Japan is a land of tech giants. There’s a good chance that your television set, digital camera, or game console bears the name of one of the country’s greats – even as the consumer electronics industry contracts in the face of increased pressure from the likes of Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi. But many of Japan Inc.’s flagship brands are old, subject to corporate bureaucracy that may hinder their ability to move quickly against younger companies and even scrappy startups. Sony, for example, was founded in 1946. Nintendo, originally a playing card company, turned 126 this year.
This list of powerful tech firms focuses solely on those born after 1980. Many weathered the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s to become household names. Mobile gaming unicorns that sprung up in the early 2000s are prominent, though their rankings have dropped significantly compared to two or three years ago. Despite each having a market cap of over US$1 billion, there’s a chance you’ve never heard of some of these companies, because a few are focused almost entirely on the domestic market. Depending on where you live, others might spring to mind as investors.
Here are Japan’s 14 modern tech titans, in descending order based on current Nikkei top-100 market cap ratings. When available, founder and/or CEO net worth has been included based on the Forbes Japan’s 50 richest list. Clicking a company name links to its English website, if available.
14. Gurunavi
Gurunavi, short for “gourmet navigator,” is Japan’s second-largest restaurant listing site behind Tabelog, a subsidiary of Kakaku (number five on this list). It also lists a number of Japanese restaurants in English, so foreign tourists can eat like a local. Users can filter restaurants by location, cuisine, seating size, price, and even dress code.
Founder and/or current CEO
Hisao Taki, founder
Net worth: Unknown
Gurunavi data
Market cap: US$1 billion
Year founded: 1989
Industry: Restaurant listing
13. Gree
Gree began as an invitation-based social network for feature phone users, later creating the world’s first mobile social game Fishing Star. The game’s success would eventually lead to a shift from an advertising-based revenue model to making billions through in-game purchases. Gree’s focus on mobile gaming would also lead its founder and CEO, Yoshikazu Tanaka, to be minted as the world’s second-youngest self-made billionaire – behind only Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.
Tanaka’s personal net worth ballooned to more than US$4 billion at its peak, but a late embrace of smartphone apps – and fierce competition from the likes of DeNA, Mixi, and GungHo – has reduced that figure by three-quarters. Gree is actively diversifying its offerings beyond gaming in a search for new revenue streams, and is also investing in up-and-coming startups. The firm led a US$36 million series B investment in news aggregation app SmartNews in August 2014.
Founder and/or current CEO
Yoshikazu Tanaka, founder and CEO
Net worth: US$1.1 billion
Gree data
Market cap: US$1.2 billion
Year founded: 2004
Industry: Mobile gaming, social networking
12. GMO Internet
GMO Internet is Japan’s leading internet infrastructure conglomerate, with more than 90 group companies (eight of which are publicly listed) that provide everything from domain sales and cloud hosting to online payments and securities trading. It was one of the earliest movers in the digital space in Japan, thanks to the foresight of its founder Masatoshi Kumagai.
Kumagai, a high school dropout, was inspired by Japan’s powerful railroad companies – not only did they operate trains, they built massive shopping centers around major stations. “I realized that the internet is like the railroad business. Lots of businesses will spring up next to the train tracks,” he told Tech in Asia last year.
GMO Internet, through its GMO Venture Partners subsidiary, is also an active investor in regional startups. It launched a US$18 million fund last spring to help Japanese startups enter other Asian markets and North America. The firm most recently joined Sequoia for a US$9 million investment in Taiwanese Etsy clone Pinkoi.
Founder and/or current CEO
Masatoshi Kumagai, founder and CEO
Net worth: US$670 million
GMO Internet data
Market cap: US$1.79 billion
Year founded: 1991
Industry: Internet
11. Cookpad
Cookpad is Japan’s largest online resource for user-submitted recipes and cooking tips. The company acquired a Lebanese rival to expand into the Middle East and an Indonesian rival to expand into Southeast Asia, both last year.
In its home market, Cookpad also joined a US$9 million funding round for female-focused flea market app Fablic.
Cookpad had more than 60 million monthly active users worldwide as of November 2014. The service is currently available in 29 countries.
Founder and/or current CEO
Akimitsu Sano, founder and CEO
Net worth: Unknown
Cookpad data
Market cap: US$2.22 billion
Year founded: 1997
Industry: Lifestyle, social networking
10. DeNA
These days, DeNA is synonymous with mobile gaming, but the company’s first foray on the web was an auction site. Thinking it would be first to market, DeNA’s founding members were shocked when internet giant Yahoo launched an auction site in Japan two months before their own was set to go live. The company weathered the storm, attaining profitability in 2002 and shifting its focus to the mobile web. DeNA struck gold in 2006 when it launched Mobage, a mobile game community that initially focused on browser games for Japan’s then-ubiquitous feature phones.
Feeling the heat from Japan’s other gaming unicorns, DeNA later ventured into a host of other verticals – from payments to a 23andMe-esque DNA testing service. The firm solidified itself as a force to be reckoned with in the mobile gaming space earlier this year when it signed a blockbuster partnership with Nintendo that will see Mario and company finally land on smartphones. Its first foray with the Kyoto-based gaming behemoth lacked any notable Nintendo characters, however, and sent stock prices tumbling.
Founder and/or current CEO
Tomoko Namba, founder
Net worth: US$545 million (2013)
DeNA data
Market cap: US$2.36 billion
Year founded: 1999
Industry: Mobile gaming, ecommerce
9. Colopl
Colopl, the youngest company on this list, made its mark on the Japanese mobile gaming market by integrating location services and social networking in its earliest flip-phone titles. The company was also one of the first to embrace smartphone apps over gaming in the browser and built a host of games around its central “Kuma the Bear” character. Colopl has collaborated with Disney and the Japan men’s national soccer team for smartphone games and it has even done character tie-ups with department store chains and pro baseball teams.
Colopl is best known for Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs), including hit titles Quiz RPG: World of Mystic Wiz, and Shironeko Project. The latter was re-released in January this year as a virtual reality game for Oculus Rift.
Founder and/or current CEO
Naruatsu Baba, founder and CEO
Net worth: US$1.57 billion
Colopl data
Market cap: US$2.60 billion
Year founded: 2008
Industry: Mobile gaming
8. CyberAgent
CyberAgent began as an online advertising agency before evolving into an all-encompassing internet services conglomerate. It provides everything from smartphone games to Japan’s top blogging service, Ameba.
Like several others on this list, CyberAgent has an active venture capital arm. It launched a US$50 million fund for Southeast Asian startups last June, with an emphasis on Indonesia.
Founder and/or current CEO
Susumu Fujita, founder and CEO
Net worth: US$780 million
CyberAgent data
Market cap: US$2.65 billion
Year founded: 1998
Industry: Internet, advertising
7. Mixi
Mixi began its life as Japan’s answer to Myspace. It sat comfortably on the throne as Japan’s top social network for about eight years, unfazed by the entrance of a localized Facebook in 2008. Japanese people were initially slow to jump onto Facebook due to privacy concerns (some preferred anonymity, while Facebook requires real names and photos), but the tide shifted in 2012. Once Facebook took the lead, Mixi never recovered its top spot.
So what’s an ailing social network to do? In Japan, pivoting to mobile games seems to be a logical choice. After a few failed attempts, Mixi launched the game-changing Monster Strike in 2013. Back in May, the action RPG was pulling in US$3.8 million a day.
Founder and/or current CEO
Kenji Kasahara, co-founder and CEO
Net worth: US$1.5 billion
Mixi data
Market cap: US$3.12 billion
Year founded: 2004
Industry: Social networking, mobile gaming
6. GungHo
Japan’s mobile gaming sector isn’t as hot as it was a couple years ago, but GungHo remains king. Its smash-hit puzzle RPG Puzzle & Dragons became the first mobile game to earn more than US$1 billion in revenue. Puzzle & Dragons remains so massive in Japan that you literally can’t ride on the subway without being surrounded by people playing it. It’s on billboards, TV commercials, and even the Nintendo 3DS (there’s also a handheld mashup with Super Mario Bros., for chrissakes).
Founder and/or current CEO
Taizo Son, founder
Net worth: US$1.2 billion (2014)
GungHo data
Market cap: US$3.23 billion
Year founded: 1998
Industry: Mobile gaming
5. Kakaku
Kakaku is Japan’s most popular price comparison site. While more people transact through sites like Rakuten or Amazon, Kakaku has become an essential tool to ensure you’re getting the best deal – especially for pricier electronic goods like computers and digital cameras.
The site lists items by category, then ranks them from lowest to highest price by seller. Choosing an item redirects you to the seller’s site – actual purchases aren’t made through Kakaku directly. Kakaku doesn’t have an English language website.
Founder and/or current CEO
Mitsuaki Makino, founder
Net worth: Unknown
Kakaku data
Market cap: US$4.13 billion
Year founded: 2000
Industry: Ecommerce
4. M3
M3 is Japan’s largest online portal for medical professionals. It operates four main services: M3.com, its eponymous members-only site for doctors to exchange information and stay up to date on medical products and industry news; MR-kun, an online pharmaceutical sales platform; MDLinx, an English site that summarizes medical news and journals for doctors in the US; and MEDI:GATE, essentially M3.com for South Korean doctors.
M3 also facilitates clinical trials for pharma companies and provides marketing support for firms that are trying to reach medical professionals. For the general public, M3 offers a health-related Q&A site called AskDoctors.
Founder and/or current CEO
Itaru Tanimura, CEO
Net worth: Unknown
M3 data
Market cap: US$7.05 billion
Year founded: 2000
Industry: Medtech
3. Rakuten
Ecommerce behemoth Rakuten is often referred to as the Amazon of Japan. But it’s far more than that, with an ecommerce empire that stretches around the world. Founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani made waves in 2010 when he announced that English would become the company’s official language for internal communications by 2012 – the aim being to focus everyone even more on going global.
This emphasis on taking over the world makes sense when you look at Rakuten’s domestic penetration. 76 million users have logged into the service and Japan’s adult population (15 and older) is approximately 109 million. That means that 70 percent of Japanese people have a Rakuten account. The company has no choice but to look beyond the borders of its home market.
The firm uses frequent acquisitions as a vehicle for extending its reach overseas. Some major purchases include Buy.com (US), Play.com (UK), Kobo (Canada), Viki (Singapore), Viber (Israel), and Ebates (US). Rakuten is also a major investor in ride-sharing startup Lyft.
Outside of ecommerce and a long list of international acquisitions, Rakuten maintains a strong credit card brand and Japan’s number-one online travel agency. Like DeNA, Rakuten also has a professional baseball team – the Rakuten Golden Eagles. But instead of acquiring it, Rakuten started the franchise from scratch.
Founder and/or current CEO
Hiroshi Mikitani, founder and CEO
Net worth: US$8.6 billion
Rakuten data
Market cap: US$18.9 billion
Year founded: 1997
Industry: Ecommerce, banking, travel
2. Yahoo Japan
Yahoo Japan was formed as a joint venture between the US internet search giant and domestic telco SoftBank. It was the first online portal in Japan and analysts placed its valuation even higher than that of its American counterpart last year.
Beyond search, Yahoo Japan is a major news outlet and also operates the country’s most popular auction site. According to Alexa data, Yahoo.co.jp is Japan’s most-visited site, even above arch rival Google.
Founder and/or current CEO
Manabu Miyasaka, CEO
Net worth: Unknown
Yahoo Japan data
Market cap: US$23.8 billion
Year founded: 1996
Industry: Internet, search portal, auction, news
1. SoftBank
It might be hard to believe that SoftBank, arguably the most globally influential tech firm in Japan, started as a magazine publisher in the early 80s. Nowadays, it’s perhaps best-known as the first carrier of the iPhone in Japan and for its 32 percent share in Alibaba.
Two years before Apple revealed that it was working on a mobile phone, SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son visited Steve Jobs to share his idea for an iPod that could make calls. Jobs acknowledged that he was already working on it, and Son negotiated directly with the Apple co-founder to have exclusivity for what would become the iPhone in Japan – before SoftBank even owned a wireless carrier. Son bought Vodafone Japan for US$15 billion in 2006 to seal the deal.
Apart from its stake in Alibaba – currently worth more than US$61 billion – SoftBank has been investing heavily in Asia’s hottest startups. The firm has earmarked US$10 billion for India, with an emphasis on ecommerce, throwing down an initial US$627 million for SnapDeal in October 2014. It’s also put US$90 million in Indian real estate portal Housing.com and US$210 million into domestic cab hailing service Ola.
Elsewhere in Asia, SoftBank led a US$100 million funding round for Indonesia’s Tokopedia (ecommerce), invested US$250 million in Singapore’s GrabTaxi (on-demand transportation), led a US$600 million round for China’s Kuaidi Dache (on-demand transportation; now merged with Didi Dache), and put up a whopping US$1 billion for South Korea’s Coupang (ecommerce).
SoftBank is also the majority owner of US telco Sprint and Finnish mobile gaming giant Supercell.
Beyond iPhones and copious amounts of cash for startups, SoftBank is also bullish on personal robots. It began selling Pepper, the world’s first “emotional robot,” earlier this year. SoftBank also formed a joint venture with Alibaba and Foxconn that will focus on robots, and recently partnered with IBM to bring its Watson artificial intelligence to Japan.
Son is the second richest man in Japan, behind only Uniqlo boss Tadashi Yanai.
Founder and/or current CEO
Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO
Net worth: US$14.1 billion
SoftBank data
Market cap: US$64.8 billion
Year founded: 1981
Industry: Telecommunications, internet, robotics
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