Hey there, it’s Hirokichi!
Here’s my New NISA (Japan’s tax-free investment account, expanded in 2024) update for July 2026. US stocks had a choppier month, but a weaker yen kept the yen value of my dollar assets climbing, and my Japanese stock picks bounced back too. Overall, another solid month of steady growth.
This Month’s Result: JPY 4,990,693 (+JPY 197,014 from Last Month)
At the end of July, my New NISA account (tsumitate quota + growth quota combined) stood at a valuation of JPY 4,990,693, with unrealized gains of +JPY 1,044,075. Compared to June’s valuation of JPY 4,793,679 (gains of +JPY 857,284), that’s a valuation increase of +JPY 197,014 and a gain increase of +JPY 186,791.
The chart above shows the valuation trend for my mutual funds and US ETFs. Adding the JPY 1,061,612 in Japanese stocks gets you to the total above. My cumulative cost basis is JPY 3,946,618, so the money I’ve put in has grown by JPY 1,044,075. Even after subtracting this month’s new contributions (JPY 5,000 to the S&P500 fund in my tsumitate quota, plus JPY 2,000 to Rakuten SCHD and JPY 3,000 to Tracers Nikkei High Dividend 50 in my growth quota, JPY 10,000 total), the market itself added roughly JPY 180,000 in valuation.
Breakdown by Quota and Fund
Here’s how my holdings break down.
My tsumitate (regular monthly investment) quota, eMAXIS Slim US Stock (S&P500) plus eMAXIS Slim All-Country, is worth JPY 1,472,348. I’ve paused new contributions to the All-Country fund and now only add JPY 5,000 a month to the S&P500 fund.
My growth quota is worth JPY 3,518,345, broken down as follows.
・Rakuten SCHD (US quarterly dividend fund): JPY 50,552 (gain +JPY 9,904)
・Tracers Nikkei High Dividend 50 Index: JPY 36,971 (gain +JPY 5,282)
・HDV (iShares Core High Dividend ETF): JPY 991,240 (gain +JPY 226,270)
・VYM (Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF): JPY 1,377,970 (gain +JPY 343,368)
・12 Japanese stocks: JPY 1,061,612 (gain +JPY 26,856)
My individual Japanese holdings are NTT, Studio Alice, Skylark Holdings, Rakuten Group, Mitsui and Co., Sumitomo Corporation, Hulic, Nintendo, Oriental Land, Umios, Astellas Pharma, and KDDI, 12 stocks in all. Skylark Holdings (+JPY 19,100) and Oriental Land (+JPY 5,330) led the gainers, while Rakuten Group (-JPY 10,190) and Nintendo (-JPY 6,423) are still sitting on unrealized losses.
How the Market Moved This Month
July was a bumpier month for US stocks. The S&P 500 traded roughly flat to slightly lower versus the end of June, as investors weighed shifting appetite for AI and semiconductor names, Fed policy, and a mixed batch of earnings. Even so, my eMAXIS Slim US Stock (S&P500) fund gained in yen terms, because the currency moved in my favor: the yen weakened from the low-160s against the dollar in early July to the high-163s by month-end, which lifted the yen value of my dollar-denominated holdings.
Japan’s Nikkei 225, on the other hand, fell for the first time in four months, closing July 30 at 61,867.43, weighed down by a pullback in AI and semiconductor names. Even though the index itself was soft, my 12 Japanese stocks actually recovered, from JPY 933,905 in June to JPY 1,061,612 in July.
It was a good reminder that in a down month for the index, individual stock performance and dividend policy can still make all the difference.
Mini Lesson: How Your Tax-Free Allowance “Comes Back” the Following Year
New NISA has a rule that when you sell an investment, the tax-free allowance you used for it gets restored, but not until the following year. Say you sell JPY 1,000,000 (at cost, not market value) worth of stock in your growth quota. That JPY 1,000,000 of allowance doesn’t free up in the year you sell; it’s added back to your lifetime allowance (JPY 18,000,000) starting the next year. The key detail is that the restored amount is based on your original purchase price, not the sale price, so if a stock has gained a lot, selling it doesn’t free up as much room as you might expect.
The annual quotas (JPY 1,200,000 for tsumitate, JPY 2,400,000 for growth) don’t reset within the same year, so you can’t sell something and immediately reuse that year’s allowance. It only comes back starting the following year. You can find more detail on the Japan Financial Services Agency’s NISA site.
Contribution Plan Going Forward
No changes planned for next month. I’ll keep contributing JPY 5,000 a month to eMAXIS Slim US Stock (S&P500) in my tsumitate quota, and JPY 2,000 a month to Rakuten SCHD plus JPY 3,000 a month to Tracers Nikkei High Dividend 50 Index in my growth quota. I’m not planning to add to my 12 Japanese stock positions for now, just watching the dividends and price action.
Wrap-Up
US stocks took a bit of a breather in July, but a weaker yen and a recovery in my Japanese stocks kept both the valuation and the gains moving in the right direction. Months like this are a good reminder of why steady, unglamorous monthly investing matters. Take it easy and keep going, see you next month!
日本語版はこちら → 【新NISA】2026年7月の運用実績！評価額4,990,693円、含み益は+1,044,075円に
* This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Please invest at your own responsibility.
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