Demand
Japanese demand comes from AI-driven attacks, new AI guidance and a shortage of security staff
AI security became a top-three threat in Japan in 2026. AI agent guidance arrived in March 2026, while understaffed SOC teams face more incidents and reporting duties.
Ransomware: Japan's #1 organisational threat. IPA's 2026 ranking puts damage from ransomware attacks first, ahead of supply chain attacks in second place and AI-related cyber risk in third. We placed the Japan Country Manager for a data protection vendor whose backup, immutable storage and recovery solutions help organisations protect their data against ransomware and recover after an attack. IPA, 29 January 2026.
AI risk ranks third in IPA's 2026 list
IPA's 情報セキュリティ10大脅威 2026 (jōhō sekyuriti jūdai kyōi, the Ten Major Information Security Threats), published 29 January 2026, ranks AI cyber risk third for organisations on debut, behind ransomware and supply chain attacks. On 2 April 2026 IPA and AISI added staff training slides and a regular AI security bulletin for developers and security teams.
Attackers are using AI against Japanese companies
GMO Cybersecurity by Ierae reported ARTEX attack servers targeting about 20 Japanese companies (19 October 2026); eight disclosed September and October leaks. Chiba police arrested a 19-year-old in June 2026 for AI-generated ransomware. Check Point's AI Security Report 2026: about fivefold growth in large malicious prompt injection detections, March to May 2026.
The AI Basic Plan expands AISI's role
AI推進法 (AI suishin-hō, AI Promotion Act), passed 28 May 2025, effective 1 September 2025, requests cooperation without penalties. Cabinet approved 人工知能基本計画 (jinkō chinō kihon keikaku, AI Basic Plan) on 23 December 2025; its 14 July 2026 revision strengthens cyber defence and AISI model testing. Government plans to double AISI's staff.
Government guidance covers agents and prompt injection
AI事業者ガイドライン (AI jigyōsha gaidorain, AI Guidelines for Business) version 1.2, 31 March 2026, adds agents: human involvement in important decisions, tool limits, logging and monitoring. Separate 27 March 2026 LLM guidance covers prompt injection and denial of service, excluding agents. AISI and IPA's 2 April 2025 revised red teaming guide tests RAG-based AI.
SOC staffing shortages meet new reporting duties
ISC2's December 2025 study found 51% of Japanese security professionals had evaluated, tested or deployed AI tools, versus 69% worldwide. From 1 October 2026, 能動的サイバー防御 (nōdōteki saibā bōgyo, active cyber defence) laws require critical infrastructure operators report specified incidents promptly, with details within 30 days. IDC Japan links 2024 AI triage interest to staffing shortages.
Japanese providers sell AI SOC and agent governance
NTT Docomo Business launched AI SOC on 20 May 2026, claiming about 95% alert automation. CTC's Exaforce service followed on 1 October 2026; SCSK Security's Intezer service on 28 October 2026. LAC began finding, controlling and monitoring Microsoft Agent 365 agents on 7 October 2026. NTT DATA uses WitnessAI internally.
Who sells it in Japan
Who sells AI security and AI SOC in Japan now
Large security platforms sell through Japanese subsidiaries; specialists use distributors. Japanese telecom and SI groups sell managed AI SOC services.
| Company | What it sells | In Japan | Japan leader (public record) |
|---|---|---|---|
 Palo Alto Networks | Prisma AIRS: model scanning, AI red teaming, runtime and agent protection | パロアルトネットワークス株式会社 (Palo Alto Networks KK), Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya; Prisma AIRS Japan-region local cloud from June 2026 keeps data in Japan | Hiroshi Arii (アリイ・ヒロシ), Representative Director, Chairman and President, Palo Alto Networks KK |
| Falcon with Charlotte AI Detection Triage, launched February 2025 | クラウドストライク株式会社 (CrowdStrike Japan); its 2021 Japan partner awards went to NTT Communications, LAC and GSX | Isao Obazawa (尾羽沢功), Country Manager from 1 February 2022; no later public update found | |
| Singularity; August 2025 agreement to buy Prompt Security for generative AI | SentinelOne Japan株式会社, Chuo-ku, Tokyo | Takuya Kutsuwada (轡田拓也), Vice President, Japan, announced 5 June 2026 | |
| September 2025 Lakera acquisition agreement; Workforce AI Security for staff AI | チェック・ポイント・ソフトウェア・テクノロジーズ株式会社 (Check Point Japan), founded October 1997; its July 2026 report counted 1,737 attacks a week on the average Japanese organisation | 佐賀文宣 (Saga), listed as representative in Check Point Japan's 15 October 2026 release | |
| AI agent inventory, runtime policy enforcement and incident detection and containment | Distributors SB C&S (2 October 2026) and Tokyo Electron Device (7 October 2026); US$125M Series C, August 2026 | Dai Fujimoto, Japan Country Manager, announced 8 October 2026 | |
| AI discovery, prompt/output inspection, prompt injection blocking and department/role policies | Resellers NTT DATA Japan and JSOL (14 April 2026); NTT DATA uses WitnessAI internally within its Responsible and Secure AI service | No Japan leader named publicly | |
| AI agents investigate SOC alerts; 24/7 managed detection and response | Tokyo office announced March 2026; isolated in-country deployments, Japanese support; CTC launched Exaforce-powered CTC-MSS AI SOC on 1 October 2026 | Tomohiro Furuya (古屋知弘), Vice President and Head of Sales | |
| AI agents for SOC alert triage, threat hunting and penetration testing | Japan pricing from 14 October 2026; shared agent credits; six-month Intro Pack applications by 31 March 2027; partner sales, deal registration | 伊東宏祐 (Ito), Japan Country Manager, named in the 14 October 2026 release | |
| AI SOC, 20 May 2026: log analysis, Microsoft Sentinel SOAR response | Japanese telecom group, formerly NTT Communications; correlation cut from 1 to 2 hours to about 10 minutes; about 95% alert automation | Japanese company, no country manager seat | |
 SCSK Security | AI SOC, 28 October 2026: Intezer analysis within its 24/7 SOC | Japanese managed security provider; says first-pass alert analysis falls from 1 to 2 hours to about 2 minutes | Japanese company, no country manager seat |
Japanese SIs and MSSPs appear twice in this market: as resellers of foreign AI security tools and as AI SOC providers in their own right.
Coming to Japan
Companies building a Japan channel for AI security
These companies have a dated public Japan signal in 2025 or 2026: a distributor agreement, a Japanese launch or a first Japan leader.
| Company and backers | What it sells | Public signal |
|---|---|---|
AccelBain Capital VenturesAmex Ventures and Citi Ventures, February 2026 | AI SOC investigates and prioritises alerts, showing its reasoning | Macnica signed a distributor agreement and launched Prophet AI in Japan on 19 August 2026, with support from proof of concept to deployment. No Japan leader named. |
| Autonomous AI platform for security alert triage and investigation | SCSK Security launched a 24/7 AI SOC service built on Intezer on 28 October 2026. No Japan leader named. | |
a16zBessemer Venture Partners; NTT DOCOMO VenturesSeries C, November 2025 | AI-native social engineering defence against impersonation, phishing and fraud | CTCSP, part of the CTC group, became its strategic partner in Japan on 17 June 2026. Named Hideki Ushigome Country Manager, Japan, on 4 August 2026. |
| AI firewall/gateway: sensitive data protection, prompt injection detection and audit logs | Daiwabo Information System signed an exclusive Japan distribution agreement on 13 January 2026, to sell through about 19,000 partners. No Japan leader named. | |
| Pre-execution endpoint protection, including against companies' own AI agents | Daiwabo Information System signed a distributor agreement on 19 October 2026 with 1stProtect and 1stProtect Japan合同会社 (GK, gōdō gaisha), whose president is Kazukuni Kuroda (黒田和国). | |
| Endpoint agent and secure workspace to observe, detect, enforce, trace AI | Launched in Japan on 9 July 2026 through Persefoni Japan合同会社, with 遠藤丈寛 (Endo) as Japan representative and a 30-day free trial. |
Only public signals are listed: job ads, company registrations, partner announcements and press. A company on this list has not told us it is entering Japan, and none of them is named here as a client.
Who our clients are backed by
Investors behind companies we have worked with.
Venture and private equity firms behind clients we have run Japan searches for. Under each firm is the client it backs. These firms are not our clients and have not endorsed us.
Case studies
How companies like these built their Japan business.
How Recorded Future won Japan
How Recorded Future built trust with Japanese buyers and partners under its first Japan leader.
Read it →Case study · Cloud securityWiz Japan
Wiz opened Japan with a former VMware Japan president as its leader and local data centres, and won 80 customers in about a year.
Read it →Research · SecurityJapan Cybersecurity Brief
The major breaches disclosed in Japan over the past year, what they cost, and the rules now in force.
Read it →More Japan market briefs
Next step
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Thirty minutes on your Japan plan, the market for the role and what it will take to hire well. You leave with our view of that market whether or not it becomes a search.
- Placing Country Managers and presidents in Japan since 2003
- More than 70 Country Managers and go-to-market leaders placed
- ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) bought his last search firm and made it Experis Executive
- Security searches include Recorded Future, Splunk, Fastly, Chainalysis and Zenity
- Eleven years recruiting in Japan, on executive and senior appointments across consulting, technology and manufacturing
- Partner appointments into a Big 4 consulting firm in Japan
- Country Manager appointments for overseas firms setting up in Japan
Partner, Managing Director and Director searches inside consulting firms.
How this page was researched. We produced this page with AI under Murray Clarke's direction. Every figure links to its original source, and the page was checked against those sources on 3 November 2026. Most sources are IPA, AISI, Cabinet Office, METI, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and National Police Agency publications, ITR, IDC Japan and ISC2 research reported in Japanese IT media, and vendor and distributor press releases on PR TIMES, Cloud Watch and company sites. Murray Clarke is accountable for what the page says. If you find an error, tell us at hello@aspiringpartners.jp and we will correct it.
Aspiring Partners K.K. Licensed by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for fee-charging employment placement, licence 13-ユ-318925. Company names on this page describe the Japanese market and are not clients unless we say so. Nothing on this page is legal, tax or investment advice. aspiringpartners.jp