Japan is one of the largest economies in the world. Its more recent shifting from analog to digital is creating job opportunities for the foreign IT engineers. To give a brief understanding of the IT industry in Japan, we have curated information of top IT and tech companies in Japan.
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To fulfill the IT and software development requirements, Japan has opened up their doors to expats and are inviting foreign IT professionals to the country.
Are you having any issues with job-hunting in Japan?
IT Company Vs Software Company
IT companies and software companies are the types of companies that are in the same industry.
IT (Information Technology) company is the general term. It could be an IT service company or a software product company.
IT Service companies include technical support services, hardware, networking, computer and accessories sales, infrastructure etc., whereas software product companies include developing a specific software. Such companies develop varieties of software adhering to specific technology, domain, platforms, etc. and these are called products.
The Future of IT in Japan
Jobs in fields related to IT and technology are growing, and are expected to continue to do so.
Foreign engineers in this field in Japan can often find jobs with limited Japanese knowledge because computer-programming translates to work almost anywhere in the world. However, please note that it is advisable to learn up to at least conversational Japanese to communicate directly with the Japanese team and for many more job opportunities.
Common jobs one will see for engineers in Japan on job sites include software engineer to sales engineer, web engineer, field service engineer, project management, etc.
Writer's Pick
Top IT Companies in Japan
As we mentioned above, IT is a fast-growing industry in Japan with many jobs available. It’d be impossible to cover all companies, and there are always new positions and start-ups to look into as well. But here are some of the top IT companies in the industry.
Top Three IT companies in Japan (by Revenue)
The following section, lists the top three IT companies as per revenue in Japan in 2018-2019:
|
No. |
Company name |
Revenue (trillion yen) |
|
1 |
Fujitsu |
3.1 |
|
2 |
NEC |
2.9 |
|
3 |
NTT Data |
2.1 |
Fujitsu is a multinational electronics and information technology company. It takes pride in being one of FORTUNE Magazine’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” in 2019 and 2020. It topped the list by revenue with 3.1 trillion yen in 2018-2019.
The second largest in revenues is NEC Corporation which is also a multinational electronics and information technology company, known for their mobile services.
NTT Data Corporation is in third place. It is a multinational company operating in systems management and support. .
All 3 companies are headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
(※) Gyokai Search, IT業界 売上高ランキング トップ10(2018 - 2019年)
Top IT companies in Japan (Salary)
Here are the top 3 Companies with high average annual income.
|
No. |
Company name |
Average Annual Income |
|
1 |
Nomura Research Institute |
12.2 million yen |
|
2 |
SRA Holdings |
12.1 million yen |
|
3 |
Mitsubishi Research Institute |
9.4 million yen |
Nomura Research Institute is the leader in research and consulting businesses in Japan.
SRA Holdings creates and manages network systems and software.
Mitsubishi Research Institute, like the above two, deals with research and consulting, including in IT services.
(※) Gyokai Search, IT業界 平均年収ランキング トップ10(2018 - 2019年)
Top 3 Japanese Companies in Fortune 500
According to the Fortune Global 500, the 3 Japanese companies that topped the list are below:
|
Rank in Japan |
Fortune 500 rank |
Name of Company |
|
1 |
10 |
Toyota |
|
2 |
33 |
Mitsubishi |
|
3 |
34 |
Honda |
Source: Global 500
All three of the top companies, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Honda are top multinational auto manufacturers known and trusted around the world..
Other companies that made it to the top 10 list of Fortune 500 companies in Japan are: Japan Post Holdings, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, Itochu, Nissan, Softbank Group, Hitachi and JXTG Holdings.
While the main industry they are listed under may not be IT, each of these companies have an IT department or subsidiaries in IT so one can look for an IT job in these companies. However, as these are the top 10, competition is fierce and depending on the company, a high Japanese level may be required.
What is the average annual salary in the IT industry in Japan?
The average annual salary for IT engineers is between 3 to 4 million yen per year. The average salary for IT consultants, on the other hand is 6 million yen. The latter, however, requires a much higher - practically fluent - level of Japanese in most cases, however. And the higher your Japanese ability, the higher your chances are in most industries in Japan, so it doesn’t hurt to study Japanese when taking a look at Japan for work.
(※) Heikinenshu, IT Engineers Average Salary (※) Heikinenshu, IT Consultants Average Salary
Conclusion
If you are interested in entering the high-paying IT industry, now is the time to start the search. There is a huge demand for human resources who can create applications and websites in English, Japanese or other languages. Increasing demand for manpower in the IT industry in Japan is creating openings in IT engineering jobs for foreigners. We hope this article provided you a look at some of the companies to keep an eye on as leaders in the industry in Japan. Of course we mentioned the top companies, but there are also up and coming companies to keep an eye on too! Broaden your search!
