In Q1 2025, MetaTrader 5 (MT5) overtook MT4 to capture 54.2% of combined trading volume, a major global milestone that mirrors Japan’s rapid adoption of modern trading platforms. Japan is a major foreign exchange hub which makes it even more significant that MT5 achieved such popularity. Japanese traders are among the most knowledgeable and experienced traders who analyze markets using both fundamental and technical analysis and to attract their attention means you did something right. Let’s analyze exactly what factors contributed to MT5’s rapid success and what makes it so popular among Japanese retail FX traders.
Japanese FX Market Brief Overview
MT5 has steadily gained market share in Japan since 2022, which was driven by the platform’s support for a multitude of asset classes beyond just Forex pairs. The local currency in Japan is actually very liquid, creating roughly 292 billion USD daily turnover, which is a staggering number. JPY accounts for nearly 39% of daily turnover in Japan, making it a very popular trading instrument. The country is a major financial hub known for the Tokyo Forex session, which is the most traded session in Asia. The session is so significant that some traders have even developed strategies to trade post-Asian ranges and use it as a reference to define daily trends. When we consider trading platforms, MT4 still leads globally with 85% share, but Japan is the country where MT5 usage will climb from under 5% in 2021 to a peak in 2024.
The path from MT4 to MT5
MT4 was developed in 2004 and is solely designed around Forex and CFDs trading, offering advanced features. However, it offers fewer order types, no built-in stock trading, and is slightly inferior when it comes to social features. MT5 was designed to offer a modern interface and incorporated new features such as support for equities, futures, and cryptos trading. Execution models and order types were also improved and new ones were added. With an added built-in calendar and an improved store for Expert Advisors and indicators, MT5 had a slight advantage over the old MT4, which was not enough for traders to switch from MT4 to 5 immediately.
Multi-asset trading
MetaTrader 5 enables traders to quickly open and close positions on stocks and cryptos. Commodities and indices are also supported. The platform offers more assets for trading. Traders can use depth-of-market functionality to better gauge market sentiment and see whether bears or bulls are winning in trading. MT5 enables super-fast trade execution on all the assets provided for trading.
Advanced charting and analytical tools
Over 80 built-in indicators, customized chart types, and modular UI make the platform very useful in trading. Traders can fully customize its interface and color schemes to align the platform with their needs. MT5 also introduced Native Level II pricing which was not in MT4. It is highly valued by intra-day scalping traders who need to monitor orders and depth of market (DOM).
Expert Advisors (EAs)
The MQL5 programming language enables traders and developers to develop both custom indicators and Expert Advisors (automated trading systems) is the number one advantage of both MT4 and MT5. The programming language allows traders to develop and deploy robots right away into the MT5 platform with just one click without the need for API calls. There is an improved strategy tester in MT5 which allows traders to backtest their EAs on one or multiple assets simultaneously. MQL5 also allows utilities and scripts just like the MT4’s MQL4. All the improvements were among the reasons why MT5 overtook MT4 with market share.
Broker support and Japan’s ecosystem
No matter how advanced the platform is, it won’t become very popular if brokers are not adopting it. Since MT4’s introduction the platform was the main trading software that was adopted by brokers and MT5 shared a similar fate as more and more modern brokers in Japan are offering it to their traders as the main trading platform.
A growing number of local coders publish EAs and signal services for Japanese traders as the industry embraces algo trading. There is an official MT5 store, where traders can find free and paid indicators and EAs.
Community
Both MT4 and MT5 have the largest communities among FX trading platforms. There are thousands of tutorials and learning materials available online and many forums can be used to find custom indicators and Expert Advisors, which makes it a simple and fast process to master the MT5 platform.
