Python in Japan - Language Guide

Python is one of the most popular programming languages in Japan.

Companies use it for everything from writing backend code to machine learning, and the demand for python developers right now is massive.

Are you interested in working as a python programmer in Japan? If so, keep reading. In this guide we'll share everything you need to know to get a top-tier python job.

Python in Japan

At Japan Dev, we've built up quite a bit of data over the years. So we took a look at some of this data to answer one question: what are the most popular programming languages in Japan?

We want to share the highest-quality possible tech jobs with you, so we have to focus on companies using modern languages.

Well, we crunched the data and here's what we found out:

Yep, Python isn't just popular.

It's the most popular programming language on our job board. And while our website isn't a perfect sample of the overall market, Python always shows up in the top few languages in similar surveys.

That means python is a great language to focus on. But here's our next question: how is Python being used by companies in Japan?

According to our research, Python is usually used for backend (server-side) development, machine learning and data science positions. On the backend side, it's often paired with Django (a web framework). Some companies are also using flask for their backend development (another python-based web framework).

How much do Python jobs in Japan pay?

As you can see in the table above, Python jobs in Japan pay quite well (at least the ones on Japan Dev — we curate high-quality jobs only, so these values might be a tad high relative to the market).

Either way, for positions on Japan Dev the median salary for python development jobs is 8.5 million yen. Check out our full software developer salary guide for more insights and examples.

Tips for finding a Python job in Japan

So how should you go about finding a python job in Japan?

Well, we recommend reading through the jobs on Japan Dev first, but we'll offer a few more tips as well.

One great way to prove your skills is to contribute to open source using python — especially if you can find a project hosted by a company you'd like to work for. We recommend checking Github (or maybe Gitlab) for cool projects and getting involved. Applicants with open source experience are still relatively rare in Japan, so this experience can be a huge plus in an interview.

Another way to get the attention of companies is to attend meetups.

Python Meetups in Japan

There are several meetup communities in Japan related to Python.

One great option is the Tokyo Python Society Club.

Python even has a major conference each year, called PyCon Japan.

You can also join general tech meetups like the Tokyo Tech Meetup to meet fellow Python developers and connect with companies hiring developers.