Top IT Companies in Japan (2024) & Average Annual Salary for IT Industry in Japan

With its shift towards digital digital transformation, Japan has showcased an increase in job opportunities for both local and foreign IT engineers. Find out what the top IT companies in Japan are, and how much they are paying employees.

Table of Contents

1. Japan’s Shift Towards Digital Transformation
2. Top IT Companies in Japan Based on Sales (2024)
3. Most Popular IT Companies for New Graduates (2025 Recruitment)
4. Average Annual Salary in Japan’s IT Industry
5. Become an IT Engineer with WeXpats

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Japan’s Shift Towards Digital Transformation

Japan is at the forefront of a digital transformation era, characterised by integration of digital technologies into all aspects of society. This transformation is reshaping industries, enhancing the quality of life, and positioning Japan as a global leader in technology and innovation.

Some examples of Japan’s digital transformation include:

• Smart Cities that utilise IoT and AI to improve urban living in all aspects including public transportation system, energy efficiency, and public safety. 

  • An example is the recently announced iPhone capability to add My Number ID cards to Apple Wallet from spring 2025 (read more about My Number in Japan here).

• Industry Revolution characterised by the usage of digital devices, robotics, IoT and AI to create smart factories or supplement shortage of manpower in various industries. 

  • A good example is the introduction of cat-shaped service robots at Skylark Group restaurants (read more about it here). 

• Healthcare has been transformed through electronic health records, AI-driven diagnostics, online consultations to improve patient care, operational efficiency, and convenience. 

• Education sectors are embracing digital transformation with e-learning platforms, AI-driven personalised learning, and virtual classrooms. These improvements make education much more accessible, convenient, and can tailor to individual needs.

Challenges to Japan’s Digital Transformation

Naturally, there are challenges or obstacles to Japan fully embracing digital transformation. This can be due to many reasons, such as human responses like stubbornness to accept and adapt to something new, or even practical reasons like cybersecurity, lack of expertise to maintain the system, or costs for installing and maintaining systems. 

Some examples of these challenges and obstacles include:

• Ageing Population leading to a shortage of skilled workers, particularly in technology sectors where innovation is required, can impede the progress of digital transformation

• Cultural Resistance, Workplace Culture and Traditionality has impeded the introduction and implementation of digital technologies in Japan. The large number of elderly contributes to this factor as they prefer things they are used to. 

  • A good example is the prevalence of using fax machines, postcards and letters in an era where emails and instant messaging is available. 

• Language Barriers can also impede progress in digital transformation. English proficiency is low in Japan compared to other developed countries, which poses a challenge when it comes to accessing valuable global digital resources and collaborating with international partners for R&D

Despite the challenges it has faced, Japan’s digital transformation is ever progressing. The move towards accepting even more foreign workers and foreign IT engineers will surely help further boost Japan’s progress to an even more modern and digitised era.

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Top IT Companies in Japan Based on Sales (2024)

What are the “Top IT Companies” in Japan? There are many criteria, and different people have different opinions on what is considered the best. In this part, let’s have a look at the “Top IT Companies in Japan” based on companies’ sales. 

According to キャリハイ転職 (Kyarihai Tenshoku)’s “2024 IT Industry Rankings”, the Top 10 IT Companies in Japan based on sales is...

Note: 1 Billion Yen equals USD 6,463,300 at a currency exchange rate of 100 Yen to USD0.65.

Why is “Company Sales” so important when job-hunting?

For similar reasons that people like to seek employment at big corporations. In this case, the better the company’s sales, the more profitable the company is, which means the company can offer higher salaries and better benefits to its employees, in addition to employment stability. 

※ キャリハイ転職, “IT企業ランキング｜大手企業の年収・売上【2024年】” [2024.06.03]

Most Popular IT Companies for New Graduates (2025 Recruitment)

Image from PR Times.

New graduate employment starting salaries are on the rise, especially in the IT industry. In this survey on “Ranking of Most Popular Companies for New Graduates in the IT Industry” conducted by Minshu Co., Ltd, the target of the survey were students who are scheduled to graduate in 2025. 3,407 students participated in the survey. 

Participants were asked to evaluate the IT companies based on 4 points - “Job Characteristics”, “Company Characteristics”, “Work Style”, and “Recruitment Methods”. The results are as follows: 

Overall Top 30 IT Industry Companies

Survey Results and Analysis:

• NTT Data maintains its position as Rank 1 for 15 years in a row since the survey first began. 

• Independent companies (companies without a parent company) are growing in popularity with 6 ranking this round. 

• This round, companies that rank in the top 10 are those who are likely to offer comprehensive employee benefits, showing a change in job-hunting trends. 

Top 10 IT Companies with Good Social Welfare Benefits

※ PR Times, “みん就（旧楽天みん就）、「みん就 2025年卒 IT業界新卒就職人気企業ランキング」を発表” [2024.05.15]

Average Annual Salary in Japan’s IT Industry

Many of the companies that ranked above are big corporations, but what if you cannot get into any of these big corporations? Or perhaps you are more interested in medium and small companies' working environments and styles. In order to get a good grasp of how much you can earn when working in the IT industry in Japan, let’s have a look at the average salary. 

National Tax Agency Survey on Private-Sector Salary 2022 

According to the NTA’s “Survey on Private-Sector Salary 2022 (令和４年分　民間給与実態統計調査)”, the average annual salary for the IT Industry (情報通信業) is 5.772 Million Yen, or 481,000 Yen a month. It is considerably above average when compared to other industries, as the average annual income in Japan, also revealed in the survey, is 4.58 million Yen.

The survey also reveals that the size of corporations is a factor that affects the amount of salary earned. Corporations with less than 30 employees have an average annual salary of 4.482 to less than 5 million yen, corporations with 30 or more employees have average annual salaries exceeding 5 million yen, and corporations with over 1000 employees have average annual salaries exceeding 6 million yen. 

Note: Annual Salary (年収) includes bonuses, basic salary, bonus, overtime allowance, housing allowance etc. payments and allowances but excludes commute expenses and gift payments. 

Ministry of Health, Labour & Welfare Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2023 

According to the MHLW’s “Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2023 (令和５年賃金構造基本統計調査)”, the average monthly salary for the IT Industry is 381,200 yen a month. This is above average as the average monthly salary in Japan for full-time workers is 318,300 yen a month. 

The survey also reveals that the average age of IT workers is 40.6 years old, and average years of service is 12.2 years. IT workers in their 40s to 50s earn on average over 400,000 a month, with the peak at 495,200 yen a month for those aged 55 to 59 years old. 

Note: Average Salary consists only of basic salary, excluding bonus, overtime allowance, etc. payment and allowances. 

Become an IT Engineer with WeXpats

IT engineers are in high demand around the world, and in Japan as well. The growing need for IT engineers has driven up the average salary for IT engineers, which is great news for aspiring IT engineers looking to work in Japan. Though the average annual salary for the IT industry is 5.772 Million Yen, as mentioned above, this covers all aspects of the IT industry and not just IT engineers, so how much do IT engineers earn? 

How much an IT Engineer can earn depends on their field of speciality:

The higher your skills, the higher your annual can be, especially if you take on a leader and management role in a project. 

※ LevTech Rookie, “ITエンジニアの年収はいくら？職種別の平均年収や年収を上げる方法について解説！” [2024.02.14]

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