These are the best companies to work for in Japan in 2019, according to LinkedIn

The majority of Japan's most popular employers are international companies.

That's according to a new study from LinkedIn, which found that just six out of the country's 25 best companies are of Japanese origin. Of note, however, is that LinkedIn does not enjoy the same popularity in Japan that it does in other parts of the world, and is therefore underutilized by local companies and employees.

The "top companies" list is based on feedback from LinkedIn's several million users in Japan — a country of over 120 million people. The study looks at four main areas: interest in the company; engagement with employees; job demand; and employee retention.*

To be eligible, companies must have had at least 500 employees as of Feb 1. 2018 and demonstrate flat or positive employee growth over the following 12 months, based on LinkedIn's data.

The annual list forms part of LinkedIn's wider analysis of its more than 610 million users, which it has used to determine the top companies to work for across Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S.

LinkedIn and its parent company Microsoft were excluded from the research for fairness. So, too, were all non-profits, staffing and recruiting firms, and educational and governmental institutions.

Here are the best companies to work for in Japan:

25. EY — Accounting

24. Tata Consulting Services — Information technology and services

23. Morgan Stanley — Financial services

22. NEC Corporation — Information technology and services

21. Novartis — Pharmaceuticals

20. CyberAgent, Inc. — Internet

19. Yahoo! JAPAN — Internet

18. Nissan Motor Corporation — Automotive

17. Dell Technologies — Information technology and services

16. PwC Japan — Management consulting

15. Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting LLC. — Management consulting

14. Apple — Consumer electronics

13. Goldman Sachs — Financial services

12. Takeda — Pharmaceuticals

11. LINE Corp — Internet

Industry: Computer networking

Offices: Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Nagoya, Osaka, Sapporo, Sendai and Tokyo

U.S.-born multinational technology company Cisco develops, manufactures and sells networking hardware and telecommunications equipment. The company also has a number of subsidiaries that specialize in specific tech markets, including the so-called Internet of Things and cybersecurity.

Industry: Information technology and services

Offices: Fukuoka, Osaka and Tokyo

Global professional services company Accenture provides businesses with a range of services including strategy, consulting, digital and technology. The company's Japan arm was founded in 1995 and is now home to three offices and an innovation hub for developers to work on new digital solutions.

Industry: Hospital and healthcare

Offices: Tokyo

New Jersey-headquartered medical business Johnson & Johnson has been providing hospital and healthcare products for more than 130 years. That includes household consumer brands like Johnson's baby products and Neutrogena beauty products. Increasingly, the business is using new technologies like artificial intelligence and 3-D printing to produce new artificial joints and other life-changing medical devices.

Industry: Computer software

Offices: Fukuoka, Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo

German-born tech company SAP launched in Japan in 1992 and has since established itself as a market leader in providing computer software to local businesses and industries. The company has expertise in the internet of things, financial software, and cloud and data platforms, among other things.

Industry: Information technology and services

Offices: Fukuoka, Nagoya, Osaka and Sendai

Multinational information technology company IBM launched in New York in 1911 and has since expanded to 170 countries worldwide, including Japan, in 1937. In the years since, IBM Japan has blazed its own trail, bolstering the country's tech innovation and, separately, establishing its own American football team to compete in the Japanese X-League.

Industry: Internet

Offices: Tokyo

The Japanese arm of cloud-based software company Salesforce is based in Tokyo, from where it employs staff across all of its major business functions, from sales and customer service to finance, legal and HR. Separately, last year, the company launched a $100 million Japan Trailblazer Fund in a bid to engage with entrepreneurs and invest in the country's start-up scene.

Industry: Information technology and services

Offices: Tokyo

Oracle is a U.S.-born multinational computer technology company with offices in more than 120 countries, and it develops database software and technology, cloud engineered systems, and enterprise software products. As of last year, it was the world's third-largest software maker by revenue, after Microsoft and Alphabet.

Industry: Internet

Offices: Chiba, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Kagoshima, Kanazawa, Kobe, Kyoto, Matsumoto, Matsuyama, Morioka, Nagoya, Naha, Osaka, Niigata, Saitama, Sapporo, Sendai, Shizuoka, Tokyo and Yokohama

Japanese internet company Rakuten has moved quickly since it was founded as an online retailer in 1997. Today it is the country's largest e-commerce company, employing more than 10,000 staff and partners worldwide. The company is also a major Japanese investor, and has backed the likes of Lyft and investing app Acorns.

Industry: Internet

Offices: Osaka and Tokyo

Japan has been an important component of Google's growth strategy ever since it launched its first international office in Tokyo in 2001. The U.S. technology giant reiterated that in 2017, when it announced that it would launch a new headquarter in the capital and double its headcount in 2019. At the same time, the company said it would invest in a new teaching initiative to train millions of local students in computer science.

Industry: Internet

Offices: Tokyo

U.S. internet behemoth Amazon jumped to prime position in LinkedIn's list of the top companies in Japan this year. There, employees can work on core Amazon products and services, like its mobile shopping service, search operations and consumer experience. The company's development center in Tokyo also provides a place for staff to grow their technical skills and develop new business ideas.

* Interest in the company is measured by unique, non-employee views and follows of the company's LinkedIn page. Employee engagement looks at how many non-employees are viewing unique employees at the company. Job demand counts the rate at which people are viewing and applying to jobs at the company, including both paid and unpaid job postings on LinkedIn. Employee retention measures how many employees are still at the company at least one year after their date of hire, based on LinkedIn member profiles.

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