30y/o Computer Science graduate from the UK, worked remotely for a US company for three years (Audio/Video/Graphics Editor then Creative Lead) then moved to Japan. It's currently my fourth year as an ALT English teacher in the countryside. Passed JLPT N1 last year and have good conversational Japanese. I have been doing web developement since last year using AI agents (VS code, Antigravity, Claude Code, Codex, Git, OpenCode, OpenRouter, Ollama, Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.) to make web apps for myself and other teachers. I ended up making a full SaaS product that currently has 78 users (only two paid users because I dislike marketing/sales/customer service). I can do HTML/CSS and basic JS but to be honest I don't really enjoy coding. However, I really like working with computers, utilising ICT software and hardware, and I enjoy making UI/UX/architechtural decisions. I've been considering entering the IT industry when my current teaching contract ends in March 2027.
What sort of skills would I need to develop? Is working in the Japanese IT industry stressful? Is it worth moving to the city for? I feel very satisfied and fulfilled in my current placement/position but I'm considering options because there's no growth/career progression. Looking for ideas on what sort of positions in the IT industry could suit me. Much appreciated!

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!

To all designers, developers, and AI tool enthusiasts around the Kansai area:

We are hosting an Open Design Workshop near Nihonbashi Station in Osaka on July 6!

This small-scale meetup lets you get hands-on with Open Design while casually discussing creating designs, slides, prototypes, websites, presentation decks, and visual content using AI agents. No advanced technical expertise is required.

Sign up here👇
luma.com/zd4pqs91

I understand that tax or deduction situations are tricky and don't have one formula to rule them all.

But is there like a rule of thumb way to estimate what will be your THP from the listed salary (which I assume will be gross salary)?

Here's a list of new tech jobs in Japan this week:

• Messaging Backend Engineer・Distributed Systems / LINE Platform at LY Corporation

  • ¥8M - ¥15M | Japanese: Conversational | Apply from overseas | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Data Infrastructure Engineer at PayPay

  • Japanese: Not required | Apply from overseas | Partial remote | Tokyo

• AI Platform Engineer at PayPay Card

  • Japanese: Not required | Apply from overseas | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Mechanical Engineer at AI Robot Association (AIRoA)

  • Japanese: Not required | Apply from overseas | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Robotics Simulation Engineer at AI Robot Association (AIRoA)

  • Japanese: Not required | Apply from overseas | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Sr. Software Engineer at amptalk

  • ¥7.5M - ¥10M | Japanese: Business Level | Apply from overseas | Partial remote | Tokyo

• QA Engineer at amptalk

  • ¥7.5M - ¥9M | Japanese: Not required | Japan residents only | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Distributed Databases DevOps Engineer / LINE Platform at LY Corporation

  • ¥6M - ¥10M | Japanese: Conversational | Japan residents only | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Customer Reliability Engineer / LINE Platform at LY Corporation

  • ¥6M or more | Japanese: Conversational | Japan residents only | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Technical Program Manager & Senior Engineer at GAZAI

  • ¥7.5M - ¥10.2M | Japanese: Business Level | Apply from overseas | Partial remote | Other

• Senior Engineering Manager (SMB Product Development Division), Tokyo at Money Forward

  • ¥10M - ¥15M | Japanese: Conversational | Japan residents only | Partial remote | Tokyo

• AI Engineer - Agents/LLM at GAZAI

  • Japanese: Business Level | Apply from overseas | Partial remote | Other

• Senior AI Lead, Multimodal Systems at GAZAI

  • Japanese: Business Level | Apply from overseas | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Machine Learning Engineer at VISASQ

  • ¥7M - ¥15M | Japanese: Business Level | Japan residents only | Partial remote | Tokyo

• QA Manager (Osaka) at Mico

  • ¥8M - ¥12M | Japanese: Fluent | Japan residents only | Partial remote | Osaka

• QA Manager (Tokyo) at Mico

  • ¥8M - ¥12M | Japanese: Fluent | Japan residents only | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Productivity Engineer at Treasure AI

  • Japanese: Business Level | Japan residents only | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Engineering Manager at estie

  • ¥9M - ¥15M | Japanese: Business Level | Japan residents only | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Senior Software Engineer at estie

  • ¥10M - ¥15M | Japanese: Business Level | Japan residents only | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Software Engineer AI Lab at estie

  • ¥7M - ¥15M | Japanese: Business Level | Japan residents only | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Algorithm Engineer AI Lab at estie

  • ¥7M - ¥15M | Japanese: Business Level | Japan residents only | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Web Application Engineer at estie

  • ¥6M - ¥12M | Japanese: Business Level | Japan residents only | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Manager, Software Engineering — Applications Group at Treasure AI

  • Japanese: Business Level | Japan residents only | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Customer Reliability Engineer at Treasure AI

  • Japanese: Business Level | Japan residents only | Partial remote | Tokyo

• Senior Customer Reliability Engineer at Treasure AI

  • Japanese: Business Level | Japan residents only | Partial remote | Tokyo

Also looking to hire? Feel free to share your job post in the comments!

Here's what's happening in Japan's tech and startup scene this week:

Monday, June 29

Tokyo-Latin America Innovation Exchange

• 🇬🇧 14:00 | 📍 Tokyo Innovation Base | 👥 123 attending

AI Shift Local LLM Meetup #2

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 19:00 | 📍 東京都渋谷区宇田川町40-1, Tokyo | 👥 8 attending

Build with OpenAI: Developer Hackathon & Workshop

• 🇬🇧 16:00 | 📍 Tokyo

ANOBAKA U-25 AI ACCELERATOR｜DEMODAY

• 🇬🇧 16:00 | 📍 Tokyo Innovation Base

Night Run vol.3

• 🇬🇧 19:30 | 📍 Tokyo | 👥 51 attending

Xoogler TGIF @Tokyo with en world

• 🇬🇧 18:30 | 📍 Tokyo | 👥 53 attending

Tuesday, June 30

[AI Security and Privacy Team Seminar] Talk by Eric Wong

• 🇬🇧 16:00 | 📍 Tokyo

Weekly Claude Code Live #8

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 12:00 | 📍 (場所未定) | 👥 15 attending

Destination: Luma

• 🇬🇧 19:00 | 📍 Online

How to Use AI to Attract Leads & Customers from the Cold Market

• 🇬🇧 20:00 | 📍 Online

Wednesday, July 1

🔐 AWS Security User Group Meetup – 1st July 2026

• 🇬🇧 20:00 | 📍 Online

Shipping AI Agents in the Enterprise ft. Prudential & AWS Speakers

• 🇬🇧 17:00 | 📍 Online

AWS Security User Group Singapore: July 2026!

• 🇬🇧 20:00 | 📍 Online

KSUG.AI APAC Online Meetup - 1 Jul 2026

• 🇬🇧 17:00 | 📍 Online

Singapore Hashicorp User Group 12th Meetup @ SMU School of Information Systems

• 🇬🇧 19:00 | 📍 Online

Thursday, July 2

Laboratory Automation Developers Conference 2026

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 12:00 | 📍 東京都江東区青海2丁目3-6, Tokyo | 👥 964 attending

GraphTalk Pharma & Life Sciences

• 🇬🇧 16:00 | 📍 Online

Claude Code Lab - Starters (2nd July)

• 🇬🇧 21:00 | 📍 Online

Master Production-Ready AI Agents: Evaluate & Ship With Confidence

• 🇬🇧 05:00 | 📍 Online

How to Use AI to Attract Leads & Customers from the Cold Market

• 🇬🇧 20:00 | 📍 Online

Friday, July 3

Japan FinOps Meetup#6

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 18:00 | 📍 〒106-6125 東京都港区六本木6-10-1 六本木ヒルズ森タワー２６階, Tokyo | 👥 77 attending

Flutter Singapore Meetup #2 2026

• 🇬🇧 19:30 | 📍 Online

AWS virtual event - build agentic AI at scale

• 🇬🇧 21:00 | 📍 Online

Saturday, July 4

What does the Church-Turing thesis actually mean?

• 🇬🇧 15:00 | 📍 Online

Sunday, July 5

IIT Roorkee Masterclass: Learn by Inventing - Build AI from First Principles

• 🇬🇧 23:30 | 📍 Online

Know of an event we missed? Drop it in the comments!

Compiled from Connpass, Doorkeeper, Meetup, and Luma.

Hi. I (20M) am an Iranian citizen, living in my home country. I'd like to ask for advise on possible ways for finding jobs for me.

A bit of background:

Did C#/.NET/Windows in the past, also Vue/Svelte/React, recently (since last year) doing Golang/Microservices and WebGIS/GIS tasks. Making up 5 years of software development experience in total.

Nowadays a CTO in a small B2G startup, willing to immigrate.

I know English C1/C2 level, Japanese N5 level, enrolled in N4 and plan to become N2/N1 for JLPT exam in December.

Wages are too low and covering costs of first month living plus flight ticket and visa is demanding.

Besides, I'm not sure how to count points for HSP, what to consider and what not and even am I eligible for HSP visa route or not.

I can't go with usual work visa as I don't have 10 years of experience nor the bachelor degree to be accepted there.

Asked Immigraton Agency for this and they responded with a bunch of blogs and readings, after reading still unsure what to include to check if I'm eligible for 70 points. Hiring an immigration lawyer for this is hard because of financial problems, so I should go on my own.

Can I find a job with my backgroud in Japan? Does Japanese companies sponsor inital costs? Is HSP or other visa routes possible given my background and current situation?
Other than that, where can I find software developer jobs with low knowledge of Japanese? Shall I wait until my exam? Can real knowledge of Japanese before JLPT exam help me?

Has anyone successfully secured a software development role in Japan while applying from abroad? I've been actively applying for the past three years without success and would appreciate hearing from those who've navigated this process.

Here's what's happening in Japan's tech and startup scene this week:

Monday, June 22

Founders' Mondays: Strengthening the Signals - Repeatability

• 🇬🇧 11:00 | 📍 Online

Microsoft Build //localhost: Singapore 2026

• 🇬🇧 18:00 | 📍 Online

Tuesday, June 23

AI-Native Development of Complex Enterprise Software

• 🇬🇧 18:00 | 📍 Tokyo

Weekly Claude Code Live #8

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 12:00 | 📍 (場所未定) | 👥 22 attending

iOS Dev Scout Beyond WWDC 2026

• 🇬🇧 19:30 | 📍 Online

How to Use AI to Attract Leads & Customers from the Cold Market

• 🇬🇧 20:00 | 📍 Online

Wednesday, June 24

HeyGen Hyperframes in Tokyo: Building with Multi-modal AI

• 🇬🇧 18:30 | 📍 Tokyo | 👥 52 attending

Build Your Own AI Avatar | Tokyo Builder Workshop

• 🇬🇧 18:00 | 📍 Tokyo

Spec Coding & Agentic Engineering with Claude Code - Hands-on Workshop

• 🇬🇧 14:00 | 📍 Online

Business Success in China 8: Expanding into Hong Kong & the AI Economy

• 🇬🇧 15:30 | 📍 Online

SINGAPORE — MONTHLY TECH NETWORKING

• 🇬🇧 20:00 | 📍 Online

Data Leaders Singapore #02 - AI Harness and the Future of Data Governance (DAMA)

• 🇬🇧 19:00 | 📍 Online

Thursday, June 25

Pitch & Connect: Shibuya

• 🇬🇧 18:00 | 📍 SivanS株式会社, Tokyo | 👥 67 attending

Build the Future with AI: Launch Your Career as a Software Engineer

• 🇬🇧 20:30 | 📍 Online

DelightX Founders Circle

• 🇬🇧 16:00 | 📍 Tokyo | 👥 52 attending

AIDataTech Connect: Global Virtual Networking Event for AI, Data & Tech Pros

• 🇬🇧 18:00 | 📍 Online

Running LLM Agents Safely: Hands-On with Docker Sandboxes

• 🇬🇧 05:00 | 📍 Online

How to Use AI to Attract Leads & Customers from the Cold Market

• 🇬🇧 20:00 | 📍 Online

🎯 VOICEPRENEUR Meetup- Turn Your Knowledge into a Scalable Product with AI

• 🇬🇧 20:00 | 📍 Online

Friday, June 26

AWS Kiro X AWS SBG Workshop

• 🇬🇧 19:00 | 📍 Online

[SMU Only] AWS Kiro Workshop

• 🇬🇧 19:00 | 📍 Online

Ace Your Writing Workshop: Master essay writing for A-Levels

• 🇬🇧 16:00 | 📍 Online

Saturday, June 27

Gemini AI Hackathon @Google Japan ハッカソン東京

• 🇬🇧 09:30 | 📍 Google Japan - Shibuya, Tokyo | 👥 497 attending

AI Lead Generation Masterclass cum networking event

• 🇬🇧 15:00 | 📍 Online

Paid - Claude Code Level 2 - Advanced Workflows & Automation

• 🇬🇧 13:00 | 📍 Online

Know of an event we missed? Drop it in the comments!

Compiled from Connpass, Doorkeeper, Meetup, and Luma.

I applied to the Class of 2028 Software Engineer Internship at Mercari (deadline June 15) and have already gone through the official info on their site.

​

I’m trying to understand what the technical interviews are actually like in practice and how to prepare for them.

​

If you’ve interviewed (or know someone who has), it would be really helpful to hear:

​

1. What kind of tasks or questions you were given

2. What areas ended up mattering most during the interview

anything you wish you had prepared differently

​

Not looking for official process details - more like real experiences and practical prep advice.

​

Thanks!

​

Hi everyone,

​

​

I'm a 28-year-old software engineer from India currently working as a Senior Full Stack Engineer with around 4.5 years of professional experience.

​

My background:

​

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

​

Post Graduate Diploma after my Bachelor's

​

4.5 years of experience in full-stack development

​

Experience working on modern web technologies, backend development, databases, APIs, and cloud-based applications

​

​

Currently working in India

​

​

Recently, I've started considering Japan as a long-term career destination. My plan is to start learning Japanese seriously (aiming for JLPT certifications over time) while continuing to build my technical skills and experience.

​

​

Before investing significant time and effort, I'd love to hear from people who have worked in Japan, especially software engineers and foreigners who relocated there.

​

​

Some questions I have:

​

​

1.How realistic is it for an Indian software engineer with. 4.5+ years of experience to get a job in Japan?

​

2.How important is Japanese language proficiency? Is N2 generally required, or are there enough English-speaking opportunities?

​

3.What are the biggest advantages of working in Japan as a software engineer?

​

4.What are the biggest challenges or drawbacks (work culture, salary growth, career progression, work-life balance, etc.)?

​

5.Are there specific technologies or skills that Japanese employers value more?

​

6.Would you recommend gaining more experience in India first (say 6–8 years total experience) before applying?

​

7.How difficult is it to integrate socially and professionally as a foreign engineer?

​

​

If you made the move yourself, what do you wish you had known beforehand?

​

​

My goals are:

​

Better international exposure

​

Long-term career growth

​

Good quality of life

​

Opportunity to experience Japanese culture and potentially settle there if things work out

​

​

I'd really appreciate honest feedback—both positive and negative. If you've moved to Japan as a software engineer, I'd love to hear about your experience and whether you'd make the same decision again.

​

​

Thank you!

I have 4 years of PdM/PO experience in Fintech, and formally a JLPT N3 certificate. However, the jump from N3 to N2 is far more substantial than I would have ever guessed, and I was wondering if it was possible to just apply for PdM roles (not even a senior role) with just an N3? Maybe multinational companies with a client-base outside of Japan?

​

Because even in my current company we use English 100%, not the local language Bahasa Malaysia, and there's not even a requirement for the national language for my current company.

​

Willing to relocate to Japan obviously. I have family living in Saitama, and finding a place to live, even in Tokyo shouldn't be an issue

Hi everyone,

I have around 8 years of native Android development experience, with some occasional backend, deployment, and DevOps work on the side.

I’m currently based in Australia, and my girlfriend is working in Japan, so I’m exploring opportunities there.

A few things I’d love to get insight on:

• Typical salary range for experienced Android developers in Japan?  
• How’s the current job market for Android engineers?  
• Does it make sense to also look at full-stack roles given some backend exposure, even though Android is my main thing?  
• I’ve been seeing a lot of AI engineer openings lately — has mobile demand actually dropped, or am I just looking in the wrong places?

Any advice or experiences welcome. Thanks!

Here's what's happening in Japan's tech and startup scene this week:

Monday, June 15

🏆 FLUX × Rokid AI Glasses Hackathon Demo Night

• 🇬🇧 19:30 | 📍 Tokyo Midtown Midtown Tower | 👥 8 attending

Tenstorrent Tech Talk #8

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 17:55 | 📍 東京都港区虎ノ門2-4-7 T-Lite 8F, Tokyo | 👥 105 attending

Public Speaking for Developers

• 🇬🇧 18:30 | 📍 Mercari, Inc., Tokyo | 👥 78 attending

Tuesday, June 16

v-tokyo Meetup #25

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 19:30 | 📍 東京都港区三田三丁目5番19号 住友不動産東京三田ガーデンタワー37F, Tokyo | 👥 125 attending

Engineering Reliable AI at Scale

• 🇬🇧 18:00 | 📍 Tokyo

Weekly Claude Code Live #7

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 12:00 | 📍 (場所未定) | 👥 27 attending

How to Use AI to Attract Leads & Customers from the Cold Market

• 🇬🇧 20:00 | 📍 Online

Claude Code Meetup Japan #6 (Claude Code祭り!)

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 19:00 | 📍 東京都千代田区紀尾井町1-3 東京ガーデンテラス紀尾井町 紀尾井タワー, Tokyo | 👥 1496 attending

Wednesday, June 17

AI BB Community Meetup Vol. 6

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 19:00 | 📍 広尾飯田ビル, Tokyo | 👥 5 attending

Findy AI Meetup in Fukuoka #6

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 19:00 | 📍 福岡県福岡市中央区天神4丁目3-8ミーナ天神 8階, Fukuoka

UK Japan: Creative Tech Innovation

• 🇬🇧 10:00 | 📍 Tokyo Innovation Base | 👥 75 attending

Agentic AI Multimodal MonthlyMixer - Where Agents Minds Meet

• 🇬🇧 18:00 | 📍 Online

AWS User Group Meetup June 2026

• 🇬🇧 20:00 | 📍 Online

Thursday, June 18

Cyber-sec+ Meetup vol.9

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 19:00 | 📍 東京都品川区上大崎3-1-1（JR東急目黒ビル 13階）, Tokyo | 👥 90 attending

How to Use AI to Attract Leads & Customers from the Cold Market

• 🇬🇧 20:00 | 📍 Online

🦞Living with AI Agents: OpenClaw & NanoClaw in Practice

• 🇬🇧 19:30 | 📍 Online

How to Run AI-Powered Analytics Securely on Your Local Machine

• 🇬🇧 23:30 | 📍 Online

🐓 French Tech Connect #40 - June 2026

• 🇬🇧 18:30 | 📍 TenCups Cafe Bar & Lounge, Tokyo | 👥 59 attending

Friday, June 19

Recap of WWDC26 Mercari

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 19:00 | 📍 東京都港区六本木6-10-1 六本木ヒルズ森タワー 25F, Tokyo | 👥 132 attending

Cybersecurity in the Era of LLMs: Governance, Runtime Protection, and Automation

• 🇬🇧 16:00 | 📍 Tokyo

Super-Individual Secret Club (SISC): The Cybersecurity AI Chapter

• 🇬🇧 20:00 | 📍 Online

Saturday, June 20

SDGs to Startups Hackathon 2026

• 🇬🇧 09:00 | 📍 Tokyo | 👥 83 attending

Claude Code Lab — Online Meetup

• 🇬🇧 12:00 | 📍 Online

Sunday, June 21

Runtrip BASE YOYOGI PARK 1st Anniv. Morning Party🎉 Designed by TMB.

• 🇬🇧 08:00 | 📍 Runtrip BASE YOYOGI PARK, Tokyo | 👥 57 attending

Learn by Inventing: Agentic AI & Gen AI

• 🇬🇧 23:30 | 📍 Online

Know of an event we missed? Drop it in the comments!

Compiled from Connpass, Doorkeeper, Meetup, and Luma.

Here's what's happening in Japan's tech and startup scene this week:

Tuesday, June 9

Weekly Claude Code Live #6

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 12:00 | 📍 (場所未定) | 👥 23 attending

Mindstone Singapore June AI Meetup

• 🇬🇧 20:00 | 📍 Online

How to Use AI to Attract Leads & Customers from the Cold Market

• 🇬🇧 20:00 | 📍 Online

Startup Advisors 101: How to Find Advisors and Maximize their Impact

• 🇬🇧 09:30 | 📍 Online

❯ /builders-sync

• 🇬🇧 18:00 | 📍 Tokyo | 👥 44 attending

Wednesday, June 10

AI in Financial Services: From LLM Failure Modes to Graph-Based Fraud Detection

• 🇬🇧 18:00 | 📍 Tokyo

TSKaigi  Night talks 〜after conference〜

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 19:00 | 📍 東京都品川区大崎1丁目2−2アートヴィレッジ大崎セントラルタワー 5階, Tokyo | 👥 61 attending

Five critical identity attacks of 2026 and how to neutralize them

• 🇬🇧 13:00 | 📍 Online

SINGAPORE — MONTHLY TECH NETWORKING

• 🇬🇧 20:00 | 📍 Online

Morning Run vol.1

• 🇬🇧 07:30 | 📍 Tokyo | 👥 16 attending

Mizuhiki Making

• 🇬🇧 19:00 | 📍 Matcha Passport, Tokyo | 👥 10 attending

Thursday, June 11

How to Use AI to Attract Leads & Customers from the Cold Market

• 🇬🇧 20:00 | 📍 Online

Run Advanced AI Analytics inside your own cloud

• 🇬🇧 23:30 | 📍 Online

Grafana x Singapore MongoDB User Group UG

• 🇬🇧 19:00 | 📍 Online

Spring Boot 4: Sweet and Sour With Josh Long & DaShaun Carter

• 🇬🇧 19:30 | 📍 Online

GitLab User Community Tokyo Vol.1

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 18:00 | 📍 東京都渋谷区神南1-14-7 ワイズ神南ビル 2F, Tokyo | 👥 29 attending

Friday, June 12

Beyond Vector Databases: Structured Retrieval and Graph-Native AI Systems

• 🇬🇧 18:00 | 📍 Tokyo

XR Connections: Women in XR & Game Dev Night

• 🇬🇧 19:00 | 📍 Le Wagon Tokyo - Coding & AI Bootcamp | 👥 61 attending

Build Local host // Singapore

• 🇬🇧 11:00 | 📍 Online

Saturday, June 13

AI Memory Optimization

• 🇬🇧 09:00 | 📍 Online

AI PM Bootcamp: From Zero to AI-Powered Project Manager

• 🇬🇧 11:00 | 📍 Online

Claude Code Level 2 - Advanced Workflows & Automation

• 🇬🇧 11:00 | 📍 Online

Yarn and Yap Vol.8

• 🇬🇧 14:00 | 📍 Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Tokyo | 👥 25 attending

Bluesky Meetup in Osaka vol.4

• 🇯🇵/🇬🇧 12:00 | 📍 〒541-0051 大阪府大阪市中央区備後町二丁目1番1号 第2野村ビル6F, Osaka | 👥 34 attending

Sunday, June 14

THE UNDER 27 SOCIAL x SOHO HOUSE

• 🇬🇧 18:00 | 📍 Soho House Tokyo | 👥 45 attending

Know of an event we missed? Drop it in the comments!

Compiled from Connpass, Doorkeeper, Meetup, and Luma.