What to Know and How to Apply for Amazon in Japan, the Tech Giant Taking Over the World

Author: Naphasorn Laploetyingyong│ Published date: 20th January 2020

About Amazon

In the 21st century, no one can neglect the fact that they have accessed Amazon at least once before. But did you know that the company actually started from founder Jeff Bezos’ garage? It started in 1994 when he was trying to sell his books and now Amazon sells literally everything.

Amazon was originally named “Cadabra” (from Abracadabra) from Bezos' idea. However, his lawyer misheard the name as “cadaver”, and after scrolling down a dictionary for inspiration, Bezos found “Amazon”. Bezos envisioned his online store to be the biggest in the world, just like Amazon river, one of the biggest rivers in the world. 

Only three years after being registered as Amazon.com, the company’s customer base reached 1,000,000 users in 1997 with a revenue of almost $150 million. And just with one incident of losing its site in 2013 for only 49 minutes, the company lost over $5 million dollars in revenue, which means Amazon lost around $66,000 or 7 million yen every minute!

Amazon started its history in Japan through a books-only service in 2000 and currently, 4.3 billion packages were delivered all across Japan as of March 31, 2019.

Amazon Web Service Japan

Started in March 2011, Amazon Web Service (AWS) started a new branch in the Asia Pacific Region in Tokyo. AWS has been offering IT infrastructure services, also known as cloud computing, since 2006. Today, they provide a highly reliable, low-cost platform to more than 190 countries around the world, with Japan as one of the data center locations. 

Core Values and Principles

Based on their Careers website, Amazon has a total of 14 Leadership Principles, which they expect out of their employees whether they're "discussing ideas for new projects or deciding on the best approach to solving a particular problem."

The Leadership Principles are: "Customer Obsession", "Ownership", "Invent and Simplify", "Are Right, A Lot", "Learn and Be Curious", "Hire and Develop the Best", "Insist on the Highest Standards", "Think Big", "Bias for Action", "Frugality", "Earn Trust", "Dive Deep", "Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit", and "Deliver Results". You can find the full list with descriptions of the Leadership Principles here, which might be useful to know if you apply for Amazon.

However, we will focus on the very first principle on the list, since Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, has been quoted as saying, "The number one thing that has made us successful by far is obsessive compulsive focus on the customer," showing that this Leadership Principle is what he attributes to how Amazon got as far as it has now.

Since Amazon is a company that is powered by their customers, it is important for their employees to put their customers' needs in the forefront, no matter what position or what job they might have within the company. Employees are expected to make sure that they can not only earn, but also keep their customers' trust.

What makes Amazon Japan different?

• Diversity at Amazon Japan: Engineers at Amazon come from various parts of the earth, and this diversity in thinking and culture makes it more fun to work together to create and develop software services, which not just focused on the Japanese marketplace but scale them globally. 

• Amazon's Development Center offers outstanding opportunities to grow both technical and non-technical skills by working with fellow engineers and product teams on exciting and challenging projects. 

Investor relations

Apart from its global headquarters in Seattle, Washington D.C., Amazon also operates in the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Canada, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, Japan, China, India, Mexico, and other countries in the future!

Amazon Japan started in 1998 and was launched as Amazon.co.jp in 2000. The current Amazon Japan CEO is Jasper Cheung, who first worked at Amazon as a Finance Director in 2000, and was named CEO in 2001. Under his leadership, Amazon.co.jp has greatly increased its availability of offerings to customers.

One of the biggest successes during his time is “Amazon Prime”, also known as "Prime Now", the service of delivering within an hour in places like Osaka, Hyogo, and Yokohama. You can check out the video below for Jaser Cheung’s inspiring commencement speech for Temple University Japan on 2nd June 2019 here.

As its expansion of fulfillment centers (FC) and warehouses, Jeff Hayashida also became co-CEO after moving its HQ to Meguro in 2012. He sometimes visits FCs and holds events for students called “Job Shadow” which is an event that offers opportunities for students to think about their future careers, just like the article below where Hayashida visited Tajimi Fulfillment Center in 2016.

Employment info for Amazon Japan

According to Rikunabi 2020, Amazon Japan hired the following number of fresh graduates in the previous years:

• 2018: 49 Males, 44 Females
• 2017: 33 Males, 46 Females
• 2016: 9 Males, 14 Females

As you can see, the company is constantly increasing the fresh graduates they hire each year, so now is the perfect time for you to consider applying!

Application Timeline

• STEP 1. Pre-Entry through the Amazon Japan 新卒採用 website (Registration needed)
• STEP 2. Choose Course
• STEP 3. Submit the Entry Sheet 
• STEP 4. Web Test
• STEP 5. Interviews (Multiple Times)
• STEP 6. Job Offer

Open Courses and Positions in Amazon Japan

The following are the available courses when applying as a fresh graduate to Amazon Japan, and written below each one are the available positions you can choose from.

• Business Course
  • Consumer General Manager
  • AWS Sales Manager
  • Operations General Manager
  • Customer Service Manager

• Specialist Course
  • Financial Analyst
  • Supply Chain Specialist
  • Operation Engineer

• Tech Course
  • Software Development Engineer
  • AWS Solutions Architect
  • AWS Ground Support Engineer

For more detailed information the positions, check out the table we made for you below!

FAQ

Can you apply for Amazon Japan if you are not currently in Japan?

• Yes, Amazon attends the Boston Career Forum every year which you can participate in to get your chance!

I am an international student in Japan right now, can I apply for Amazon Japan?

• Of course! All nationalities are welcome at Amazon.

How important is English for working at Amazon?

• Most of the documents, textbooks, or tools using in Amazon are all in English, so the ability to read and write is a must. A TOEIC score of above 700 points is recommended. Software Development Engineers are required to have verbal communication skills in addition to reading and writing.

Internships and other application events for Amazon Japan

Application deadline

The first round of applications already closed on January 10th.

However, there is no need to worry because Amazon Japan opens applications twice a year! If you are interested to apply, you can check out for more information on their career page here for Amazon Japan and this link for AWS Japan.

Internship opportunities

Internship opportunities are also available this summer for those who are graduating in 2021. They currently have two internships position open, the Solution Architect internship and Cloud Support Engineer.

You can learn more details and how to apply for Amazon Japan internships here.

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Since reading this article, we hope you do your best with all the info you've gained, because now you have all you need to make a successful application at Amazon in Japan!