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Professions · 特定技能 · tokutei ginō

Restaurants, hotels and retail: Specified Skilled Worker jobs in Japan

Restaurants, hotels and shops are the first jobs people think of in Japan without a university degree. But the rules differ: new Specified Skilled Worker (特定技能, tokutei ginō) applications in food service are suspended, hotels are open, and retail is not a Specified Skilled Worker field at all. Which routes work in fall 2026.

Fields and tests

All professions

Checked against the websites of the Immigration Services Agency, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Specified Skilled Worker portal on October 7, 2026 · Specified Skilled Worker · Part-time work for students

Specified Skilled Worker fields — retail is not one of them19

New food service SSW (i) applications suspended sinceApril 13, 2026

A week of part-time work for students, with permission28 h

Average base pay of Specified Skilled Workers, 2025¥221,400

In short

What works and what does not

  • Food service (外食業, gaishokugyō): new Specified Skilled Worker (i) applications are currently suspended (since April 13, 2026), and the food service test (i) is suspended.
  • Hotels and inns (宿泊, shukuhaku): open. The test (i) is held in Japan and 8 other Asian countries.
  • Shops: retail is not among the 19 Specified Skilled Worker fields. People work as shop staff part-time, or on statuses with no work limits (Permanent Resident, Spouse of a Japanese National and others).
  • Cooks of foreign cuisine have their own status, Skilled Labor (技能): it needs 10 years of experience.
  • A hotel front desk with a degree is possible on the Engineer/Specialist status, if the job needs knowledge — not just cleaning rooms and serving food.

Fields and tests

Specified Skilled Worker in services

Specified Skilled Worker (i) needs a skills test in the field and Japanese — JFT-Basic at A2 level or JLPT N4. Interns who complete technical intern training stage 2 with good results are exempt from the tests in a related field; for a different field they need that field’s skills test. Specified Skilled Worker (i) lasts 5 years in total (6 if you fail the (ii) test but score at least 80% of the pass mark).

Field Work Test (i) now Specified Skilled Worker (ii)
Food service (外食業) Cooking, serving customers, running a restaurant The test is suspended; new applications currently suspended (since April 13, 2026) Yes; the (ii) test is held in Japan and also needs JLPT N3
Accommodation (宿泊) Front desk, planning and promotion, guest service, the hotel restaurant Japan, the Philippines, Myanmar, Nepal, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Thailand, Sri Lanka Yes
Food and beverage manufacturing (飲食料品製造業) Making and processing food and drinks (not alcohol), hygiene Japan, the Philippines, Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam Yes
Retail There is no such field — —

Countries are from the September–October 2026 schedule on the Specified Skilled Worker portal; it is updated every month, and you book through Prometric. The caps to the end of March 2029 (revised by the government in January 2026): accommodation 14,800 people, food and beverage manufacturing 133,500. Specified Skilled Worker is direct employment only: in these fields you may not be placed through a dispatch agency (派遣), and your hours are those of full-time staff.

Food service

Why restaurants are closed to new Specified Skilled Workers

In March 2026 the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Immigration Services Agency (ISA) announced that the food service cap of 50,000 would be exceeded around May, so acceptance was suspended.

  • New applications currently suspended (since April 13, 2026): Certificates of Eligibility (CoE), and Designated Activities (特定活動) to prepare for the status. A change of status to Specified Skilled Worker (i) is refused in principle, with narrow exceptions such as some technical intern training graduates.
  • Still processed as usual: extensions for people who already hold the status, job changes within food service, and Specified Skilled Worker (ii) — the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries lists the (ii) test as continuing, and the cap applies only to (i).
  • The food service test (i) is suspended in Japan and abroad for the time being; no date for resuming has been announced. On October 7, 2026 the Specified Skilled Worker portal still said “we are not accepting new applications at this time”.

Be careful. If someone offers you a “restaurant visa” as a Specified Skilled Worker for a fee paid up front, ask when the application will be filed: new applications are not being approved. You can work in Japanese restaurants part-time as a student or a dependent — see below.

Hotels

Two routes into hotels: Specified Skilled Worker or Engineer/Specialist

Specified Skilled Worker works without a degree: the accommodation skills test (宿泊分野特定技能1号評価試験) plus Japanese. The work: front desk, guest service, the hotel restaurant.

Engineer/Specialist (技術・人文知識・国際業務) is for graduates of universities and Japanese vocational schools (専門学校, senmon gakkō). ISA has published examples for hotels and ryokan:

Approved Refused
Tourism graduate: front desk in a foreign language and help for foreign guests, about ¥220,000 a month Economics graduate whose main work is carrying luggage and cleaning rooms
Economics graduate: marketing and a website for foreign tourists, about ¥250,000 Commerce graduate: parking guests’ cars, serving and clearing dishes
Management trainee: 2 months of theory and 4 months of practice at the front desk and in the restaurant, then front desk and designing accommodation plans, about ¥300,000 “Training” that is only serving food and cleaning rooms for the first 2 years
Graduate of a Japanese vocational school in hotel services: front desk and designing accommodation plans About ¥150,000 a month when Japanese staff in the same job get about ¥200,000
Graduate of a Japanese vocational school in translation: front desk in a foreign language, translating the website and signs Graduate of a vocational school in fashion design — at the front desk

From April 15, 2026: if the work is mainly language-based (a front desk serving foreign guests, translation) and the employer is in category 3 or 4, you must prove CEFR B2 — for Japanese, JLPT N2 or higher. If you speak with guests in your own language but most guests speak another one, the status may be refused. More: Engineer/Specialist visa.

Cooks

Skilled Labor for cooks of foreign cuisine

  • At least 10 years of experience in that cuisine; study in the field at a cooking school abroad counts.
  • Thai cuisine: under the agreement with Thailand — 5 years of experience and a certificate.
  • The employer is a restaurant in Japan that signs a contract with you; the status is for 5 years, 3 years, 1 year or 3 months, and your family can live with you.
  • Japanese cuisine does not fit this status: it is for cuisines created abroad — Indian, Nepali, Vietnamese, French and so on.

You prove your experience with documents, so keep certificates from every restaurant you worked at. More: the Skilled Labor status.

Part-time work

Cafés, shops, hotels — on a student visa

Most foreigners in Japanese services work exactly this way — part-time (アルバイト, arubaito).

  • Students — up to 28 hours a week with part-time work permission (資格外活動許可, shikakugai katsudō kyoka), and up to 8 hours a day during the school’s long vacations. The permission is valid only while you are studying.
  • Dependents (家族滞在) — also up to 28 hours a week with permission. From October 1, 2026 they can get a separate permission for work in pachinko and mahjong parlors and game arcades.
  • Not allowed for students (dependents: see the exception above): businesses regulated as adult entertainment (風俗営業, fūzoku eigyō) — hostess bars, pachinko parlors and the like.
  • No limits for Permanent Residents, spouses of Japanese nationals or permanent residents, and Long-Term Residents.
  1. RateThe minimum wage in Tokyo from October 1, 2026 is ¥1,280 an hour.
  2. Week28 hours × ¥1,280 = ¥35,840 — the most a student can earn in a school week at that rate.
  3. MonthIn 4 weeks, ¥143,360 before tax. That is usually not enough to live on in Tokyo, so you need savings.

All the rules: part-time work for students and part-time work permission.

Pay

What the official statistics say

Who A month, 2025 What it is
Specified Skilled Workers (all fields) ¥221,400 Base pay for June, without overtime and bonuses
All foreign workers ¥254,300 The same method
Part-time work in Tokyo from ¥1,280 an hour Minimum wage from October 1, 2026

The data come from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s Basic Survey on Wage Structure (賃金構造基本統計調査) for 2025, companies with 10 or more employees; these are averages before tax. A Specified Skilled Worker must be paid at least what a Japanese employee gets for the same work. What is left after deductions: take-home pay calculator.

Deadlines

Deadlines, and what happens if you miss them

What When If you miss it
New Specified Skilled Worker (i) applications in food service currently suspended (since April 13, 2026) wait until acceptance resumes
Changing employers as a Specified Skilled Worker a new permission before you start with the new one working without it is a violation
Specified Skilled Worker (i) 5 years in total (6 in some cases) then Specified Skilled Worker (ii) or another status
Telling immigration about a new or ended contract within 14 days a fine of up to ¥200,000
Part-time work as a student only while you are studying after graduation part-time work without a new status is not allowed
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.

  • Specified Skilled Worker (i): you cannot bring your family.
  • Specified Skilled Worker (ii), Skilled Labor, Engineer/Specialist: your spouse and the children you support get the Dependent status (家族滞在, kazoku taizai).
  • A student can bring a family when studying at a university or a Japanese vocational school; usually not at a Japanese language school.
  • A dependent may work up to 28 hours a week with permission — often in exactly these cafés and shops. Insurance and taxes for your family: spouse.

Linked to your visa

What matters for your status

Linked to your visa.

  • The work must match the status. Engineer/Specialist is not for cleaning and serving food; Specified Skilled Worker only covers your field.
  • Specified Skilled Worker: your employer is named in the permission, so a new job needs a new permission.
  • Specified Skilled Worker (ii) needs the (ii) test; no Japanese test is required now in accommodation and food manufacturing, while food service needs JLPT N3. From April 1, 2027, new Certificate of Eligibility applications for (ii) need Japanese at B1 level; the rules for changes of status and extensions are still being decided. The (ii) status can be renewed with no overall limit.
  • A new or ended contract — tell immigration within 14 days.

Specified Skilled Worker · Engineer/Specialist · Skilled Labor · Student visa

Free help in your language. 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., in English, Vietnamese, Nepali, Indonesian, Filipino, Thai and other languages. Problems at work — pay below the minimum wage, unpaid overtime: the Labour Standards Advice Hotline, free, in English on 0120-531-401 and in other languages on other numbers. All the places to ask: your rights at work.

FAQ

Questions about service jobs in Japan

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

Ask us a question

Can I get a Specified Skilled Worker visa for a restaurant job now?

Not a new one. New applications are currently suspended (since April 13, 2026): a Certificate of Eligibility for food service is not issued, a change of status to Specified Skilled Worker (i) in food service is refused in principle, and the food service test (i) is suspended in Japan and abroad. Extensions, job changes within food service and Specified Skilled Worker (ii) are still processed. No resumption date has been announced.

No. Retail is not among the 19 Specified Skilled Worker fields. Foreigners work in shops part-time on a student or dependent visa with permission, or on statuses with no work limits such as Permanent Resident or Spouse of a Japanese National.

In the September to October 2026 schedule the accommodation test was held in Japan, the Philippines, Myanmar, Nepal, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Thailand and Sri Lanka. You also need JFT-Basic at A2 level or JLPT N4. The schedule is updated every month on the Specified Skilled Worker portal.

Yes, on the Engineer/Specialist status, if the job needs knowledge from your studies, such as a front desk serving foreign guests, marketing or translation, and the pay is equal to a Japanese employee’s. Work that is mainly carrying luggage, cleaning rooms or serving food does not qualify. From April 15, 2026, if the employer is in category 3 or 4, language-based work needs proof of CEFR B2.

On the Skilled Labor status, with at least 10 years of experience in that cuisine, including study at a cooking school abroad. Thai cooks need 5 years and a certificate under the agreement with Thailand. Japanese cuisine does not qualify. Your family can join you as dependents.

Students may work up to 28 hours a week with permission, and up to 8 hours a day during the school’s long vacations. At the Tokyo minimum wage of ¥1,280 an hour from October 1, 2026, that is ¥35,840 a week, or about ¥143,000 in 4 weeks before tax. Bars with hostesses, pachinko parlors and similar businesses are not allowed for students.

Not on Specified Skilled Worker (i). On Specified Skilled Worker (ii), Skilled Labor or 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 Immigration Services Agency, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare 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. Immigration decides your status; the test organizers set the test rules. The food service suspension can be lifted or changed at short notice — check the official pages before you plan.

Want to work in Japanese services? Studying is the most open route now.

A student visa lets you work part-time up to 28 hours a week with permission, and from Japan it is easier to sit the Specified Skilled Worker tests. Our help choosing a school and preparing the visa documents is free — the school pays us, not you.

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