kyocera names one only for the year just closed, and SoftBank Group and FUJIFILM Holdings use other words. The four words are not exclusive of one another: 配当性向 appears in fourteen items, DOE in five, 累進 in eight and 安定 in twenty-one, and three items — SoftBank Group, NTT and FUJIFILM Holdings — use none of the four. Of the nineteen, twelve name a payout ratio, four a DOE figure, two a total-return ratio (総還元性向) and five a yen amount; Tokyo Electron, Advantest, Mizuho Financial Group and Nippon Steel each name two kinds, so the kinds sum to twenty-three across nineteen companies. The chart lists the thirty-five on this basis.

Toyota's item, on page 83, gives its promise in one sentence: 配当金については、安定的・継続的に増配を行うよう努めていきます — as to dividends, we will strive to raise them stably and continuously. The sentence before it places 株主の皆様の利益向上, the improvement of shareholders' returns, among the company's important management policies, and the sentence after it says what retained earnings are for: next-generation growth investment in environmental technology toward a carbon-neutral society and in safety technology, and all stakeholders including employees, business partners and local communities, on the way to becoming a モビリティカンパニー. Dividends are paid twice a year and, under the articles of incorporation, resolved by the board. For the year the item prints 中間配当は１株につき45円、期末配当は１株につき50円 — ¥45 (US$0.27) and ¥50 (US$0.31) — and 年間の配当金としては１株につき95円, ¥95 (US$0.58); the table beneath gives the two resolutions, 2025年11月５日 for ¥586,527 million (US$3,580.8 million) and 2026年５月８日 for ¥651,697 million (US$3,978.6 million). Within the item, the word 増配 carries no ratio, floor or horizon.

NTT's item, on page 66, uses the same word. 株主の皆さまへの還元は、継続的な増配を基本的な考えとし、自己株式取得については、機動的に実施することとしています — returns to shareholders take continuous dividend increases as the basic idea, and share buybacks are carried out flexibly. Retained earnings go to investment for growth opportunities and to capital policy conscious of capital efficiency, while securing the soundness of the financial position. Dividends are twice a year and, under article 459(1) of the Companies Act as written into the articles, resolved by the board. The year's figures are 1株当たり2.65円 interim and 2.65円 year-end, ¥2.65 (US$0.0162) each, 年間の配当金としては1株当たり5.30円, ¥5.30 (US$0.0324); the totals are ¥218,753 million (US$1,335.5 million) and ¥215,940 million (US$1,318.3 million). With SoftBank Group and FUJIFILM Holdings, NTT's is one of the three items in which none of 配当性向, DOE, 累進 or 安定 appears; its operative word is 増配.

Mitsui & Co.'s item, on page 95, opens with three bullet points headed 利益配分に関する基本方針. The second is the dividend sentence: 再現性の高いキャッシュ創出力の水準に基づき、配当を通じ株主に直接還元していくこととし、当該キャッシュ創出力の拡大に応じて、継続的に配当の引き上げを図る — on the basis of a level of cash-generating capacity that is highly reproducible, return directly to shareholders through dividends, and raise the dividend continuously as that capacity expands; the third bullet leaves buybacks, their amount and timing, to be decided flexibly. A year-end dividend of 1株あたり60円, ¥60 (US$0.37), goes to the 2026年6月17日 general meeting, making 1株当たり115円, ¥115 (US$0.702), for the year with the 55円, ¥55 (US$0.34), interim already paid; the totals are ¥158,877 million (US$969.9 million) and ¥170,858 million (US$1,043.1 million). For 2027年3月期 the item states a plan of 1株当たり140円, ¥140 (US$0.855), 前期比25円増, an increase of ¥25 (US$0.15), weighed against the forecast 基礎営業キャッシュ・フロー, profit attributable to owners of the parent and the stability and continuity of the per-share amount, and for 中期経営計画2029 (2027年3月期〜2029年3月期) it says 配当維持または増配を行う累進配当を継続する予定 — a progressive dividend that is maintained or raised. This desk does not count the 140円 as a target: it is next year's planned amount, not a floor, ratio or formula, and no ratio appears in the item.

Shin-Etsu Chemical's item, on page 56, is the one of the five that prints a ratio. Its first sentence is 財務規律をもって事業収益の拡大に邁進し、その成果を株主の皆様に適切かつ安定的に還元させていただくことを基本方針としています — to press on with expanding earnings under financial discipline and return the results to shareholders appropriately and stably. The number follows two sentences later: 株主還元はその中核であり、４０％前後の配当性向を中長期的な目安として安定的な配当に努めています — shareholder returns are the core of that capital policy, and the company works toward a stable dividend with a payout ratio of around 40％ as a medium-to-long-term guide. It then says that 総還元性向 is also considered, that buybacks have been carried out flexibly, and that on 本年4月28日 a buyback of 2,500億円, ¥250.0 billion (US$1,526 million), was announced. The year-end dividend is 53円, ¥53 (US$0.32), the same as the interim, and the annual 106円, ¥106 (US$0.647), is 前期と同額, the same as the prior year; the year-end goes to the 2026年６月26日 general meeting and the interim is a board matter, with totals of ¥99,275 million (US$606.1 million) and ¥98,405 million (US$600.8 million).

SMC's item, on page 43, opens with three sentences: on medium- to long-term profit growth and corporate value as the company's first management priority, on a 堅固な財務基盤 that does not waver in financial turmoil or sharp currency moves and the further strengthening of 株主資本, and on cash on hand for investment in 生産設備、研究開発体制、IT基盤及び営業人員等. The fourth is the dividend sentence: 株主の皆様への利益還元については、安定的な配当の継続を基本とし、状況に応じた機動的な自己株式の取得を組み合わせて、より一層の充実に努めます — the continuation of a stable dividend as the base, combined with flexible buybacks according to circumstances. The year-end dividend is １株当たり500円, ¥500 (US$3.05), and the annual １株当たり1,000円, ¥1,000 (US$6.11), with totals of ¥31,653 million (US$193.2 million) and ¥31,575 million (US$192.8 million), each including 5百万円, ¥5 million (US$0.03 million), on shares held by the 役員向け株式給付信託. The item also records a change of machinery: the year-end had been a general-meeting matter and the interim a board matter, and at the 第67期定時株主総会 on 2026年６月26日 the articles were amended so that the matters in article 459(1) of the Companies Act, including both dividends, can be set by board resolution.

The twelve payout ratios counted here come in four values, each with its own qualifier. Three companies print 30％: Oriental Land, which under its 2035長期経営戦略 aims 2035年までに配当性向を30％の水準 alongside 安定的な配当の継続; Panasonic Holdings, 連結配当性向30％を目安; and Nippon Steel, 連結配当性向年間30％程度を目安, which also prints that over the five years 2021〜2025年度, excluding the one-time loss on the U.S. Steel merger, the cumulative payout ratio was 30％程度. Six print 40％: Shin-Etsu Chemical's 前後; KDDI's 連結配当性向40％超を維持, through the medium-term strategy to 2026年３月期 and, on 調整後当期利益, for the three years after; HOYA's 配当性向40%を目安とする累進配当, with 39.7％ printed as the year's result; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group's 配当性向を40%程度; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group's 配当性向を40％とする方針 for the current medium-term plan; and East Japan Railway's 2027年度に向けて、段階的に配当性向を40％に引き上げます, timed to the settling of growth investment such as the TAKANAWA GATEWAY CITY development, with 純資産配当率(連結) of 2.8％ printed for the year.

One prints 50％ and two print 60％; a fourth prints 50％ for the year just closed only. Tokyo Electron's policy is 業績連動型, performance-linked: 親会社株主に帰属する当期純利益に対する配当性向50%を目処, with the year's result 中間配当として1株当たり264円、期末配当として1株当たり364円 — ¥264 (US$1.61) and ¥364 (US$2.22) — and 年間配当金は、1株当たり628円, ¥628 (US$3.83). Kyocera's 連結配当性向を50％程度の水準で維持 is stated as applying 当連結会計年度の期末配当までは — up to this year's year-end — after which, the item says, the company moves to DOE and a progressive dividend without giving a figure, so it is not among the nineteen. FANUC's is 連結配当性向60％を基本方針, a policy dated 2019年４月24日 in the item: the interim of 51円33銭, ¥51.33 (US$0.313), returned 連結中間純利益の60％, and the year-end of 55円76銭, ¥55.76 (US$0.340), is set so that the annual ratio comes to 60％, for 年間の配当金は、１株につき107円09銭, ¥107.09 (US$0.654). Nintendo's is a formula: the annual dividend is the higher of 連結営業利益の40％ divided by shares outstanding less treasury shares, rounded up to the yen, or 連結配当性向60％ rounded up; the interim is 40％ of interim operating profit. The item says this policy applies 当事業年度の期末配当より — from this year's year-end — and that the interim was set under the previous policy at 33％ of interim operating profit, giving 1株当たり中間配当金42円及び1株当たり期末配当金177円, ¥42 (US$0.26) and ¥177 (US$1.08). Daikin uses the word without a number: 配当性向の水準を意識しつつ、安定性を重視しながら、継続的な増配の実現に努めてまいります.

Five items use DOE, and each defines its own denominator. Denso adopts DOE（株主資本配当率：配当総額÷親会社の所有者に帰属する持分） as its shareholder-return indicator, prints 3.5％ for the year on a dividend of １株につき67円, ¥67 (US$0.41), and under its 2030 plan CORE2030 aims for 2030年度DOE4.0％以上. Honda's is DOE(調整後親会社所有者帰属持分配当率)3.0％を目安, where note 2 says the base excludes その他の資本の構成要素, the components of equity that move with exchange rates and markets; its dividend is 70円, ¥70 (US$0.43). Mitsubishi Heavy Industries prints DOE（株主資本配当率：支払配当÷株主資本{除くOCI※}）４％以上を目安 and plans １株当たり25円, ¥25 (US$0.15). Murata (株式会社村田製作所) states 2027年を目標にＤＯＥ（親会社所有者帰属持分配当率）５％に引き上げる and plans 30円, ¥30 (US$0.18), interim and 35円, ¥35 (US$0.21), year-end. Kyocera, from 翌連結会計年度以降, will use DOE on 株主資本 defined as 親会社の所有者に帰属する持分 less その他の資本の構成要素, together with a 累進配当 that maintains or raises the per-share amount; for this year it prints 25円, ¥25 (US$0.15), interim and 27円, ¥27 (US$0.16), year-end.

The word 累進 appears in eight items, three of them at the trading houses. Mitsubishi Corporation's, under 経営戦略2027 for 2025年度から2027年度, is 持続的な利益成長に応じて増配を行う累進配当を継続 — a progressive dividend raised in step with sustained profit growth — with 55円, ¥55 (US$0.34), twice for 110円, ¥110 (US$0.672). ITOCHU's writes 累進配当 into 「The Brand-new Deal〜利は川下にあり〜」, sets 2026年度の１株当たり配当金は、44円以上, ¥44 (US$0.27), and plans buybacks of 3,000億円以上, ¥300.0 billion (US$1,832 million), in 2026年度; for this year it prints 42円, ¥42 (US$0.26), after the five-for-one split of 2026年１月１日, or 210円, ¥210 (US$1.28), on the unsplit basis. Mitsui & Co.'s is above. HOYA's 配当性向40%を目安とする累進配当 was, the item says, 設定いたしました — newly set — 資本の拡大を抑えることで更なる資本効率の改善を図るため, with 125円, ¥125 (US$0.763), interim and 170円, ¥170 (US$1.04), year-end for 年間配当金は１株当たり295円, ¥295 (US$1.80).

Two of the three financial groups use the word. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group's dividend is 累進的に行う, and the item adds 本中期経営計画では累進的配当から一歩踏み込み、毎期の増配を原則 — a step beyond progressive, to an increase every year in principle — for 157円, ¥157 (US$0.958), 前事業年度対比35円増配, an increase of ¥35 (US$0.21). Mizuho Financial Group's is 累進的な一株あたりの増配に加え、機動的な自己株式取得, made specific as 毎期５円を目安に増配, an increase of ¥5 (US$0.031) a year as a guide, with 145円, ¥145 (US$0.885), 前事業年度から５円増額. Takeda's is 毎年の１株当たり年間配当金を増額または維持する累進配当, and its item refers the reader to note 25 of the consolidated statements for the year's amounts. Kyocera's, as above, begins next year.

Five items name a yen floor or a yen step, and two of those name a total-return ratio as well. Tokyo Electron's 50％ comes with 1株当たりの年間配当金は50円を下回らない, a floor of ¥50 (US$0.31), and a clause that a review of the dividend will be considered if the company fails to earn a profit two years running. Advantest's, for the three years of the 第3期中期経営計画 from 2024年4月, is 1株当たり通期30円を最低限, a floor of ¥30 (US$0.18), plus 総還元性向 of 50%以上 over the three years combined, defined as (配当額＋自己株式取得額)÷連結当期利益, and the item adds that these returns may not be carried out if an unexpectedly large growth investment arises or results deteriorate; its resolutions are 29円, ¥29 (US$0.18), and 30円. Nippon Steel's 30％程度 comes with １株当たりの年間配当額の下限を24円, a floor of ¥24 (US$0.15), for the five years of the 2030中長期経営計画 (2027年３月期〜2031年３月期); for the year just closed the interim was 60円, ¥60 (US$0.37), per share on the basis before the five-for-one split of 2025年10月１日, which the item restates as 12円, ¥12 (US$0.073), on the split basis, and the year-end 12円, for 24円 on the split basis. ITOCHU's 44円以上 and Mizuho's 毎期５円を目安に増配 are the other two; Mizuho says its buybacks are decided with 総還元性向50%以上を目安, alongside results, capital and the other considerations it lists.

Among the sixteen items without a target, guide, floor or formula, 安定 does most of the work, and the verb after it varies. Sony Group: 安定的な配当の継続に努めたうえで, with the amount decided by weighing consolidated results, financial position and business development, for 12.5円, ¥12.5 (US$0.0763), twice and 年間配当金は１株につき25円, ¥25 (US$0.15). Keyence: 安定した配当を継続していく, for 当期の1株当たり配当金は年間550円, ¥550 (US$3.36), with 275円, ¥275 (US$1.68), at each half. Recruit Holdings: 安定的な1株当たりの配当を継続的に行うよう努めて, for 1株当たり25.0円, ¥25.0 (US$0.153), this year and a plan of 26.0円, ¥26.0 (US$0.159), next. Hitachi: 配当については、安定的に実施、自己株式の取得については、機動的に実施, for １株当たり配当金は年50円, ¥50 (US$0.31), from 23円, ¥23 (US$0.14), and 27円, ¥27 (US$0.16). Daiichi Sankyo: 配当を安定的に維持, for １株当たり年78円, ¥78 (US$0.48), expected. Central Japan Railway: 安定配当を継続, in an item that also says retained earnings are secured for the 中央新幹線計画 and other projects, for 16円, ¥16 (US$0.098), twice and １株当たり32円, ¥32 (US$0.20). SMC and Toyota are above.

Two of the sixteen rest on other words. FUJIFILM Holdings decides dividends 連結業績を反映させるとともに, reflecting consolidated results and the funds needed for M&A, capital investment and R&D, for 1株当たり70円, ¥70 (US$0.43). SoftBank Group's sentence is 持続的成長に向けた積極的な投資と株主への利益還元を両立させる, balancing investment for sustained growth with returns to shareholders; the item prints a year-end of １株当たり５円50銭, ¥5.50 (US$0.0336), to be resolved on 2026年６月24日, an interim printed as 22.00 in the table, ¥22.00 (US$0.134), the actual amount before the four-for-one split of 2026年１月１日, which the note says corresponds to ５円50銭 after it, and 配当金総額 of 62,686百万円, ¥62,686 million (US$382.7 million), for the year. Daikin, above, mentions 配当性向 without giving its level; Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsui & Co. use 累進 and print their dividend amounts, but neither item names a ratio, floor or formula under this desk's classification.

Twenty-eight of the thirty-five items print the year's dividend as a single annual figure per share, from NTT's 5.30円, ¥5.30 (US$0.0324), to SMC's 1,000円, ¥1,000 (US$6.11); the figure is per share of each company's own stock, so the range says nothing about the companies relative to one another. Three of the twenty-eight carry a split adjustment in the item — ITOCHU (42円 for 210円), Nippon Steel (24円 on the split basis, with the interim 60円 restated as 12円) and KDDI (80円00銭, ¥80.00 (US$0.488), 株式分割考慮後) — and SoftBank Group's interim note is the fourth split in the set. Six items print an interim and a year-end figure but no annual per-share total — Nintendo (42円 and 177円), SoftBank Group (22.00 and ５円50銭), Advantest (29円 and 30円), Daikin (165円 and 175円, ¥165 (US$1.01) and ¥175 (US$1.07), the latter 決議予定), Murata (30円 and 35円) and Kyocera (25円 and 27円) — and Takeda's refers the reader to a note elsewhere in the report; none of the six pairs is added here. Where the year-end dividend goes to a general meeting, the meetings named in the items fall between 2026年6月12日 (Keyence) and 2026年６月29日 (Murata), and a row whose meeting falls after the filing date is marked （予定）.

Read across the thirty-five, the dividend sentence has a small grammar. There is a noun — 配当性向, DOE, 総還元性向, or none — and, in nineteen items, a number; a qualifier on the number — 程度, 前後, 超, 以上, 目安, 目処, 目途 — that tells the reader how firm it is; often a horizon (Oriental Land's 2035年まで, East Japan Railway's 2027年度に向けて, Denso's 2030年度, Murata's 2027年を目標に, Nippon Steel's 2027年３月期〜2031年３月期) and sometimes a floor in yen; and, where there is no number, usually one of three words: 安定, 増配 or 累進. Several items also record a change in the policy, with different effective dates: Nintendo's formula from this year's year-end, Kyocera's move to DOE from next year, HOYA's newly set progressive dividend, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group's step to an increase every year under the current plan, Nippon Steel's floor for the plan starting 2027年３月期, SMC's June 2026 transfer of the dividend decision to the board, and KDDI's restatement of its 40％超 for the next three years on 調整後当期利益. Of the five items read closely, Shin-Etsu Chemical's has all of the first three (配当性向, 40％, 前後, 中長期的); Mitsui & Co.'s has the word 累進 and a planned amount for next year; Toyota's and NTT's have 増配 with 安定的・継続的 and 継続的 respectively; SMC's has 安定的な配当の継続. What each of those promises is what its words say, no more, and the pages are in the sources for a reader who needs the sentence for any of the other thirty.