Hiroshimaruns on a handful of strong industries. If you’re job-hunting or weighing a move, here’s where the opportunities (and the big-name employers) are.
Top industries & employers
Automotive
Mazda, Delta Kogyo, Hiroshima Aluminum, Molten, Toyo Seat
Mazda anchors the regional economy, but its Hiroshima head office and main plant are in Fuchū town, Aki District — a separate municipality wedged inside the city's boundary. Working there does not make your paperwork or your residence tax Fuchū's; where you sleep does.
Heavy industry & shipbuilding
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan Marine United, Hitachi Zosen, Chugoku Electric Power
The Inland Sea coast from Hiroshima through Kure is one of Japan's oldest industrial corridors, and Kure's shipyards and naval history remain a significant regional employer half an hour east.
Electronics & semiconductors
Micron Memory Japan, Sharp, Kyocera, Elpida legacy operations
Micron's memory fab at Higashi-Hiroshima is the largest single high-tech investment in the prefecture and pulls a supply chain along the Sanyō corridor toward the university town of Saijō.
Food & consumer goods
Otafuku Sauce, Aohata, Calbee Hiroshima, Kamotsuru, Chugoku Jozo
Okonomiyaki sauce, marmalade and sake are real industries here rather than souvenirs — Saijō in Higashi-Hiroshima is one of Japan's three major sake-brewing towns.
Retail, banking & regional services
Edion, Hiroshima Bank, Fukuya, Izumi (Youme Town), Chugoku Shimbun
Hiroshima functions as the commercial capital of the whole Chūgoku region, so regional headquarters and back-office functions here serve five prefectures rather than one city.
Universities & medicine
Hiroshima University, Hiroshima City University, RERF, Hiroshima Prefectural Hospital
The Radiation Effects Research Foundation on Hijiyama has run the long-term health study of atomic-bomb survivors since 1975 as a joint Japan–US institution, and the city's radiation-medicine expertise is internationally unusual.
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