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Remote work from Japan for a foreign employer

Many people move to Japan and want to keep working for a company back home or anywhere else in the world. Japanese law looks at two things. First, does your status of residence allow that work? Second, taxes: pay for work done in Japan is taxed in Japan, even when it lands in a bank account abroad. Below: which statuses allow remote work, what happens with tax and insurance, and what you risk if you work outside your status.

Which status allows it

Income from abroad

Checked against the websites of the Immigration Services Agency, the National Tax Agency and the Japan Pension Service on October 7, 2026 · Freelancing · Final tax return

A week — the limit on student and Dependent status28 hours

To join National Health Insurance14 days

Deadline of the tax return for last yearMarch 15

Yearly income for the Digital Nomad status¥10M

In short

Remote work from Japan in six lines

  • No limits on working for a foreign company if you are a Permanent Resident, the spouse of a Japanese national or of a permanent resident, or a Long-Term Resident (定住者).
  • Students and family members on the Dependent status (家族滞在) — only with part-time work permission and up to 28 hours a week for all jobs together.
  • A work visa is issued for a contract with an organization in Japan. Remote work for a foreign company with no office in Japan does not fit it; a side job is possible only with permission from immigration.
  • The Digital Nomad status exists, but only for nationals of 51 listed countries and regions with an income of ¥10,000,000 a year or more, and only for 6 months.
  • Tax on pay for work done in Japan is paid in Japan. A foreign employer does not withhold it, so you file a final tax return (確定申告, kakutei shinkoku) yourself and pay resident tax.
  • Insurance — National Health Insurance and the National Pension at your city office, at your own cost.

A warning. We write strictly by the law. Work that your status of residence does not allow breaks the Immigration Control Act, even when a foreign company pays and the money arrives abroad. You must declare that income, and immigration looks at your tax certificates when you extend your period of stay. If you are not sure your work fits your status, ask immigration before you start.

Which status allows remote work

Working for a foreign company from Japan, status by status

Japanese law forbids earning income from activities your status does not allow, unless you have separate permission (Article 19 of the Immigration Control Act). Where the employer sits does not matter: what counts is where you work.

Status Remote work for a foreign company Conditions
Permanent Resident (永住者), spouse of a Japanese national or permanent resident, Long-Term Resident (定住者) Yes These statuses have no limits on work. You pay taxes and insurance like any resident of Japan.
Student (留学) Only as a part-time job Part-time work permission, up to 28 hours a week, up to 8 hours a day during long vacations set by the school. Study stays your main activity.
Dependent (家族滞在) Only as a part-time job Part-time work permission, up to 28 hours a week for all jobs together.
Work statuses (Engineer/Specialist and others) Not as your main job The status is issued for a contract with an organization in Japan. A side job for a foreign client only with permission (see below).
Business Manager (経営・管理) Not as your main job The status is for running your own business in Japan, not for employment. Other work only with permission.
Digital Nomad (特定活動, Designated Activities) Yes, if your country is on the list 51 countries and regions (see below).

Each status in detail: Permanent residency, Spouse of a Japanese national, Spouse of a permanent resident, Long-Term Resident, Student visa, Dependent visa.

On a work visa

Why remote work for a company abroad does not fit

By law, the Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services status (技術・人文知識・国際業務) is work “based on a contract with a public or private organization in Japan” (本邦の公私の機関との契約に基づいて). The contract can be employment or an independent contractor agreement, but it must be ongoing and with a specific organization. A foreign company with no office in Japan is not such an organization. The same goes for the other work statuses: they are issued for work in Japan.

What the law does allow

  • A Japanese employer lets you work from home. That is ordinary work in your status: a contract with a Japanese company, which pays your salary, withholds tax and enrolls you in insurance.
  • Your company has an office or subsidiary in Japan. It can hire you in Japan or transfer you on the Intra-company Transferee status (企業内転勤) — which requires a year with the company abroad before the transfer.
  • A Japanese intermediary company formally employs staff for foreign firms (an employer of record). Then the Japanese firm is your employer and visa sponsor, and the usual rules apply: work that fits the status, pay at least what a Japanese employee would get for the same job. Immigration judges such setups by the real work, so check in advance whether yours qualifies.
  • A side job for a foreign client next to your main Japanese job — only with permission to engage in an activity other than that permitted (資格外活動許可, shikakugai katsudō kyoka).

When immigration grants permission for a side job

Immigration grants it only if all of these are met:

  1. the side job does not get in the way of your main work;
  2. you really are doing the activity of your status;
  3. the side job itself fits one of the work statuses (other than Specified Skilled Worker and Technical Intern Training);
  4. it does not break the law and is not connected with night entertainment or the adult entertainment industry;
  5. you are not under deportation proceedings and there are no problems with your conduct;
  6. your Japanese employer agrees to the side job.

Apply at the regional immigration bureau for your address. There is no fee; it takes 2 weeks to 2 months. Start the side job only after you have the permission.

Student and Dependent status

28 hours a week — for everything together

On a student visa and on the Dependent status (家族滞在, kazoku taizai) you may work only with general part-time work permission. Remote work for a foreign company is a part-time job too: it counts toward the same limit.

  • The limit is 28 hours a week, counted from any day of the week. Students may work up to 8 hours a day during long vacations set by their school.
  • All jobs together. If you work 15 hours a week in a café, 13 hours are left for remote work.
  • General permission may not be enough. It is meant for ordinary part-time employment. If you work as a sole proprietor (on contracts with clients), or your hours are hard to verify from outside — which is often the case with remote work — immigration requires individual permission (個別許可, kobetsu kyoka) for that work.
  • Language-school students are checked. Japanese language schools must now check every 3 months each student’s part-time work permission, employers, type of work and hours a day. The school must make you fix a violation at once, and reports serious cases — such as an employer forcing you over 28 hours — to immigration.
  • Living costs. On a student visa, part-time work cannot be your main source of money for study and living — immigration does not accept that.

How to prove your hours

Remote work has no time clock, so it is easy to go over the limit and hard to prove you did not. Keep documents that show how much you work:

  • a contract stating the hours a week or the volume of work;
  • a timesheet or an export from a time-tracking tool for every week;
  • messages in which the client agrees the volume and deadlines;
  • payment records — the amounts should match the hours.

How to get the permission: part-time work permission; the rules for students: part-time work on a student visa.

The Digital Nomad status

For 51 countries and regions — check if yours is on the list

Since 2024 Japan has a status for remote workers of foreign companies — a type of Designated Activities (特定活動, tokutei katsudō, No. 53). It is granted only if all of these are met:

  • you are a national of a country or region on the immigration list: visa-exempt countries that have a tax treaty with Japan. The list includes the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, most EU countries, Switzerland, Norway, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei, the UAE, Qatar, Brazil and Mexico. India, Vietnam, Nepal, the Philippines, China and Sri Lanka are not on it;
  • your personal income is ¥10,000,000 a year or more at the time you apply;
  • you have private medical insurance covering treatment of at least ¥10,000,000;
  • you work under a contract with a foreign company for its office abroad, or provide services to clients abroad.

The period of stay is 6 months and cannot be extended; you can come back on this status 6 months after leaving. You may not work under contracts with Japanese companies, and part-time work permission is in principle not granted. A spouse and children can come with you on a separate status (No. 54). More: Digital Nomad visa.

Taxes

Pay for work done in Japan is Japanese income

A resident of Japan pays tax on pay for work physically done in Japan — wherever and by whomever it is paid. The National Tax Agency says so directly (Tax Answer No. 2878).

  • For the first 5 years a foreigner is usually a non-permanent resident (非永住者, hieijūsha): foreign income is taxed only if it is paid in Japan or sent to Japan. But pay for work done in Japan is not foreign income, so it is taxed in full, even if the money stays in an account abroad. More: income from abroad.
  • A tax return without the ¥200,000 rule. A foreign employer does not withhold Japanese tax. If you have salary from which no tax was withheld, the ¥200,000 rule does not apply: you must file a final tax return (確定申告) whenever there is income tax to pay for the year — even if you also have a Japanese job — and in any case declare the income to the city for resident tax. The deadline is February 16 to March 15 of the following year. How to file: final tax return.
  • Resident tax (住民税, jūminzei, about 10%) is calculated by the city office from your return. If you registered your address in Japan after January 1, there is no resident tax bill that year; tax on that year’s income is billed from June of the next year. You pay it yourself, 4 times a year (普通徴収, ordinary collection). More: resident tax.
  • Tax in two countries. If your employer also withholds tax in its own country, the tax treaty between Japan and that country decides who may tax the salary. As a rule, the country where the work is physically done — here Japan — may tax it, and relief from double tax is given under the treaty and the other country’s rules. Some countries, such as the United States, tax their citizens wherever they live. Check the treaty for your country and ask a licensed tax accountant (税理士, zeirishi) before you set up payroll abroad.

Are you a resident? A tax resident is someone whose center of life (home, work, family) is in Japan, or who has lived here continuously for a year or more. Japanese law does not use a “183-day rule” for this: even if you spend half the year abroad, you can still be a resident of Japan.

A worked example

Permanent resident, ¥4,800,000 a year from a foreign company

You live in Tokyo (Shinjuku City), you are 35, you work remotely for a foreign company for ¥400,000 a month — ¥4,800,000 for 2026. Nobody withholds Japanese tax, and you arrange insurance yourself. Health insurance uses Shinjuku’s FY2026 rates, assuming last year’s income was the same.

Line Amount How it is calculated
Deduction for employment income (給与所得控除) ¥1,400,000 ¥4,800,000 × 20% + ¥440,000
Income after the deduction (所得) ¥3,400,000 ¥4,800,000 − ¥1,400,000
National Pension for the year ¥215,040 ¥17,920 × 12
National Health Insurance for the year ≈ ¥381,300 on income of ¥3,400,000, Shinjuku rates
Taxable income for income tax ¥1,763,000 ¥3,400,000 − basic exemption ¥1,040,000 − premiums ¥596,339
Income tax ¥90,000 ¥1,763,000 × 5% × 1.021
Resident tax ≈ ¥239,700 10% of income after deductions + ¥5,000; first bill in June 2027
Total taxes and premiums for the year ≈ ¥926,000 about 19% of the salary

The return for 2026 is filed from February 16 to March 15, 2027, and the income tax is paid by then. Pension and health insurance premiums reduce both taxes — keep the receipts. Any tax withheld in the employer’s country is not included in this calculation. To compare with a normal Japanese job, use the take-home pay calculator.

Health insurance and pension

With an employer abroad, you do it all yourself

Japanese company insurance (社会保険, shakai hoken) is arranged by an employer in Japan. A foreign company with no office here has no such duty, so you join the national systems at your city office.

  • National Health Insurance (国民健康保険, kokumin kenkō hoken) — for everyone living in Japan for more than 3 months who is not insured through work. Join within 14 days; if you are late, premiums are charged retroactively and treatment before you join is paid in full by you. The premium depends on last year’s income. More: health insurance.
  • National Pension (国民年金, kokumin nenkin) — for all residents aged 20–59 who are not in a company pension: ¥17,920 a month in FY2026, ¥18,290 in FY2027. More: pension.
  • Contributions in two countries. Japanese contributions are compulsory even if your employer pays social security at home. If your country has a social security agreement with Japan, it may let an employee sent to Japan temporarily by an employer abroad stay in the home system (with a certificate of coverage), and it may add up your periods in both countries for a pension. Someone who moved to Japan on their own usually joins the Japanese system. Details: Social security agreements.
  • Employment Insurance and Workers’ Accident Compensation Insurance are arranged by an employer in Japan. A remote worker of a foreign company with no office in Japan usually has neither.
  • From June 2027 (planned) immigration is to receive data on National Health Insurance arrears; unpaid premiums can be a reason to refuse an extension of your period of stay.

Deadlines

What to do, and when

What When If you miss it
Part-time work permission (students, family, work visa) before you start work outside your status breaks the law; a risk for your visa
National Health Insurance 14 days after registering your address or leaving company insurance premiums charged retroactively; treatment before you join at your own cost
National Pension when you register your address; premiums by the end of the next month gaps reduce your pension and show when you apply for permanent residency
Tax return for last year February 16 – March 15 a penalty for not filing from 5%, plus late-payment tax
Resident tax 4 payments: June 30, August 31, October 31, January 31 late-payment charges; debts get in the way of an extension of your period of stay

What happens to your visa

The main risk: work outside your status

Immigration may not know about your remote work at first. But when you extend your period of stay or apply for permanent residency it looks at your resident tax certificates — and they show your whole income for the year.

Linked to your visa.

  • Work outside your status without permission is forbidden (Article 19 of the Immigration Control Act). If you do not do the activity of your status for 3 months or more, or do something else instead of it, your status can be revoked (Article 22-4).
  • Hiding the income is no way out. Not filing a return is a tax violation, and late taxes and premiums count against you when you apply for permanent residency, even if everything is paid later.
  • Students: more than 28 hours a week breaks the conditions of your permission. A Japanese language school checks your hours every 3 months and reports serious violations to immigration.
  • The safe route is a status that clearly allows your work: a job with a Japanese company, a change of status, the Digital Nomad status if your country qualifies, or a status with no limits on work.

Part-time work permission · Extending your period of stay · Taxes and your visa

Ask before you start — for free. The Foreign Residents Support Center (FRESC) help desk answers questions about what your status allows: 0570-011000 (03-5363-3013 from IP phones and abroad), weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., in English and many other languages.

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.

  • A spouse on the Dependent status (家族滞在) may work remotely only with part-time work permission and up to 28 hours a week. Extending the Dependent status needs income and tax certificates of the person who supports the family — so that person’s tax return must be in order.
  • Health insurance. National Health Insurance has no dependents: each family member is insured separately, and the head of the household pays. A spouse aged 20–59 pays their own National Pension — ¥17,920 a month.
  • Deductions for your family (spouse and children) can be claimed in your own tax return — even with a foreign employer. For relatives living abroad you need documents proving the relationship and the money transfers — relatives abroad.

FAQ

Questions about remote work

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Ask us a question

Can I live in Japan and work remotely for a company abroad?

Yes if you are a Permanent Resident, the spouse of a Japanese national or permanent resident, or a Long-Term Resident: these statuses have no limits on work. On a student or Dependent status it counts as a part-time job within 28 hours a week and needs permission. On a work visa it cannot be your main job, because the status is issued for work for an organization in Japan.

Nationals of 51 visa-exempt countries and regions that have a tax treaty with Japan, such as the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, most EU countries, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, with an income of at least ¥10 million a year and medical insurance of at least ¥10 million. India, Vietnam, Nepal, the Philippines and China are not on the list. The stay is 6 months and cannot be extended.

Yes. If you are a resident of Japan, pay for work you physically do in Japan is Japanese income wherever it is paid. A foreign employer does not withhold Japanese tax, so you file a final tax return between February 16 and March 15 and then pay resident tax to your city.

Usually yes. The tax treaty between Japan and that country decides who may tax the salary, and as a rule the country where the work is done may tax it. Relief from double tax then comes under the treaty and the other country’s rules. Check the treaty for your country and talk to a licensed tax accountant.

Only with part-time work permission and within 28 hours a week for all jobs together, or 8 hours a day during your school’s long vacations. If you work as a freelancer on contracts or your hours are hard to verify, immigration requires individual permission. Keep timesheets and contracts that show your hours.

Yes. Everyone living in Japan for more than 3 months who is not insured through a Japanese employer must join National Health Insurance within 14 days, and residents aged 20 to 59 must join the National Pension. A social security agreement may exempt only employees sent to Japan temporarily by an employer abroad, with a certificate of coverage.

Only with permission to engage in an activity other than that permitted. Immigration grants it if the side job does not get in the way of your main job, fits a work status itself and your Japanese employer agrees. There is no fee and it takes 2 weeks to 2 months; start only after you have it.

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 National Tax Agency, the Japan Pension Service and city offices on October 7, 2026. Amounts are in Japanese yen. When a rule changes we update the page and the date above.

Results and examples are estimates, not your employer’s payroll. The amounts on your payslip and in your resident tax notice are the ones that count. For a complex case, talk to a licensed tax accountant (税理士) or a Labor and Social Security Attorney (社会保険労務士, sharōshi).

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