JETRO Invest Japan Report 2022
Chapter2. Business Operations of Foreign-affiliated Companies in Japan Section1. Outline of Foreign-affiliated Companies

This questionnaire survey was administered to 6,582 foreign-affiliated companies in Japan during the period from September to October 2021, receiving responses from 1,315 companies (valid response rate: 20.0%).

Regarding the industry breakdown of respondents, 15.0% were in manufacturing, 38.6% in wholesale trade/general trade, 3.8% in retail trade, and 30.3% in services and others. By country/region of the foreign parent company, Europe accounted for 39.8%, Asia for 34.0%, and North America for 21.2% (Chart 2-1).

According to the survey on the ownership by foreign parent company, 68.1% of the respondents were 100% foreign-owned. By industry, 31.6% of the “retail trade” companies have an ownership ratio of over 50% to less than 100%, including many joint ventures (Chart 2-2). New Analysis

Looking at the countries and regions of foreign parent companies by the year of establishment/investment in Japan, the number of entries from Asia has increased significantly since 2001 (Chart 2-3).

Looking at the industries of foreign parent companies, “manufacturing” accounted for the largest number of 670 companies (51.0% of the total), followed by “services and others” with 392 companies (29.8%), “wholesale trade/general trade” with 115 companies (8.7%), and retail trade with 19 companies (1.4%) (vertical axis in Chart 2-4).

57.3% of respondents have been established in Japan as wholesale trade/general trade companies, even if the foreign parent company is in the manufacturing industry (horizontal axis in Chart 2-4).

The following are the survey results on the capitalization and the number of employees of the foreign-affiliated companies in Japan.

In terms of capital size, “over 5 million to 10 million yen” accounted for 21.9%, and “over 50 million to 100 million yen” for 20.6% of the total. Capital stock is relatively large among “manufacturing” and “retail trade” (Chart 2-5).

As for the number of employees, 82.7% of the total respondents have 50 or less, and 92.3% of “wholesale trade/general trade” have 50 or less (Chart 2-6).

The following are the survey results on the sales and changes in sales of the foreign-affiliated companies in Japan.

In terms of sales, “from 100 million yen to 500 million yen” was the most common range recorded by 26.1% of the respondents.

Regarding year-on-year increase/decrease in sales, "decrease of 10% or more" was the most common response at 27.5%, while "flat" and "increase of 10% or more" accounted for 21.9% and 21.4%, respectively, all above 20% range showing dispersed distribution (Chart 2-8).