Chennai: A high-level delegation F26 representatives from six Japanese companies told students that learning the Japanese language and culture will help them start a global career.

They also encouraged engineering students from College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG) and Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) to apply for internship opportunities to explore the work culture, country and food in Japan.

Under the India Japan Talent Bridge Programme, a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), govt of Japan, a talent exchange programme and career seminar was conducted at Anna University on Tuesday.

“Japan is planning to hire 50,000 students from India in the next five years. The idea is to popularise opportunities in Japan for Indian students. We feel that the internships will fill the gap,” said Naotaka Nishiyama, founder-CEO, Talendy-By Tech Japan, a platform to hire fresh graduates. More than 300 students from Anna University took part in the seminar.

“Students do not know about the product development culture and demand for IT engineers in Japan. The seminar created awareness. We expect more final-year students to sit for placement and internship drives in 2026,” said K Shanmuga Sundaram, director, Centre for University-Industry Collaboration (CUIC), Anna University.

Professors said Japanese firms are willing to offer pay packages over 20lakhs a year for talented students. Some companies that have given job offers to students are also sponsoring Japanese language courses for them.

Anna University is also entering into an academic partnership with Japanese universities to offer dual degrees. This delegation will visit IISc in Bengaluru and IIT Gandhinagar in the coming days.