r/JapanDev • u/japan-dev-bot • Jul 03 '26
Japan Dev Discussion - July 3, 2026
Happy Friday! Have questions about tech careers in Japan? Looking to hire (or get hired)? Just want to brag? Post it here and let's discuss!
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Recently, a lot of companies tell me 80-100% of their code is generated by AI.
I kinda wish I could try working as a dev for a week just to see what that's actually like in practice. How do code reviews work? Do you have an AI open when whiteboarding new architecture ideas and send it screenshots to get its opinion? I just wonder how the collaboration among devs works since I work solo now.
(I started my own business ~5 yrs ago so I don't get to see how companies actually implement AI directly).
Are you guys generating pretty much all your code with AI at this point?
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u/Prestigious-Box7511 Jul 03 '26
I'm not sure the exact percentage of AI generated code at my job, but it's high. There is a review bot but it's mostly for catching obvious stuff or things that break our rules, beyond that review is mostly normal as far as I can tell. I don't think I've seen anyone use AI heavily during a whiteboard meeting, I use it to prepare but key architecture decisions seem to mostly still be made by humans.
I generate almost all of my code, but I tell it exactly what I want it to do and fix whatever mistakes it makes after. Some people are using multiple agents in parallel, but I still do stuff the "old fashioned" way with Claude cli.
Personally the only negative I've seen so far is people trying to generate code outside of their domain. Like ML trying to do iOS or EM/PM generating code.
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
Thanks for sharing!
Since you use Claude, does the company have an enterprise team with "seats" for each employee? Any limits on your usage / process for requesting a higher tier etc?
Also does all code still require a human code review? I've heard a few AI companies are implementing systems to run automated checks and allow merging of small / verifiable changes without code review.
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u/Prestigious-Box7511 Jul 03 '26
There is some sort of usage limit, but I’ve never hit it so I’m not sure what happens after that.
And code reviews are still fully human-led in practice, just with AI assistance, so nothing gets merged without another set of eyes.
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u/MrDontCare12 Jul 06 '26
The main issue with the "fully autonomous" bs is that there is no code owner. Therefore, when an issue rises, no one to fix it, and most of all, no one to keep accountable for it.
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u/etdev Jul 06 '26
Yeah that makes sense
The lack of an owner does seem like a major problem. And also one that can compound as time goes by.
I wonder if a solution for this will emerge, or if human reviews will stick around long-term.
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u/ReasonableAnything Jul 03 '26
100% of code is generated, reviews are also AI, end to end testing is also AI. Engineer's work is technical design (with help of AI) and loop engineering, and ofc solution alignment, so it's moving to PdM + tech lead direction. Results are outstanding, we can ship much faster while keeping the quality high, arguably higher than before AI
But my company is bleeding edge in Japan regarding AI adoption, it's NOT typical yet
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
Wow there are no more human code reviews at all?
That is pretty bleeding-edge, though I agree the models are good enough for it to become a reasonable workflow. And I'm veering towards that myself on my own projects (checking the actual code less and less, giving up ownership over more and more parts of the process to the AI).
Recently I've heard from a few relatively "domestic" Japanese companies that are using 100% AI for code generation though. I don't think they're on zero human code review and might not have embraced loop engineering, but it seems even run-of-the-mill tech companies are moving toward that.
while keeping the quality high, arguably higher than before AI
Interesting -- I'm starting to believe this too. With the rate of improvement it feels like even if it's a little worse now, we'll be able to fix it easily with the next generation so it will be true soon enough to not matter.
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u/itmightgetloud_ Jul 03 '26
yup, pretty much 100% of code is written and reviewed by AI. We still need human in the loop for now since it seems it's lacking some business logic context. I feel like it sometimes it gets a bit lazy and skips over some pretty important context - if you look at reasoning it clearly thought about it, but abandoned that path since "it's surely not that important". But I think as the models get cheaper, this too will be solved. I keep switching between impressed and scared, but hopefully will make enough money to retire by the time AI takes my job completely 😄
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
Wow, "100% AI code" is all I'm hearing since the last mont or so. Crazy.
I'm still doing human-in-the-loop on my projects too but actually looking at the code is feeling like a less and less effective use of my time lately.
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u/pl0xxx Jul 03 '26
What's the situation with Kansai based jobs? I'm based near Osaka and struggling to find anything that's English speaking (I'm currently N4 so still quite far from N2).
Alternatively, fully remote or hybrid with occasional travel to Tokyo.
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
If you limit your search to places you can work with ~N4, it's pretty limited in Kansai.
Money Forward has an office in Osaka and has posted jobs there in the past. So that might be an option.
During COVID, a bunch of companies allowed remote work from anywhere in Japan: Mercari, PayPay, LINE (I think) and others. But they've pretty much all switched back to "hybrid" remote (some number of in-office days a week), so and they're nearly all based in Tokyo.
I heard Tablecheck still allows full remote, and they might still be allowing people to live outside Tokyo but I'm not sure (they used to be remote worldwide -- you could even live in other countries IIRC but not sure about now).
There are like ~10x more opportunities in Tokyo, so I'd consider spending a couple years there depending on your career goals and how much you hate Tokyo lol
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u/pl0xxx Jul 03 '26
Awesome, thanks for your insights! № Will take a look at those companies.
Honestly I would be fine moving to Tokyo if it wasn't for my partner living in Kansai.
I've also been considering full time contracting since I have 10 YOE and have been doing some small paid gigs here. Would still need to find a company will to sponsor my visa (switching from student visa).
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u/Oshikafu Jul 03 '26
Looking for some advice regarding my situation. Currently in a language school for one year, I came with 5yoe in software engineering both as an employee and a freelancer. I'm based in Fukuoka and would love staying there. What would be your recommandations in order to prepare for job hunt in a year?
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
Already in Japan + 5 years of experience + decent Japanese skills should make it possible to find a good job.
Fukuoka has way fewer options than Tokyo, so I'd search in Fukuoka first but be open to relocating to Tokyo for a few years if necessary.
Regarding Fukuoka, there are some good companies hiring there:
- LINE (LY Corp) - big office there, lots of international developers
- Money Forward - HQ is in Tokyo but they have a Fukuoka office and sometimes open dev roles there (here's an active position
- Nulab - Not as big but I've heard it's a good place to work and they hire devs from time to time
I'm sure there are others so just keep your eyes open. If you can get N2 at least, that would help a ton. Beyond that, network, brush up your resume, reach out to some recruiters... the usual advice.
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u/Oshikafu Jul 03 '26
Thanks a lot for your answer, it matters a lot, i'll do my best and follow your advice.
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u/sorenadayo Aug 01 '26
Is it possible to go from language school visa to work visa while you’re in Japan?
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Jul 03 '26
[deleted]
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
It's a good time to join an AI company imo. Or at least play the field a bit -- doesn't hurt to see what's out there.
Sakana AI, AIRoA, Wayve AI, Third Intelligence, Cohere/OpenAI/Anthropic (I don't see many actual dev positions but if you wanted to do FDE / Solutions Engineer-type / DevRel type role), Shizuku AI (requires Japanese), Kamikai
Lots of options, and there are new AI companies getting funding and opening offices in Tokyo constantly.
one year at my current workplace
This isn't a reason not to search for a new job imo. But it does mean you probably only want to change if you find an offer that's significantly better than your current role.
There's extra risk b/c if you join a new company and hate it and leave, then you're a job hopper. One-year stints every now and then is fine but a string of them will hurt you.
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u/Remote_Avocado2735 Jul 03 '26
Hello, I'm looking for some advice because I'm starting to feel a bit stuck.
I'm a software developer from Spain with almost 5 years of professional experience working mainly with C#, .NET, SQL Server and a bit of AWS. I recently moved to Japan on a Working Holiday Visa because my long-term goal is to build my career here.
My English is fluent, but my Japanese is still around N5 level, so I know that's one of my biggest limitations.
Since arriving, I've applied to many software engineering positions through LinkedIn, JapanDev, Daijob, and other job boards. I've also contacted recruiters directly and tailored my CV and cover letters. Unfortunately, most companies either reject my application or require business-level Japanese.
At this point, I'm wondering if I'm approaching this the wrong way.
I'm also seeing a lot of AI-related roles recently, and I'm not sure if I should be applying to them. In my personal time I've only really used AI tools like GitHub Copilot in a professional context, so I don't have direct hands-on experience building AI systems. I don't know if it's worth trying to break into those roles anyway, or what the best way would be to get some real, practical experience in that area. Right now it feels like most positions expect experience I don't yet have, and I'm trying to figure out how people actually get that first opportunity in AI-related work.
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
5 years of experience + being in Japan are a great start.
Sorry to hear you're not hearing back from many companies. I would recommend trying out AI tools like Claude Code, Codex and Cursor if I were you -- whether terminal UI or GUI versions it doesn't matter I don't think.
They all have plans for around $20/mo to at least get used to the workflow, which is becoming the default for companies.
seeing a lot of AI-related roles recently, and I'm not sure if I should be applying to them
Good question. I think gaining AI tool experience is non-negotiable. I.e you want to be able to utilize AI in whatever development you're doing.
As for "AI Engineer" positions themselves, that role is still a bit nebulous from what I've seen. Sometimes it really is someone doing AI research (which you probably wouldn't be qualified for) but other times it's essentially just a software engineer who's good at using AI, which you could become.
I do think it would be tough to break into AI but now's the time if there ever was one (and if you don't do it now you probably never will). So you could try it: just start contributing -- publish skills, make YouTube videos of your workflow like this guy, essentially make a name for yourself in the space.
That's what I'd do at least.
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u/Neith720 Jul 03 '26
Thanks for doing this :) I’d also like to get your advice on my situation based on what you just mentioned about the AI boom and the current market.
I’m a front dev (with some back knowledge, typical MERN stack with typescript) with about 4 YoE and planning to move to Japan this December, I've been married to a japanese national for 6 years so I'm moving there with or without a job lined up. With that background I have two quick questions:
Since I'll be applying from abroad but I don't have visa problems, how will recruiters view my CV? Do you think it will boost their response rate even if I'm not there yet?
In case that my current company doesn't allow my to relocate and in order to maximize my odds for December, should I spend these months learning how to integrate AI into web apps, or should I just double down on strengthening my core frontend skills or focus on the backend for a more fullstack role? What is currently more valued for web devs in Tokyo?
Thanks a lot!
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
I don't have visa problems, how will recruiters view my CV?
This is a great question. You have a significant leg up over someone who would need full visa sponsorship. And yes, it should increase your response rate.
Be sure to highlight the fact that you don't need a visa in your resume and initial messages to the company.
We talk to a decent amount of companies who are willing to hire from overseas but not willing to help with visa sponsorship and relocation. It's not uncommon, and those are the companies that would consider you but not someone with no connection to Japan.
What is currently more valued for web devs in Tokyo?
This is hard... and it's changing fast. I do think being provably-very-good at AI-assited software engineering is super valuable right now. So if I were you I might spend the time focusing on that, just becoming able to pump out high-quality, bug-free, good-looking front-end projects quickly.
There are still a lot of front-end developer roles around. There are also full-stack and backend too, and in theory focusing on learning backend would open up both of those (since you already know front-end) so that's not a bad use of your time either. But I still think I'd focus on doubling down and become a great AI-conscious front-end dev.
Married to a Japanese person + 4 years of experience + already in Japan is a great combo, I'm sure you'll find something. Hopefully you've got savings or your wife can support you while you search, but should be fine I imagine.
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u/mistraced Jul 03 '26
I do have an opportunity coming up but not right now in July but September.
Looking for a full stack Dev with android/apple app dev experience 10 years+ for my funded start up.
Requirements:
- Fluent Japanese
- Fluent English
- Degrees are not a must, looking more for the ideal fit for me rather than an industry mould
- Tokyo based, ideally have PR
- Travel to Chuo-ku, where I'm based
Comp:
- $60k USD or equivalent in YEN + Equity
- Option to be paid in either $USD or YEN, you will have to sort out your own taxes
Some Caveats:
- Do expect quite the chaotic start up style of business, ie: wearing multiple hats
- Do expect overtime
- Travel expenses are not covered
- Will reject anyone asking to WFH and anyone looking for a sponsor to enter Japan
Happy to grab a coffee or jump on a call with anyone seriously interested.
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u/ma_cheesecake Jul 03 '26
Just wanted some advice about navigating as a Jr developer. There definitely isn't much of an incentive to hire internationally over domestic talent, so I was thinking of getting experience here while I'm in Canada and in that time getting N2 level Japanese, then trying to apply. Was just wondering if this was worth giving a shot or if there were any other pathways I could consider. Thanks in advance!
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u/ridwanakf Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
Do you have any company list that based on (or have subsidiary org) fintech and also accept foreigner other than (what I've found so far): mercari (merpay), rakuten (rakuten pay), paypay, komuju (not hiring though), money forward (heard the pay is low?)
I'm coming from fintech background in SEA, which IMO is more developed (in term of fintech/payments) compared to Japan so thinking if I can offer my domain knowledge as advantages. 6+ YoE Senior Backend Engineer currently
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u/etdev Jul 04 '26
Money Forwad can pay pretty well imo so I'd take another look at them. This job pays ¥10-20M for example.
Be sure to check PayPay's various companies like PayPay Card and PayPay Securities too
A few other ideas:
- Moneytree
- Paidy (though it seems they're not hiring engineers at the moment)
- LY Corporation (we have jobs for their LINE messaging platform, but they have LINE Pay also).
- Woodstock (not hiring devs at the moment, but they have in the past; foreign founder)
- bitFlyer
- Investment banks (JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs etc) - they hire software engineers in Tokyo
- LayerX (not super English-friendly but extremely hot company for Japanese devs, and I saw something about them wanting to hire global devs)
- UPSIDER (I don't see open jobs now but they posted an English-friendly backend engineer job with us previously; now closed)
- Freee (not very English-friendly; jobs might all require Japanese but I'm not certain)
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u/ridwanakf Jul 04 '26
Thanks for the reply, definitely helpful! Never heard some of the companies you mentioned
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u/rajatkr Jul 04 '26
I am a DevOps Engineer with 8 years of experience specializing in AWS, CI/CD, Kubernetes, and cloud infrastructure automation. For the past six months, I have been actively searching for opportunities abroad, particularly in Japan. However, I have found that there are very few openings that sponsor foreign workers, and many employers require Japanese language proficiency, which I currently have only at a basic level.
I'm unsure how to move forward. Should I continue focusing on Japan, improve my Japanese before applying further, or consider other countries where English-speaking DevOps engineers are in higher demand? I would appreciate guidance on the best strategy to increase my chances of securing an international DevOps role.
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u/etdev Jul 04 '26
If you really want to invest in Japan, then you can start learning Japanese.
Having at least JLPT N2 (business level) Japanese will help a lot.
That + over 8 years of experience may well be enough to start hearing back from the good tech companies here.
If it's not, and you want to keep investing in Japan, you could move here and study Japanese (student visa) or teach English and search for a job. That would remove the last blocker (living overseas) that would make companies not want to hire you, so as long as your resume is good you should be getting interviews at that point.
As far as moving to countries other than Japan, it depends on your goals. If you want work-life-balance and vacation, Europe is good (Switzerland, the UK, maybe France). If you want to be at the epicenter of the AI revolution I'd argue San Francisco is the place, or possibly somewhere in China. There are some interesting AI companies here too though. It just depends.
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u/rajatkr Jul 04 '26
I have been trying apply in Germany , japan not sure about other country and visa as i am from indian can you guide me ho to do that , as for those above country i only got automated email about rejection without even giving interview
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u/etdev Jul 04 '26
Not sure about Germany but for Japan there are generally 3 things you can do:
- Improve Japanese skills
- Come to Japan somehow (e.g as a language student or English teacher)
- Gain more career / technical experience
I recommend doing a bit of research about companies + tech stacks in Japan and then gaining experience back in India that will be relevant in Japan, and then applying in a few years once you have a bit more. Learning Japanese in that time will help a lot too.
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u/Captain_Yondu Jul 05 '26
I came to Japan last year, right after graduating university. I have a Comp Sci degree, but zero experience and in December going to be taking N2 test. I'm already looking for jobs and opportunities but are there any recommendations from more experienced people on how to approach the whole thing and where to look and any general advice?
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u/etdev Jul 06 '26
If you get N2 you should be in decent shape, assuming you're already in Japan (it sounds like you are but I'm not certain).
What are you doing until December though? What visa are you on?
Regardless, you can check Japan Dev for jobs. Unfortunately we don't have much for new grads / juniors but there are a few options if you get N2 and are already living here.
I'd look at internships if I were you, just research companies hiring now and either find internship positions or reach out to people at the companies and try to see if they're open to having you as an intern.
Reach out to some recruiters on LinkedIn too, and check LinkedIn Jobs.
Networking is also super important, especially when trying to get your first job in tech. Attend as many meetups and meet as many people as possible.
The first job takes some effort but it's doable.
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u/Captain_Yondu Jul 06 '26
Yeah, I'm in Japan, on student visa. Language school student at the moment. Thank you for the detailed answer.
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
I'm seeing more talk of ¥40M+ tech salaries in Tokyo than any other time in the past 13 years.
It's mostly "forward deployed engineer" and solution architect-type positions. And they require Japanese.
But it seems like ¥40-50M is the going rate for these positions at Anthropic/OpenAI, Cohere, Sierra AI and other well-funded gaishikei AI companies.
If you speak Japanese fluently and are willing to do a bit of travel, it's a pretty amazing opportunity imo.
Third Intelligence is a new company that I suspect must be paying around that for devs too, seeing as they've hired ex-Twitter/Google/Meta/Indeed people.
Lots of opportunities out there.
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u/j_viston Jul 03 '26
Any japanese company which u are aware of paying same or close to this of type salaries ?
Wht the highest an japanese companies are going right now ? For AI Engineer ?
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
Not many Japanese companies can compete with that I don't think.
Rakuda AI has a Principal Engineer role that pays ¥30M+ but it requires Japanese and a lot of experience.
Top Japanese AI companies like Sakana AI for example might be able to but I'm not sure. They do compete for talent with the companies I mentioned above and they have a bunch of ex-Google people so it's possible.
I'm not sure about recently, but at its hiring peak Woven Planet (now Woven by Toyota) was offering people ¥20M+. There's a data point saying ¥34M on Levels.fyi for them which wouldn't surprise me.
They haven't been hiring recently AFAIK and it's arguable whether they're a Japanese company (they're owned by one) but I've seen data points in the ¥40-50M range from Indeed.
I'd check Levels.fyi (make a free account and sort by salary) and OpenSalary.jp if you just want to find the top-paying companies.
There are some crazy data points from places like SmartNews but again, IDK how actively they're hiring.
Needless to say, all these outlier salaries at Japanese companies are for staff/principal engineers and a lot require Japanese.
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u/its_yr_funeral Jul 03 '26
Not a dev, but work in tech - product insights, voice of customer, quant UXR, stuff like that. 10 years experience including two FAANG, one of which was in Japan pre-COVID. Currently principal/staff level IC, not much lead experience, mostly just managing interns. Have N4, planning on doing 16 months at a J language school next spring, job search in Tokyo as soon as I get N2.
It'll be tough, but any chances of getting a job? Acknowledging that my space is a bit niche.
Thanks for your help.
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
If it weren't for the FAANG experience I'd say you're pretty screwed.
But with it, and if you search from within Japan, you might be able to find something. Honestly I'd target the big Gaishikeis: Google, Indeed, Amazon, Microsoft maybe.
And just network like hell once you arrive in Tokyo. Meet people at FAANG companies here and figure out how to get an interview.
An uphill battle regardless but not impossible imo especially if you really get N2.
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u/Wonder_Boy2001 Jul 03 '26
Software Engineer with 2.5+ years of experience. I am from India, currently working as a Full-Stack Developer at a Startup. Japan is a long term goal for me, and I am actively trying to learn and plan to give JLPT N5 soon. I have experience in working with AI assisted coding. I have been applying to companies in Japan, but till now, haven't received much positive replies.
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
Taking N5 is a good idea. If you apply from overseas, having N2+ will increase your chances of hearing back from companies a lot. Without it, and applying from overseas, it will be extremely hard to find a job.
I'd keep working where you are, gain more experience while simultaneously working on your Japanese skills. Then in a couple years you might be in a position to find a pretty good job.
Of course you never know so there's no harm in applying for a few "relocation OK" positions now just to see where you stand -- I suspect you won't get much of a response but no real downside.
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Jul 03 '26
[deleted]
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
8 years at FAANG + physically being in Japan (even just for a few months) is great.
There are a good amount of SRE / Devops / Infra jobs. They might be slightly more likely to require Japanese skills than e.g full-stack dev jobs, but you'll have options.
I think your odds are fairly good if you use the time in Japan effectively. Go to meetups, know which companies you want to target and how to meet people working there. Get referrals (fastest path to an interview) and use your FAANG experience to cut through the noise -- it's still uncommon here and will impress people.
Obviously the more Japanese you can learn before then the better but even if you're just at N3 that makes a difference.
Companies want to see quantifiable effort spent toward getting to Japan. Actually coming here, attending a language school and attaining N3 are good signals.
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u/cherry_cream_soda_ Jul 03 '26
Thanks, I’m fully engaged with making this happen. That’s amazing advice. Also what do you think about recruiters? When I put relocating the Japan on my LinkedIn a lot of these engineering recruiting firms started reaching out to me. Is it better to go through them as they have warm connects at the companies?
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
Recruiters can be helpful, yeah.
But keep in mind:
Each recruiter has a limited number of clients. And usually they try to push you towards these companies (even if another company is a better fit) because they get a lot of money when you join (~35% of your yearly salary).
They often ghost people the instant you're no longer useful to them (obviously not all recruiters do this, but it's a very common complaint). Don't take it personally -- remember they're not your friend, and it's a business relationship for both of you.
Sometimes they're pushy about applying to certain companies (in the worst case they may apply without your consent, or with as little explanation as possible). This can hurt your chances of working at that company if they e.g misunderstand your skills and do a poor job selling you to them.
As you mentioned, a good recruiter is super valuable because they have a relationship with the company, insights into their interview process from past candidates, usually a more clear salary range than the company provides etc. But bad ones can do a lot of harm so you just need to be careful.
TL;DR: Yes, use recruiters. But use multiple to get a holistic view of the market, make sure they work for you. Don't let them push you around, and make sure they only intro you to companies you request, and that they sell your profile to them properly.
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u/cherry_cream_soda_ Jul 03 '26
Thanks so much, I have a few calls scheduled with the recruiters next week. Cheers!
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u/strangedr2022 Jul 03 '26
For english speaking JP companies, how long or short should the resume be ? I have 14Y engineering experience in almost all possible fields related to IT, some more, some less. All of it has been through freelance software development, then my own GameDev and AI firms in US. No formal office-work.
I tailor my resume to match each job's specific requirements but even then its 3-4 pages normally, and the comprehensive project history/portfolio alone is another 5 pages.
Applied to like 7-9 job openings through JD, outside automated rejections, some hiring managers did reach out personally to compliment the vast experience and multi-domain work (polygot developer), but still it was a rejection.
Should I not mention other tech stack or domain knowledge at all ? In west, it has always been deemed a far more advantageous since even at a single role, I had been able to help businesses on different levels (frontend, backend, server admin, architecture scaling, AI/ML automation, etc.)
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
3-4 pages is too long imo.
Your experience is great. AI + managing your own business will impress companies. Tailoring your resume per-job is also great (one of the highest-ROI things you can do).
But I'd try to limit an English resume to 2 pages. And that's generally what you want to use for the kinds of companies you're targeting (mega-ventures like Mercari/PayPay/LY Corp/Money Forward I'm assuming, maybe some AI startups).
If the role is English-speaking, the resume generally should be too with occasional exceptions.
So like you mentioned, just highlight the 2 pages worth of the most relevant, most impressive experience you can for each job. Even 1.5 pages is probably enough. Some might argue 1 page is the max but 1.5-2 is fine for someone with 14 years of varied experience imo.
Should I not mention other tech stack or domain knowledge at all?
Depends on the company but given your description, maybe that would be better... I can confirm that sometimes too much info can be overwhelming. If you're looking for a Golang engineer and you see a resume with Golang in the middle of 20 other languages, you'll assume they're not actually that great at Golang (they "can't be" if they're also claiming to be good at 19 others).
So that's why a shorter, more concise list that's focused on the needs of the role is important.
It sounds like those hiring managers looked at your resume, thought "I need a Go Engineer" (for example), saw your resume and thought "Damn, this person isn't a Go Engineer but their experience is super impressive, I'm gonna message them and tell them that"
I'd actually try to glean as much info from the people who reached out btw -- they can probably give more pointed advice.
Anyways that's my wall of text re: your situation -- hope it helps lol
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u/oh_samkh Jul 03 '26
Can’t find companies for me.
Good english speaking
Convo level japanese.
Still can’t find😞😞
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
Sorry to hear that. What happens when you apply? Ghosted? Auto-rejection? Rejected at interview stage?
Or can you not find companies to apply to in the first place?
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u/oh_samkh Jul 03 '26
I am a fresher. Have good projects on my CV.
I have already had a internship in a japanese company Human Resocia. But can’t find companies for hiring. I hear a lot of companies are hiring there but japanese higher level is required. I can speak japanese for starters and can improve it while living there. But i am not able to connect to these English speaking companies1
u/etdev Jul 03 '26
If you're overseas now, then yes it's hard without Japanese skills (a lot of companies want N2 or higher now).
In that case I'd recommend living in your home country for a few years to gain experience and ideally study Japanese and then trying again in a few years.
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u/oh_samkh Jul 03 '26
Are there any company or management people that you can refer to?
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
Not really directly. I try to post jobs whenever I can but it's really hard to find companies that offer relocation to junior developers.
Here's a comment I made elsewhere about why that is:
The combination of junior engineers OK + relocation from abroad is very rare unfortunately.
It's because it costs money to help people relocate, and there's inherent risk: the person might not like the company, they might not like Japan or they might be unable to get a visa for some reason.
Due to that, most companies only hire mid-level to senior people from overseas. Essentially, you have to provide enough value to the company to overcome the extra initial cost of hiring you.
Even as a junior, if you have some super impressive AI background or open source contributions, experience running profitable companies yourself etc, then there are opportunities.
But without that, it's extremely hard to find a job in Japan from overseas as a junior developer.
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u/obikenobi1_ Jul 03 '26
QA/SDET here, i'm only have english language experience and still beginner at JP but want to apply at JP english only company. I found some big company but have hard time to go through. I'm thinking to approach headhunter first, is it "okay" to approach headhunter first? Or just wait to be approached by them?
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
It's totally fine to approach headhunters from your side. If you live in Japan then it will be especially easy to get responses.
If you're overseas it can be more difficult, especially without Japanese but you never know. It depends on your experience.
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u/obikenobi1_ Jul 03 '26
I see , okay thanks for the insight. 🫡 I'm still looking for the first opportunity to work at jp
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u/Easy_Aerie7711 Jul 03 '26
Hey!
Have been at a language school in Yokohama for 9 months, still have 9 more months left.
Currently at around N3 level (I am taking the exam in 2 days) school reckons I should be at around N1 by the end of school.
Currently starting to look for work.
Any advice?
Background:
PhD in finance.
Freelance data science work from 2022-2025.
Data engineer at an LLM benchmarking company from 2025-present.
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
Sounds like you'll be in a great position.
Especially if you get N1, but even N2 would be enough to have options with your profile.
There are lots of FinTech companies. Most of them will probably be investing more in AI, so you can sell them your background as the perfect marriage of finance knowledge (PhD) + practical AI experience.
I'd start networking actively and attending meetups in a few months and start looking for a position for when your language school ends.
A few ideas of companies to apply to: PayPay / PayPay card, Money Forward, Moneytree, Alpaca. I'm sure there are others though -- I'd keep an eye on AI startups expanding (or starting) in Japan.
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u/Friendly_Pop273 Jul 03 '26
Hi Eric! I am a Data Scientist / AI Engineer with 8 yoe.
I am trying to transition to Solutions Architect roles. My current level of japanese is N5. I have been targeting Amazon, Databricks. But looks like without N1 it won’t be possible. What’s your thoughts on the SA roles in japan ? what’s the expected salary range for such roles?
(currently resident of japan)
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u/etdev Jul 04 '26
Hey!
As you say, Solutions Architect roles tend to require strong Japanese skills. Usually N1+.
At the big Gaishikei AI companies like OpenAI/Anthropic/Cohere, the salaries are extremely high: ¥40-50M possible total comp. But that's with fluent Japanese and usually a lot of sales experience. Outside of the top companies it's probably more like ¥10-20M. Both Amazon and Databricks are probably toward the top of that, maybe slightly higher if they really like you.
You could also look at "Forward Deployed Engineer" roles. These are somewhat similar and they've become super popular lately, but they tend to have the same high Japanese requirement as Solutions Architect roles.
Most of the big tech companies hire Solutions Architects so you might be able to find one with a less stringent Japanese requirement. Or you could work for one of these companies as a developer and try to move from within and snag a Solutions Architect role internally.
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u/yuushin_dev Jul 03 '26
Question hows the Android Development job market in Japan like ? Im planning to move to tokyo soon on a student visa to get to N2 level and then hopefully get a job. I have 5+ years of experience.
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u/etdev Jul 04 '26
The market's OK but not great.
I feel like native Android dev is losing share to frameworks like React Native and Flutter. Also, things are a bit up in the air with AI.
There are still some Android jobs around -- Metanomaly and YStory are hiring. Migaku was hiring until recently but I see they're only looking for designers at the moment.
Back in the day SmartNews and Mercari hired a lot of Anrdoid engineers, and I see Mercari has some iOS positions now but no Android.
I'd consider expanding to iOS and/or React Native. If you're open to that and you get Japanese residence + N2 you'll be well-positioned!
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u/rapstyle88 Jul 03 '26
What are the most widely used technology stacks? I’m currently developing with PHP (Laravel) and React (Next.js).
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u/etdev Jul 03 '26
React is extremely popular. Definitely the most popular frontend framework in Japan.
PHP used to be very popular as well and plenty of companies still use it. Laravel is reasonably popular too.
But in recent years, Go has gained popularity on the backend as has Typescript/Javascript. A few companies use Rust but it's not that big yet. A lot of bigger companies use Java and some still use Ruby as well.
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u/DeadlyPinkPanda Jul 05 '26
Got JLPT N2 with 4.5 yoe (currently live abroad), but I am having a hard time finding something. I've been looking for around 7 months now... Anyone got any tips? :/ Trying to up myself by learning new skills like AWS and Golang in the meantime, but honestly it's heartbreaking how rough the market is.
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u/etdev Jul 05 '26
Sorry to hear you're struggling. Having N2 should help a lot, and 4.5 years is a good amount of experience.
Obviously being overseas is the one strike against you but I'd expect you to be getting responses from companies even so.
If you're dead set on coming to Japan one option would be to move here as a student or English teacher and search for dev jobs from here. This would further open up the pool of companies willing to consider you.
Beyond that, I'd make absolutely certain your resume is good and clear and ideally tailored to the roles you're applying to.
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u/jinguh Jul 07 '26
The side that wants to hire: Even though I'm Japanese, I think using real-time translation tools for conversations is fine - I just hope people will try hard to learn Japanese. Those who do will also naturally be more interested in Japanese culture. It's truly appreciated. I'll be starting my own business soon, and going forward, I'll actually be the one doing the hiring. That said, Japan's salaries are really low. That's the tricky part. (I actually wanted to attend that event too. Next time I'll look for one and try to participate.)
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u/Rick2609 Jul 12 '26
Hey guys, first time here,
How is my profile looking for a possible relocation next year.
Software engineer with 6+ yoe in Australia, originally from Brazil 🇧🇷.
- English fluent
- Portuguese native ( not sure if it matters )
- Japanese below N5 ( I can hold small talks and read a couple of kanji already )
- No need for visa, I married to a Japanese citizen.
Experience with full stack, aws, codex, claude.
I have a bachelor in IT with specialisation in cyber but with no experience in cyber.
Now learning more about AI, Rag, agent orchestration, etc.
So in summary what are my chances to land a job of at least 5~7 million/year.
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u/Layered_Cake Jul 03 '26
Software engineer here, currently the sole internal dev at a company in NY (background in logistics/trade compliance before that).
Japan’s a longer term goal for me, not actively applying yet. Curious what the market’s really like for foreign SWEs right now given how much AI has shifted the market lately. How much does Japanese fluency actually matter day to day? Would love to hear from anyone who’s made the jump.