IT staffing platform connecting engineers worldwide to opportunities in Japan
Small World matches foreign engineers with roles in Japan, backed by 13+ years of operational experience through CRAFTS Inc., a development shop that has built products with international technical talent. The stack spans full-stack web (React, Next.js, GraphQL, Spring/Java) and infrastructure (Kubernetes, Kafka, Terraform), with active hiring concentrated in engineering and product — signaling product-led scaling rather than pure recruitment-shop margins. Pain points around API usability, talent sourcing, and secure system design indicate the platform is moving beyond job board mechanics toward actual developer infrastructure.
Small World is a staffing platform founded in 2019 that recruits and places engineers from overseas into technical roles at Japanese companies. The organization operates from Tokyo with 51–200 employees. The team works closely with CRAFTS Inc., a software development group company established in 2008, which has spent over a decade hiring and managing international engineering teams on actual product delivery. Small World's model combines recruiter-led placement with product tooling: active development on API platforms, license management, and operational monitoring suggests the business is evolving from pure labor matching into a managed services or platform play. Hiring velocity is accelerating, with most open roles concentrated in engineering and mid-to-senior levels.
Primary languages: Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, C#, Kotlin. Backend: Spring Framework, GraphQL, Kafka, Redis, Couchbase. Frontend: React, Next.js, Redux. Infrastructure: Kubernetes, Docker, Azure, Terraform, Ansible. CI/CD: Jenkins. Version control: Git, Subversion.
Active projects include Rakuten Fashion Android app, mobile app development, API platform roadmap, software license management, production automation, and monitoring stack improvements. The company is also addressing engineering productivity and API usability challenges.
Other companies in the same industry, closest in size