Home/Work/Professions/Licensed professions

Professions · 医療 · 法律・会計業務

Doctors, nurses, lawyers and other licensed jobs in Japan

Straight away: a foreign license as a doctor, nurse, lawyer or psychologist does not work in Japan on its own. The way in is a Japanese national exam, in Japanese — and before it, recognition of your degree. What the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare asks of doctors and nurses, the EPA route for nurses from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, how foreign lawyers and accountants work, and what people with these degrees actually do in Japan.

Doctors

All professions

Checked against Japanese law and the websites of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Immigration Services Agency on October 7, 2026 · Medical Services status · Legal / Accounting Services status

Japanese level for doctors and nurses to be admitted to the examN1

Years after graduation — the limit for recognizing a doctor’s degree10

Points out of 100 in the Japanese clinical ability test60

Years of practice — the minimum for a foreign lawyer3

In short

Licensed professions in Japan in six lines

  • Only a doctor with a Japanese license may practice medicine (Medical Practitioners Act, Article 17). The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare issues the license after the Japanese national exam. Narrow exceptions exist: supervised clinical training (臨床修練) for up to 2 years with the minister’s permission, and bilateral agreements with five countries that let a few of their doctors pass the exam in English and treat foreign patients.
  • With a foreign degree you are admitted to the exam only after the ministry recognizes it. If you did not go to school in Japan, you need JLPT N1; doctors also take a test of Japanese with a patient.
  • Nurses from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam can come under the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) and prepare for the exam while working in a Japanese hospital.
  • A foreign lawyer may advise on the law of their own country after approval by the Minister of Justice and registration. Becoming a Japanese attorney means the Japanese bar exam (司法試験, shihō shiken).
  • Psychologists: the Japanese qualification 公認心理師 is built around Japanese university courses; foreign training is recognized only case by case.
  • The Medical Services and Legal / Accounting Services statuses come after a Japanese license (or, for foreign lawyers, approval and registration). Before that, people work in related jobs, in research or in teaching.

Doctors

Recognition of your degree and the national medical exam (医師国家試験)

A graduate of a foreign medical school applies to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. With recognition, you sit the Japanese national exam on the same terms as Japanese graduates.

Document check

Criterion What the ministry requires
Entering university After full secondary education — at least 12 years of schooling
Medical school At least 6 years (2 years general and 4 years medical) and 4,500 hours; for 5 years — at least 5,500 hours
All education up to graduation At least 18 years
Time since graduation No more than 10 years; years spent teaching medicine or working as a doctor are not counted
University Clinical training and teaching at the level of Japanese universities; as a rule, listed in the WHO directory of medical schools
License You hold a doctor’s license in your country
Japanese JLPT N1, if you did not finish junior high and high school in Japan

Japanese clinical ability test (日本語診療能力調査)

Two examiners assess how you take a history, examine a patient, explain a treatment plan and write medical records in Japanese. Five skills: listening, speaking, writing, reading medical terms aloud and examining while explaining. You need at least 60 points out of 100, and no item scored zero by any examiner.

If you do not meet every criterion

The ministry may admit you only to the preliminary exam (医師国家試験予備試験): part one covers basic sciences, part two clinical subjects in writing and in practice. After it comes at least a year of practical training in medical care and public health, and only then the national exam. The ministry can also refuse.

Example: are the hours enough?

  1. 6 years of study, 4,800 hoursCriterion met: 6 years and 4,500 hours are required.
  2. 5 years of study, 5,200 hoursNot met: with 5 years you need 5,500 hours.
  3. 5 years of study, 5,600 hoursMet.

Nurses and other health professions

The same logic: recognition, then the Japanese exam

  • Nurse (看護師, kangoshi): a foreign nursing school or university of at least 3 years, at least 15 years of education in total, a nursing license from your country (as a rule), and JLPT N1 if you did not go to school in Japan. Similar criteria apply to midwives (助産師) and public health nurses (保健師).
  • Dentists, radiographers, laboratory technicians, physical therapists, speech therapists and others — also only after recognition by the ministry, under criteria set by the same ministerial rules.
  • Pharmacist (薬剤師, yakuzaishi): a graduate of a foreign university is admitted to the exam only with the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare’s recognition.

Without a Japanese license, a nurse can work in care for older people — as a Specified Skilled Worker, with the care tests and a Japanese test. Details: care worker jobs (介護).

EPA

Nurse candidates from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam

Japan’s Economic Partnership Agreements let nurse candidates work in a Japanese hospital as nursing assistants, on the Designated Activities status, with pay at least equal to a Japanese employee’s, while preparing for the national nursing exam. The Japan International Corporation of Welfare Services (JICWELS) is the only organization that places candidates.

Requirements for nurse candidates
Indonesia An Indonesian nursing license and 2 years of experience
Philippines A Philippine nursing license and 3 years of experience
Vietnam A 3- or 4-year nursing course, a Vietnamese nursing license and 2 years of experience
  • Stay before the exam: up to 3 years, with one more year possible under conditions; for Indonesian candidates up to 5 years from August 2026, under the revised agreement.
  • Japanese: candidates take Japanese training before and after arrival; holders of JLPT N2 or higher are exempt from it.
  • After passing: you keep working as a nurse (EPA看護師) on Designated Activities, with no limit on renewals, and may bring your spouse and children; you can also change to the Medical Services status.
  • Only citizens of these three countries can use the route; you apply in your own country, not to a hospital directly.

Care worker candidates come through the same agreements — see care worker jobs.

Lawyers

A registered foreign lawyer, or the Japanese bar exam

Registered foreign lawyer (外国法事務弁護士, gaikokuhō jimu bengoshi)

  • Approval by the Minister of Justice and registration with the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (日本弁護士連合会).
  • At least 3 years of practice as a lawyer in the country where you qualified; work on that country’s law at a Japanese law firm counts, but for no more than 2 years.
  • As a rule, your country must allow Japanese lawyers to work there on similar terms.
  • You may advise only on the law of your country and represent clients in international arbitration and mediation. You may not handle Japanese-law matters, appear in Japanese courts or defend in criminal cases.
  1. 2023Qualifies as a lawyer at home.
  2. 2023–20241 year of practice at home.
  3. 2024–20262 years at a Tokyo law firm on the law of their country — counted in full.
  4. 20263 years in total — can apply for the Minister of Justice’s approval.

Japanese attorney (弁護士, bengoshi)

The bar exam (司法試験) is open to graduates of a Japanese law school (法科大学院) or people who passed the preliminary exam (予備試験) — within 5 years — and to law-school students who will graduate within a year (with the school’s confirmation). Then comes legal training (司法修習), and only after it can you become an attorney. All of it is in Japanese.

Accountants

Accountants and tax accountants

  • The Legal / Accounting Services status (法律・会計業務) is only for licensed professions: Japanese attorneys, certified public accountants, tax accountants, and foreign lawyers and foreign certified public accountants with Japanese approval.
  • Japanese qualifications — certified public accountant (公認会計士) and tax accountant (税理士) — are Japanese exams in Japanese.
  • An accountant on the staff of an ordinary company — bookkeeping, finance, reporting — works on the Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services status, with a related degree.

More: the Engineer/Specialist visa.

Psychologists

The certified public psychologist qualification (公認心理師, kōnin shinrishi)

  • The Japanese route: the required subjects at a Japanese university and graduate school — or a university and practice at institutions named by the ministries.
  • A foreign degree: the Ministers of Education and of Health may recognize your training as equivalent — an individual decision, not automatic admission.
  • The law protects the title: without registration you may not call yourself 公認心理師 or use the word “心理師” in a title.

For psychologists with a foreign degree, research and teaching are more open, as well as jobs that need knowledge of psychology and languages — if they match your education and fit a work status.

In practice

Routes without a Japanese license

Status Who it suits Condition
Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services (技術・人文知識・国際業務) Medics, lawyers and psychologists in companies, translation, consulting Work that uses your degree, without treating patients or practicing law; pay at least equal to a Japanese employee’s
Researcher (研究) Scientists at public bodies and private companies A contract with a Japanese organization
Professor (教授) Teaching and research at a Japanese university or college of technology An invitation from the university
Instructor (教育) Teaching at a school A contract with the school
Medical Services (医療) Doctors, dentists, nurses and others A Japanese license
Legal / Accounting Services (法律・会計業務) Attorneys, accountants, foreign lawyers A Japanese license or approval

The average base pay of foreigners on professional statuses (excluding Specified Skilled Worker) in 2025 was ¥313,200 a month without overtime and bonuses, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. High income, education and Japanese give points toward the Highly Skilled Professional status.

Deadlines

Deadlines, and what happens if you miss them

What When If you miss it
Recognition of a doctor’s degree no later than 10 years after graduation (not counting years as a doctor or teacher of medicine) no recognition
JLPT N1 for doctors and nurses the test is held in July and December no recognition without N1
The bar exam (司法試験) within 5 years after law school or the preliminary exam eligibility expires
Telling immigration about your organization within 14 days after a change or leaving a fine of up to ¥200,000
Work outside your status, or no work 3 months without a good reason grounds for revoking your status

If you have a family

Spouse, children, parents: what changes

A dependent for tax and a dependent for health insurance are two different things with different income limits. All the rules for families: Family and dependents.

  • Every status on this page — Medical Services, Legal / Accounting Services, Researcher, Professor, Instructor and Engineer/Specialist — lets you bring your spouse and children as Dependents (家族滞在, kazoku taizai).
  • A dependent may work up to 28 hours a week with part-time work permission; to work in their own profession they need a work status of their own.
  • If your spouse is also a doctor or a lawyer, the same path of recognition and the Japanese exam applies to them.
  • Insurance and taxes for your family: family and dependents.

Linked to your visa

What matters for your status

Linked to your visa.

  • Medical Services (医療) — for people with a medical qualification under Japanese law (doctors, dentists, nurses and others); for 5 years, 3 years, 1 year or 3 months.
  • Legal / Accounting Services — for foreign lawyers and accountants with Japanese approval and other licensed professions; the same periods.
  • The work must match the status. You may not treat patients or handle legal cases on the Engineer/Specialist status.
  • Notifications within 14 days: about your institution for Medical Services, Legal / Accounting Services, Professor and Instructor; about your contract for Researcher and Engineer/Specialist.

Medical Services · Legal / Accounting Services · Researcher · Professor · Notifications

Free help in English. Questions about your status of residence: the Foreign Residents Support Center (FRESC) help desk, 0570-011000 (03-5363-3013 from IP phones and abroad), weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Problems at work: the Labour Standards Advice Hotline in English, 0120-531-401 (free; weekdays 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., weekends and holidays 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.). All the places to ask: your rights at work.

FAQ

Questions about licensed professions in Japan

Can’t find your question? Write to us — a real person replies.

Ask us a question

Can I work as a doctor in Japan with a foreign medical license?

Not with the foreign license alone. Only a doctor with a Japanese license may practice medicine. With a foreign degree you apply to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for recognition, which needs JLPT N1 and a Japanese clinical ability test, then pass the Japanese national medical exam in Japanese. Only after the license can you get the Medical Services status. Narrow exceptions are supervised clinical training (臨床修練) with the minister’s permission and bilateral agreements that let a few doctors from five countries take the exam in English and treat foreign patients.

There are two routes. Any foreign nurse can apply for recognition by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, which needs at least 3 years of nursing school, 15 years of education in total and JLPT N1, and then pass the Japanese national nursing exam. Citizens of Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam can also come as EPA nurse candidates, working in a hospital while preparing for the exam.

Only citizens of Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Indonesian candidates need a nursing license and 2 years of experience, Philippine candidates a license and 3 years, and Vietnamese candidates a 3- or 4-year nursing course, a license and 2 years. Placement goes through JICWELS. Candidates stay up to 3 years before passing the exam, Indonesians up to 5 years from August 2026. After passing, EPA nurses keep working on Designated Activities with no limit on renewals and may bring their family; they can also change to Medical Services.

Only on the law of their own country, as a registered foreign lawyer. You need at least 3 years of practice, of which up to 2 years in Japan count, approval by the Minister of Justice and registration with the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. You may not handle Japanese-law matters or appear in Japanese courts. A Japanese attorney must pass the Japanese bar exam.

An accountant on the staff of an ordinary company works on the Engineer/Specialist status with a related degree. The Legal / Accounting Services status is only for licensed professionals: Japanese certified public accountants and tax accountants, and foreign certified public accountants with Japanese approval.

Many people work in related jobs on the Engineer/Specialist status, for example in medical companies, translation or consulting, without treating patients or practicing law. Others work in research on the Researcher status or teach at a university on the Professor status. Nurses can also work in care as Specified Skilled Workers.

Yes. On Medical Services, Legal / Accounting Services, Researcher, Professor, Instructor and Engineer/Specialist your spouse and children can get the Dependent status and may work up to 28 hours a week with permission.

Sources

Where this information comes from

Rates, limits and deadlines on this page were checked against the official websites of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Ministry of Justice, the Immigration Services Agency and JICWELS, and the texts of the laws on October 7, 2026. Amounts are in Japanese yen. When a rule changes we update the page and the date above.

This page is general information, not legal advice. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Justice decide who may sit their exams; immigration decides your status.

Want to work in Japan in your profession? N1 is the first step.

For doctors, nurses and lawyers the first step is almost always Japanese at N1 level. A language school in Japan gives you a visa and time to prepare. Our help choosing a school and preparing the visa documents is free — the school pays us, not you.

Apply free
Students in yukata at a Japanese language school

Free for students