Circular & Notice of GM to renew Buyback Authority

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN IT ARE NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (INCLUDING ITS TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS, ANY STATE OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA), AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, ANY MEMBER STATE OF THE EEA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE SAME WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.

20 May 2026

The Baillie Gifford Japan Trust PLC

(the "Company" or "BGFD")

Publication of Circular and Notice of General Meeting

to renew the Company's authority to buy back Ordinary Shares

The Board of BGFD announces that the Company has today published a circular (the "Circular"), which contains a notice of a general meeting of the Company (the "General Meeting") at which the Board will seek Shareholder approval to renew the Company's share buyback authority. The General Meeting will be held at 1.00 p.m. on 17 June 2026 at 3 St. Helen's Place, London EC3A 6AB.

The Board continually monitors the level of discount to net asset value per Ordinary Share and believes that repurchasing Ordinary Shares provides the Company's Shareholders with liquidity for their Ordinary Shares when natural market demand is insufficient, on terms that enhance the net asset value per share for remaining Shareholders, while at the same time dampening discount volatility.

In the light of the Company's recent share buyback activity, the Board anticipates that the existing authority to repurchase Ordinary Shares, granted at the Company's last annual general meeting held on 10 December 2025 (the "2025 AGM"), will likely be fully utilised well in advance of the Company's 2026 AGM in December, when it is next due to be refreshed. As a result, in order to provide the Company with the ability to continue to repurchase Ordinary Shares as and when the Board deems it appropriate, the Board is seeking Shareholder approval for the early renewal of its authority to buy back Ordinary Shares.

At the 2025 AGM, Shareholders granted the Company the authority to buy back up to 11,412,102 Ordinary Shares (the "Existing Authority"). Over the period from the 2025 AGM to close of business on the 18 May 2026, the Company has bought back 7,790,000 Ordinary Shares into treasury, representing 68.26 per cent. of the Existing Authority. As at close of business on 18 May 2026, the Company's remaining buyback authority, therefore, permitted the repurchase of up to a further 3,622,102 Ordinary Shares (representing approximately 5.30 per cent. of the Company's issued Ordinary Share capital (excluding Ordinary Shares held in treasury)).

The ability to repurchase Ordinary Shares is a necessary element of the Board's approach to discount management and the Board believes that renewal of the Company's buyback authority is in the best interests of the Company and its Shareholders as a whole.

A copy of the Circular will be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism. The Circular and the Notice of the General Meeting will also be available on the Company's website at www.japantrustplc.co.uk.

Unless the context requires otherwise, all defined terms used in this announcement will have the same meaning as described in the Circular.

Notes

BGFD's Legal Entity Identifier: 54930037AGTKN765Y741