Category: Foreign companies in Japan

Japan – Europe, Middle East & Africa business update

The Japanese clutch and automotive transmission manufacturer Exedy is buying Protean Electric, the UK-based developer of in-wheel motors (IWMs) for electric vehicles, for around €30m. Exedy says the acquisition will help it to transform its portfolio to provide new opportunities in the automotive sector as it undergoes “a major transformation”.

What Japanese companies are doing about the situation in the Middle East – Inpex, Chiyoda, Toray, MUFG, Sony are pulling out some or all of their expatriate staff and families from UAE and Saudia Arabia. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Sojitz, Kanadevia, and Yusen Logistics are all banning travel through or to Middle East. Muji has closed its UAE store.

Asahi Kasei has unveiled plans to acquire German biopharmaceutical firm AiCuris in a deal worth 780 million euros ($920 million). The deal is intended to expand Asahi Kasei’s portfolio of treatments for immune-related infections . Asahi Kasei’s operations span across chemical engineering, housing and healthcare. It plans to integrate research, clinical development and commercialization of its pharmaceutical business across Japan, the U.S. and Europe. AiCuris develops antiviral therapies for people with weakened immune systems. Its flagship product, Prevymis is used to prevent viral infections in organ transplant recipients.

Long-standing accounting fraud at Nidec could result in a $1.6bn fine.  The company’s founder and former CEO, Shigenobu Nagamori stepped down as chairman emeritus in February 2026. He is seen as ultimately responsible for the problems, as he “applied considerable pressure on executive officers in the Nidec headquarters who were responsible for the business units and subsidiaries as well as the CFOs to achieve the performance targets.” Nidec made several acquisitions overseas, and now has 13,691 Nidec employees in Europe, Middle East + Africa – out of 104,000 worldwide.

German automaker BMW will adopt smart-car technology supplied by Japanese company NTT Docomo Business for new models to be sold globally in 2026, instead of its usual German supplier.

Toyota group company Denso has bid to acquire Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Rohm. Rohm’s European headquarters are in Germany, and it employs around 186 people in Germany, France, Spain, UK and Hungary, out of 23,000 worldwide. Despite the German-sounding name, Rohm is a Japanese company, founded as Toyo Electronics in 1958, then renamed R.Ohm, then renamed Rohm.

Denmark’s Vestas, the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines used in offshore wind power generation, will set up a factory in Japan – possibly in Kitakyushu or Hokkaido – by fiscal 2029 to tap growing demand there and elsewhere in Asia. Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy and Hitachi used to make wind turbines in Japan, but pulled out, as did Mitsubishi Corp from investing in offshore wind projects in Japan.

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Biggest European companies in Japan

Having looked at the largest foreign-owned companies in Japan in a previous post, we thought we’d take a look at the largest companies in Japan owned by European companies in more detail.

By employee number, they are:

  1. Mitsubishi Fuso Truck – Germany (89.2% owned by Daimler), #3 overall, 10,633 employees
  2. Bosch – Germany, #10 overall, 5,254 employees
  3. Chugai Pharmaceuticals – Switzerland (59.8% owned by Roche), #12 overall, 5,026 employees
  4. AstraZeneca – UK, #17 overall, 3,700 employees
  5. IKEA Japan – Netherlands (yes, not Sweden, it’s owned by Ingka Group, which is a franchisee of Inter IKEA Systems B.V.), #19 overall, 3,602 employees
  6. NOK – Germany (25% owned by Freudenberg Group – maybe not strictly speaking foreign owned therefore), #21 overall, 3,337 employees
  7. DHL Supply Chain – Germany, #24 overall, 3,000 employees
  8. Compass Group Japan – UK, #26 overall, 2,684 employees
  9. Novartis Pharma – Switzerland, #30 overall, 2,600 employees
  10. GlaxoSmithKline – UK, #32 overall, 2,500 employees
  11. Louis Vuitton Japan – France, #32 overall, 2,500 employees
  12. Nestle Japan – Switzerland, #34 overall, 2,400 employees
  13. L’Oreal – France, #35 overall, 2,350 employees
  14. Veolia Jenets – France, #41 overall, 2,000 employees
  15. Phillips Japan – Netherlands, #43 overall, 1,942 employees
  16. DHL Japan – Germany, #45 overall, 1,900 employees
  17. Pioneer – Sweden, #46 overall, 1,859 employees
  18. SAP Japan – Germany, #49 overall, 1,727 employees
  19. Boehringer Ingelheim – Germany, #50 overall, 1,700 employees
  20. Valeo Japan – France, #52 overall, 1,660 employees
  21. Bayer – Germany, #56 overall, 1,591 employees
  22. Ichikoh industries – France (61% owned by Valeo), #60 overall, 1,485 employees
  23. Cap Gemini – France, #62 overall, 1,400 employees
  24. Sanofi – France – #65 overall, 1,334 employees
  25. Autoliv – Sweden – #66 overall, 1,332 employees
  26. Lush – UK – #67 overall, 1,300 employees
  27. Johnson Controls – Ireland, #70 overall, 1,282 employees
  28. Novo Nordisk – Denmark, #72 overall, 1,274 employees
  29. Sika – Switzerland, #80 overall, 1,136 employees
  30. ICON Clinical Research – Ireland, #85 overall, 1,000 employees
  31. NN Life Insurance – Netherlands, #87 overall, 975 employees
  32. Zurich Insurance – Switzerland, #89 overall, 946 employees

= 33 BASF Japan – Germany, #92 overall, 920 employees

=33 GKN Driveline Japan – UK, #92 overall, 920 employees

35. Mahle Engine Components Japan – Germany, #96 overall, 880 employees

36. Lacoste Japan – France, #98 overall, 851 employees

37. Dassault Systems – France, #100 overall, 850 employees

There are many missing names from this, so it is just indicative, based on whatever company responded to Toyo Keizai’s enquiries. but overall it seems that European companies represent around 37% of the largest foreign companies in Japan. American companies are around 46% of the largest foreign companies in Japan, with the remaining 17% being owned by companies from Taiwan, Israel, India, China, Hong Kong, Canada and Australia – plus Japan Display, owned by a company, Ichigo Trust, registered in the Cayman Islands, which is technically UK territory.

10 of the 37 are German, 9 French, 6 British (or 7 if you count Japan Display), 5 Swiss, 3 Dutch, 3 Swedish, 2 Irish, 1 Danish. The missing major European economies are Italy and Spain. Judging by size of economy, the UK looks a bit underweight.

8 are pharmaceutical manufacturers or clinical research related and the other main categories are automotive manufacturing/engineering and consumer brands.

At least 6 (7 if you count Japan Display) are the result of acquisitions or at least a major investment in Japanese companies – Compass Group acquiring NKS for example.

 

For more content like this, subscribe to the free Rudlin Consulting Newsletter. 最新の在欧日系企業の状況については無料の月刊Rudlin Consulting ニューズレターにご登録ください。

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