The Atarashift Blog
Insights for working in Japan
Guides, interviews, and honest advice for international talent building a career in Japan.
The Atarashift Blog
Guides, interviews, and honest advice for international talent building a career in Japan.
Japan has 118 job openings per 100 seekers and wants 1.23M more foreign workers by 2028. The exact steps to land a role and get your visa, COE timeline included.
Japan is actively hiring foreigners. The job market shows 118 open positions for every 100 job seekers as of early 2026 (MHLW via JILPT, 2026), and the government has set a target of absorbing 1.23 million additional foreign workers under labor migration programs by 2028 (Japan Times, 2025). The question isn't whether Japan wants foreign talent. It's whether you know how the system works.
The process has specific steps, a required document format, and a visa timeline most guides gloss over. This guide covers all of it, in the order you'll actually face it.
Key Takeaways
- Japan's job-to-applicant ratio is 1.18, still a candidate-friendly market (MHLW, 2026).
- The process runs: job offer → Certificate of Eligibility (COE) → work visa. The COE takes up to 3 months.
- Most professional roles require a bachelor's degree; Japanese language is not legally required for most visas.
- 2026 rule change: some applicants at smaller companies now need JLPT N2-equivalent proof for language-heavy roles.
Before you start applying, you need to know which visa category your work would fall under, because that shapes what jobs you can apply for and what documents you'll need.
The most common visa for foreign professionals is the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa, held by over 458,000 people as of mid-2025. It covers IT, software engineering, finance, marketing, translation, HR, and most white-collar roles, and it requires a bachelor's degree and a sponsoring employer. We break down exactly who qualifies in our guide to Japan's most common work visa.
Other key categories:
2026 update: from April 2026, applicants under the Engineer/Humanities visa at smaller (Category 3 or 4) employers must prove CEFR B2-level Japanese, roughly JLPT N2, for roles involving significant client interaction (Fragomen, 2026). Technical roles in English-first teams are unaffected.
Japan's job market has a specific document format, and ignoring it will get your application rejected before anyone reads it.
The rirekisho (履歴書) is Japan's standard resume: a fixed template with your photo in business attire, chronological education and work history, certifications, and a motivation statement. Creativity in layout is not appreciated. We've written a field-by-field guide to the rirekisho, including photo specs and date formats.
What to include that Western CVs often miss:
For English-first companies, a standard English CV is fine. Confirm the format preference in the job listing.
The general job boards (Indeed Japan, LinkedIn) work but aren't optimized for foreign applicants. These platforms are more targeted:
| Platform | Best For |
|---|---|
| TokyoDev | IT/software engineering, English-friendly |
| GaijinPot Jobs | General expat-friendly roles |
| CareerCross | Bilingual and international roles |
| JapanDev | Tech roles, English-first |
| Daijob | Mid-to-senior bilingual professionals |
| JETRO Open for Professionals | 283 companies certified as foreigner-friendly |
Recruitment agencies are worth using at the mid-to-senior level. Robert Walters Japan, Hays Japan, and Michael Page Japan specialize in placing international professionals. Not every employer on the general boards can sponsor a visa, so target the right ones from the start: our guide to which companies offer visa sponsorship in Japan shows how to spot them.
Referrals work differently in Japan: personal introductions (紹介) carry significant weight. A warm LinkedIn introduction is worth more than a cold application in Japan's trust-network hiring culture.
Japanese hiring processes typically run 2–4 interview rounds over 4–8 weeks. At larger companies, you may also encounter aptitude tests (SPI tests) and group discussions.
What Japanese interviewers evaluate:
For IT and startup roles, interviews tend to be faster and skills-focused. When an offer lands, check it against what foreigners actually earn in Japan and confirm whether the figure includes Japan's twice-yearly bonus. If the number falls short, here's how to negotiate salary in Japan without souring the offer.
Once you have a job offer, your employer applies for a Certificate of Eligibility on your behalf at the Regional Immigration Bureau. This confirms you meet the requirements for the visa category.
Timeline: up to 3 months. Don't give notice at your current job the week you receive an offer.
Once you receive the COE, take it to the nearest Japanese consulate in your home country and apply for the work visa, typically processed in about 5 business days.
Not for all roles. Over 60% of new job listings targeting foreign applicants are in IT engineering, many requiring only English (CareerCross, 2025). From April 2026, certain applicants at smaller companies need JLPT N2-equivalent proof for language-intensive roles. The full picture is in our guide to working in Japan without Japanese.
For the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities visa, the most common professional visa, yes: a bachelor's degree is required, though 10+ years of directly relevant experience can substitute. The Specified Skilled Worker visa does not require a degree.
Budget 3–6 months from first application to arrival. Interview processes take 4–8 weeks, the COE takes up to 3 months, and the visa is issued in about 5 days. Start your search 5–6 months before your target start date.
Both work. Searching from abroad is standard for international hires. Searching in Japan on a tourist visa (90 days) is legal and allows in-person interviews, but you cannot start working until the proper work visa is issued.
IT engineering is the fastest-growing entry point with the fewest language barriers. METI has estimated Japan's shortage of IT professionals could reach 790,000 by 2030 (METI via NRI), which keeps demand for foreign engineers high.
The process is systematic, not difficult. Know your visa category, use the right job boards, format your application correctly, and plan for the COE timeline. Companies willing to hire and sponsor foreign workers are a growing, identifiable segment of Japan's labor market.
Ready to start your search? Browse English-friendly roles on Atarashift →
Sources: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare via JILPT, Recent Statistical Survey Reports (January 2026), retrieved 2026-07-16, https://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/esaikin/2026/e202601.html; Japan Times, "Japan aims to take in 1.23M foreign workers" (December 2025), https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/23/japan/society/foreign-worker-cap/; Fragomen, Japan: Tightened Documentation Requirement and Language Requirement (2026), https://www.fragomen.com/insights/japan-tightened-documentation-requirement-and-introduction-of-language-requirement-for-certain-work-visas.html; METI, Survey on IT Human Resource Demand (2019) via NRI Journal, https://www.nri.com/en/media/journal/20190708.html; CareerCross Foreign Job Listing Data (2025)
In 2025 Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto took 58% of Japan's foreign guest-nights, and Taiwan led 20 of 47 prefectures. A full breakdown by prefecture and nationality.
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Japan's most common work visa covers most office and technical jobs. Here is who qualifies, what counts as relevant work, and how the application runs.
