Professions · 職業 · shokugyō
Jobs for foreigners in Japan by profession
Which visa does a cook, a programmer, a nurse or a driver need? How much Japanese and which education are required, and what does the job pay on average according to official statistics? We put 12 common jobs into one table — and made detailed pages for the most common ones.
Checked against the websites of the Immigration Services Agency and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on October 7, 2026 · Salaries in Japan · Finding a job
In short
Jobs for foreigners in five lines
The table
12 jobs: visa, Japanese, education, pay
Visa requirements follow the rules of the Immigration Services Agency. What employers expect in Japanese is marked “usually”: the law does not set it. Pay is the average scheduled monthly pay before deductions in the MHLW statistics for 2025.
| Job | Status of residence | Japanese | Education and qualifications | Average monthly pay, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IT engineer, developer | Engineer/Specialist; with enough points — Highly Skilled Professional (高度専門職) | Not needed for the visa. English is often enough in international teams; Japanese companies usually expect N2 | A university or Japanese vocational college in a related field, 10 years of experience, or a Japanese IT exam (FE, AP and others) | Software developers: ¥356,800; system consultants and designers: ¥506,800 |
| Office, sales, trading companies | Engineer/Specialist | Usually N2 or higher | A degree or Japanese vocational college that fits the job, or 10 years of experience; for foreign trade and advertising without a related degree — 3 years of experience | General office clerks: ¥331,900; sales representatives (other): ¥399,000 |
| English teacher | Engineer/Specialist (private language school) or Instructor (教育) at a school | Not required for the work | A degree in any subject; an assistant language teacher at a school also needs 12 years of education in English | No separate line in the statistics. The JET Programme pays about ¥4,020,000 in the first year |
| Interpreter, translator (通訳・翻訳, tsūyaku, hon’yaku) | Engineer/Specialist — international services | A working level. At category 3–4 employers — proof of B2 in your working languages (for Japanese: N2, BJT 400+ or a Japanese degree) | A degree in any subject or 3 years of experience | No separate line in the statistics |
| Cook of foreign cuisine | Skilled Labor (技能) | Not needed for the visa | No degree needed: 10 years of experience in that cuisine (training in it counts) | All cooks: ¥262,000 |
| Care worker (介護, kaigo) | Nursing Care (介護) or Specified Skilled Worker | Specified Skilled Worker: A2 (JFT-Basic or N4) and the Care Japanese test (介護日本語評価試験) | Nursing Care status — the Japanese qualification of certified care worker (介護福祉士, kaigo fukushishi); Specified Skilled Worker — a skills test | Care workers: ¥262,900 |
| Restaurants, hotels, shops | Specified Skilled Worker: food service (new applications currently suspended since April 13, 2026), accommodation. Retail is not one of the fields | A2 (JFT-Basic or N4) | A skills test | Waiters: ¥255,100; shop assistants: ¥265,200 |
| Construction, manufacturing | Specified Skilled Worker: construction, industrial manufacturing, food and beverage manufacturing | A2 (JFT-Basic or N4) | A skills test | Construction (frame work): ¥302,700; food manufacturing: ¥248,900 |
| Driver | Specified Skilled Worker: automobile transportation | Trucks — A2; buses and taxis — B1 | A test and a Japanese driver’s license: class 1 (第一種) for trucks, class 2 (第二種) for buses and taxis | Large trucks: ¥306,300; other trucks: ¥287,300; taxis: ¥306,400 |
| Doctor, nurse | Medical Services (医療) | Doctors — N1 and a check of Japanese with patients; nurses — N1 to sit the exam (except EPA candidates) | A Japanese license: recognition of your degree by the MHLW and the national exam | Doctors: ¥1,027,700; nurses: ¥333,200 |
| Lawyer, accountant, tax accountant | Legal / Accounting Services (法律・会計業務) — with a Japanese license, or as a registered foreign lawyer / foreign CPA approved in Japan; an accountant in a company — Engineer/Specialist | License exams are in Japanese | A Japanese license as an attorney, certified public accountant, tax accountant and others; a foreign lawyer — approval and registration as a gaikokuhō jimu bengoshi (3 years of practice) | Legal professionals: ¥614,500; certified public accountants and tax accountants: ¥533,700 |
| Researcher, university teacher | Researcher (研究) or Professor (教授) | Depends on the workplace | Researcher: a degree and a master’s or 3 years of research, or 10 years of research. Professor has no separate entry conditions — the university sets the requirements | Researchers: ¥491,500; university professors: ¥664,900 |
Which status fits your work: work visas — Engineer/Specialist, Specified Skilled Worker, Skilled Labor, Nursing Care, Instructor, Medical Services, Legal / Accounting Services, Researcher, Professor, Highly Skilled Professional.
Pay
How to read the figures in the table
The MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure (賃金構造基本統計調査, chingin kōzō kihon tōkei chōsa) is the official annual survey of wages, including by occupation. We use its 2025 table by occupation.
Average monthly pay of foreign workers by type of status
| Status | A month, 2025 |
|---|---|
| All foreign workers | ¥254,300 |
| Professional and technical statuses (Engineer/Specialist and others), excluding Specified Skilled Worker | ¥313,200 |
| Specified Skilled Worker (特定技能) | ¥221,400 |
| Technical Intern Training (技能実習) | ¥190,300 |
The starting salary of a Japanese university graduate is ¥262,300, of a vocational college (専門学校, senmon gakkō) graduate ¥230,700. More about pay and deductions: salaries in Japan.
In detail
Pages on the most common jobs
Visas, exams, language, contract and pay — job by job.
Three paths
How a foreigner gets into a profession in Japan
The path depends not on what you want but on what you have: a degree, experience, or time to study.
- You have a university degreeLook for a job that fits your degree: the Engineer/Specialist status. Your pay must be no lower than a Japanese employee’s in the same job. High income, experience and Japanese give points for the Highly Skilled Professional status — a fast track to permanent residency.
- No degree, but a tradeSpecified Skilled Worker: a skills test and Japanese at A2. The tests are held in Japan and in other countries; dates are on the program’s website. A cook of foreign cuisine — the Skilled Labor status with 10 years of experience.
- NeitherStudy in Japan: a Japanese language school, then a Japanese vocational college in your field. A vocational college diploma that fits the job opens the Engineer/Specialist status, and while you study you improve your Japanese and can look for work locally. See the long-term program.
How to look for a job: finding a job — from abroad, job sites and agencies, Japanese for work. For students: shūkatsu, the job hunt alongside Japanese graduates.
Deadlines
Deadlines, and what happens if you miss them
| What | When | If you miss it |
|---|---|---|
| Notify immigration of a new contract or of leaving a job | within 14 days | a fine of up to ¥200,000 |
| Not doing the work of your status, or without work | more than 3 months without a valid reason | a ground for revoking your status |
| The JLPT in Japan | July and December | the next attempt is half a year later |
| Specified Skilled Worker applications in food service | new applications currently suspended (since April 13, 2026) | look for work in another field or wait until applications reopen |
Linked to your visa
Profession, status and family
Linked to your visa.
- Your work must fit your status. Moving to work in another field is possible only with a change of status. If unsure, ask immigration for a Certificate of Authorized Employment (就労資格証明書, shūrō shikaku shōmeisho).
- Pay no lower than a Japanese employee’s in the same job is a condition of Engineer/Specialist, Instructor, Researcher and Specified Skilled Worker.
- Family. On most work statuses your spouse and children get the Dependent status (家族滞在) and may work part-time up to 28 hours a week with permission. On Specified Skilled Worker (i) and Technical Intern Training you cannot bring your family; on Specified Skilled Worker (ii) you can.
- No restrictions on the kind of work for permanent residents, spouses of Japanese nationals and of permanent residents, and Long-Term Residents (定住者).
What next
Your next step
FAQ
Questions about jobs in Japan
Can’t find your question? Write to us — a real person replies.
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 Immigration Services Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the JET Programme on October 7, 2026. Amounts are in Japanese yen. When a rule changes we update the page and the date above.
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare — Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, table 1 by occupation (e-Stat, Japanese)
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare — wage census 2025: wages of foreign workers by status (Japanese, PDF)
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare — wage census 2025: starting salaries of new graduates (Japanese, PDF)
- Immigration Services Agency — Specified Skilled Worker: the 19 fields, tests and Japanese levels (Japanese, PDF)
- Immigration Services Agency — Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services (Japanese)
- Immigration Services Agency — Legal / Accounting Services (法律・会計業務): registered foreign lawyers and foreign CPAs (Japanese)
- Japanese Law Translation — outline of the act on legal services by foreign lawyers
- Immigration Services Agency — Notification of the Contracting Organization, within 14 days (Japanese)
- Embassy of Japan in India — 2026 JET Programme Application Guidelines (CIR) (PDF)
- Specified Skilled Worker portal — fields of the Specified Skilled Worker status
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare — nurse and care worker candidates from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam (EPA)
This page is general information. Immigration decides on your status of residence, and the employer decides whether to hire you. Average pay is official statistics, not a promise of a specific salary.
