Hello, I'm a med grad from the Philippines, (haven't taken licensure exam yet) and now thinking of working in japan. I heard in order to take the licensure exam in japan, i have to retake my med education in japan, so I'm just looking into health-care related Jobs. I think my japanese is in between N3-N2. Do you guys have any suggestion for jobs?

Hey all! I noticed most jobs in Japan for foreigners seem to be English teaching, IT related, or service industry. However, I have a more unique skill set I want to use in Japan.

In Summary:
- English / French (fluent), Spanish (semi fluent), Japanese (currently between N3 and N2)
- Worked for a MAANG company for 8 years in people management, training, project management, content creation
- Masters Degree in Instructional Design
- Dual citizen America - France for easy travel in global companies

Extra Notes:
- I’ve been in Japan studying Japanese for 15 months, and started with knowing basically nothing, so I know I can identify and correct language gaps quickly
- My goal (negotiable) is to work in a global sector / company in some sort of training or training content creation role.
- Flexible on location and salary, though I prefer hybrid work (negotiable).

Any thoughts on how to find work in my field? What are my odds of finding something like this in Japan?

(27M) Hello everyone! I'm from America and have a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering with several years of professional experience. I currently work for a U.S. state government agency, and before that I worked at a civil/structural engineering firm. I've also been studying Japanese off and on for a few years. While I'm continuing to study, I'm still below N2, and from what I've researched my current Japanese level wouldn't qualify me for most traditional engineering positions in Japan.

I've realized my current position in America isn't the right long-term fit for me, and I've also wanted to experience living abroad while I'm at a stage in life where it's realistic to do so and I can afford it financially. I've visited Japan before which reinforced my interest in living and working there, and I'm aware visiting a country and living there are different experiences.

Because of that, earlier this year I started taking steps toward moving to Japan. I currently have an offer with an eikaiwa (AEON) in Nagoya, and my original plan was to use English teaching as a way to enter Japan while continuing to improve my Japanese before hopefully transitioning back into an engineering or other technical role there.

Lately I've started questioning if this is the right entry path for me. I've read many negative experiences from English teachers in Japan, and because I've already started my engineering career I'm concerned that stepping away from it now could make it more difficult to continue progressing toward a technical career in Japan.

I'm not limiting myself to traditional civil engineering. My goal is to build a technical career in Japan, whether that's in civil engineering or another role where my engineering background would still be valuable.

I'm trying to figure out whether given my degree and experience, if teaching English is the right way for me to enter Japan, or if I'd be better off pursuing a different path from the start that better leverages my background.

Since I'm still early enough in the process to change course, I wanted to get advice before committing to this path. I'd really appreciate any advice or different perspectives. Thank you!

Hi, I’m 28 F. Been working in the BPO for 9 years. I tried to apply to some POEA agency but havent heard from them.

I have a NCII in dressmaking and i am willing to learn to any industry. I just want to work in Japan and experience working in other country. Do i have a chance?

🥺

My company is looking for a Data Centre Engineer to join for a role here in Tokyo.

This is a hands on infrastructure role focused on server room operations, hardware installations, cabling, migrations, troubleshooting, and vendor coordination.

The working environment is international and Japanese language ability is not required.

Anyone qualified and interested?

I’m currently going through the onboarding process with Remote (Employer of Record) in Japan and was wondering if anyone here has had experience working through Remote or another EOR provider in Japan.

I already live in Japan and am currently waiting for my employment contract and the next steps for my visa process.

I’d appreciate hearing about your experience, especially:

• How long did the onboarding process take?
• Who handled your visa application (you, Remote, or an immigration lawyer)?
• How was your overall experience working through an EOR in Japan?

Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice from people who have experience working in Japan.

I'm a software engineer from India with about a year of professional experience, and I've received two job offers.

Offer A

• ¥290,000 gross/month (~¥240,000 take-home)
• ¥25,000/month housing allowance
• Flight ticket covered
• Relocation support
• Joining around December (COE takes about 4 months)
• Engineer position through a large global IT staffing company

Offer B

• ¥225,000 gross/month (~¥190,000 take-home)
• No housing allowance
• No flight ticket
• No relocation support
• COE expected in 2–3 months
• Direct software engineer position

Financially, Offer A seems like the obvious choice. The difference in compensation and relocation support is quite significant.

However, the situation is more complicated.

My current employer has a close business relationship with the company that made Offer B. I joined my current company as an unpaid trainee for six months before becoming a full-time engineer. My boss invested a lot of time teaching me, helping me improve both technically and in Japanese. I genuinely wouldn't have reached this point without that experience.

Because of that relationship, I feel guilty about declining Offer B. I'm worried it might put my boss in an awkward position or damage the relationship we've built.

I'm trying to think long-term rather than emotionally.

Hi everyone,

I am currently completing a PhD in Japan focused on carbon-based electrocatalysts and electrochemistry. I expect to graduate in April 2027. I'm planning to take N3 this December

Before starting my PhD, I worked in a sustainability-related role involving corporate GHG inventories, product carbon footprint calculations and industrial energy analysis, although my recent work has been mainly academic research.

I am now considering moving into ESG, carbon accounting, decarbonization consulting or corporate sustainability after graduation.

Has anyone made a similar transition from engineering or scientific research into ESG, sustainability or carbon accounting, especially in Japan? Would love to hear some advice on how to do that here. Any particular skills, related to ESG that I should equip myself with?

I have found a few startups in Tokyo working in carbon credits, ESG and decarbonization, but I would also appreciate recommendations for other startups or companies in Japan that may be suitable for someone with my background.

I am a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology undergrad and thinking about doing my pastgrad in top 20 national university and then my starting job in there. Later might move to other countries depending on circumstances and opportunities.

So need a bit of idea on the career of life science students in japan... That'll help me deciding my abroad study course. Thanks in advance..,,

Hello all. I am posting here hoping everyone can give me advice if it's still possible to explore a career in Japan since there are limited growth opportunities in my current job.

Age and location: 38, single, SE Asia Education: MEXT graduate for MS degree and some PhD units in 2018

Work Experience: 7 years scientific research with skills/tools on data analysis, technical writing, MS Excel and specialized softwares

Target career/industry: Data-related due to my research experience and online courses on analytics (SQL, Python, Tableau, basic ML/AI)

Japanese level: N3 and currently studying N2 level. Can read N2-level documents but a little slow, and speak fluently (without complex vocabulary)

The issues that I see are my age and location since I'm from overseas. Although I am still working on my business-level Japanese, I believe I am on my way there since I had passed a job interview Japanese company here in my country.

Thank you very much and I appreciate your advice.

i'm a foreigner in japan on a 5 year engineer visa. i'm currently working full-time at my company (~10m yen), and i just got another full-time offer as an ai consultant (~11m yen) starting in a few months.

both are the same type of work so the visa side is fine. the problem is japan's social insurance system. since both would be full-time, both companies have to enroll me in health insurance and pension, and the pension office sends a notice to both hr departments showing the split. so each company finds out the other one exists. my number links everything so there's no hiding it.

i can set it up so i pay the resident tax for J2 myself, which hides the income amount, but not the existence of the job.

my options seem to be:

a) turn J2 into a contractor gig instead of employee. no dual enrollment, no notices, but i lose employee benefits

b) just ask one of them for written side job permission and hope for the best

c) stay quiet and pray

has anyone actually done two full-time jobs in japan? how did the pension notice situation go for you? and if you went the contractor route, how did you bring it up with the company without sounding shady?

anyone in japan out there, would love to hear how you handled it. thanks

Hi, here the context :

I wish to leave the company by end of September.

In my contract, my company asks me to tell them 3 months before I wish to quit. I told them in the middle of July, so end of September is a bit less than 3 months.

Also, I'm getting my new paid holidays on September 12th. I'm getting 12 days.

My company wanted me to work until September 30th and then take all my paid holidays to officially quit on October 19th, but from my research on the net, it seems that it is waaay better to quit at the end of the month than in the middle.

So I told them that I wish to end the contract on September 30th, and take all my remaining days, from 14th to 30th of September (that's 10 days, I lose 2 but whatever)

But, my manager told me that I cannot take my paid holidays as I want (or more precisely, she said "有給は自分勝手に取るものではないは理解していますか？"

I know that if my paid holidays disrupt the business they can ask me to move them, and it sure will disrupt it, but I get my paid holidays on the 12th, so there is no way I can take them at another timing.

Can they prevent me taking it?

Except bad relations with them, do I risk anything?

Would you recommend me to take a lawyer or contact any agency?

Any help would be great because it starts to stress me out, and I feel my company try to take advantage of me being a foreigner (and possibly not knowing the law)

Work in Tokyo but make a global impact. Our organization is looking for an Associate, AML Compliance (Burmese Bilingual) who can support our customers in the region. Feel free to message if you are interested.

[Hiring] Long term intern(s) (3-6 months) with an Engineering background

Hello everyone!

I am part of the HR Department at a German Third-Party Certification company.

We are currently looking for interns for our laboratory in Yokohama and Osaka.
We are open to students from Electrical/Electronics/Mechanical Engineering background.

Please note that the internship opportunities are ONLY available for full-time students.

Most Japanese Universities in Japan only have semester breaks 2 months at a time, so this opportunity is for overseas students ONLY. (If you're a domestic student, we can talk about summer internships!)

Our internships provide adequate compensation and require no Japanese.
There's also a chance to become permanent after the internship.

The internships available currently:
Yokohama : Wireless/IoT Laboratory
Osaka : Safety Laboratory

If you're interested, please shoot your questions in the comments or DM me!

I am planning to settle in Japan after completing my b tech in Mechanical recently, so II just wanted to know are there any jobs available for mechanical

The boss told me am not supposed to take all my paid holidays at the same time. I’ve taken all my holidays at one go for the past 3 years at this company and this is the first time this boss is telling me about how and when am to take my holidays. The boss even had the audacity to ask me why am taking so many days off? Is it even legal to ask me why am taking my paid holidays or when am to take them?

Hi guys what is the maximum annual salary i can ask for a backend engineer position in PayPay japan tokyo. I have 5 years of experience and i am from India.

Also what will be realistic salary structure for an software engineer in PayPay the ctc offered will be base pay or will it include variable if yes normally what percentage of variable is actually paid

Does Paypay provide stock/ESOP at this level

Is there any other benifits they provide like transposition reimbursement or accommodation support etc

Hello everyone,

My name is Raza. I am originally from Pakistan, and I currently live in Japan.

I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology in Pakistan. I came to Japan in 2025 as a Japanese language student. Today, I work at a car trading company and hold a valid 3-year work visa.

Before moving to Japan, I believed it would be relatively easy to continue my career in the IT industry. However, after arriving here, I realized that the reality is quite different. Despite improving my skills and visiting many companies in person, I have not yet been able to find an opportunity in the IT sector.

The purpose of this post is to ask for advice and connect with people who have had a similar experience.

• How can I successfully switch to an IT career in Japan?
• What is the best way to find IT job opportunities?
• How can I build a professional network and make friends in Japan?

I believe that skills are important, but having a strong network is equally valuable. Many opportunities come through the people you know, and I want to learn from others who have successfully built their careers here.

If you have any advice, suggestions, or know of any opportunities, I would truly appreciate your guidance. Feel free to leave a comment or send me a message.

Thank you for your support!

Hello everyone,

​I’m looking for some honest advice/opinions from those who have successfully moved to Japan for work in the IT sector, specifically in recent years.

​A bit about my background:

I’m currently based in my home country but am very keen to move to Japan. I previously lived in Japan for studies, but had to return home for personal reasons. Since returning, I’ve been working for the past 2+ years at a Japanese company, supporting a Japanese engineering team at their HQ with administrative/operational tasks.

​I’ve reached N2 level in Japanese, and I’m currently deep into my CCNA studies with my exam scheduled for next month.

​My main questions:

​Given that I have 0 "hands-on" IT experience (despite my administrative exposure to the engineering team), how much weight will the CCNA actually carry for a junior role?

​Are there specific roles or types of companies (e.g., SIers, dispatch/haken, or foreign firms) that are more open to hiring someone with my specific profile—strong language skills but limited technical experience?

​Should I focus on any additional certifications (like AWS or others) to make my profile more competitive, or should I prioritize getting practical experience in any way I can?

​I’m aware that "IT in Japan" is a broad field, so I’d love to hear about the reality of breaking in from abroad as a non-technical hire. Any advice on how to frame my resume to highlight my experience with Japanese corporate culture would also be greatly appreciated.

​Thank you in advance!

Sharing 10 hand-picked roles at global companies actively hiring in Japan. Mix of tech, finance, ops, and engineering. A few with visa sponsorship called out.

Director of Revenue at Four Seasons(No Japanese required)

2027 New Graduate Full-time (Service Position) at IHG Hotels & Resorts

Senior Structural Engineer (Tech) at Arup

Senior Data Engineer, Behavior ML Planning & Prediction at Woven by Toyota

2WP/PMO Internship at Bosch(Visa sponsored)

IT Strategy Management - System Division at Rakuten

HRBP Project Intern (Global Business Solutions) - 2026 Start (BS/MS) at ByteDance

Software Engineer, Backend - Payment Core - Merpay at Mercari

Finance Manager, Direct Marketing Investment – Japan at The Coca-Cola Company

Senior Partner Business Manager, CSP - WWFO at Nvidia

Hi,

I am currently an AI/ML engineer with 5 years of experience, currently working on speech AI solutions.

GRE - 326

IELTS - 8.5

I am planning to do an MBA in ICS/Waseda (English taught) (2027-2029 batch) and later target product management roles in Japan.

my reason for MBA - to get into Japan and study there for a professional degree. I will actively build up my network within Tokyo. Plus I need some break with my job, an MBA can give some time off from that going back to school.

I won't be working part-time since I will have savings to cover up my living expenses atleast for the 1st year.

I know language is a BIG barrier but if I start now and aim to get N5-N4 done before I join the program next year if I get an admit.

can I do N2 during my MBA? ICS mentions that the program itself is 1yr but the 2nd year is for internships/exchange programs etc.

is it even feasible?

Also, how valuable be my profile to the recruiters ~ startups mainly?

I have hands-on AI/ML experience working on speech AI and building production voice bots and data pipelines.

Will my tech experience be of any value to the recruiters? because whatever opening I see for prodman it says that atleast X years experience is required in product management.

I really need some help and perspective to make a sound decision.

Hi,

I am currently working in a large Indian tech company and I'm getting 35L base and 12L ESOPS at 4 yoe in Bangalore.

I have cleared PayPay Japan's interview loop and am waiting for the offer. At the start of the process HR said that the budget for the role is 8-10 million yen. But I've read posts across channels mentioning that they can go up to 12 million yen. I'm confused whether I should consider the offer given my current pay or not.

I am in my mid twenties and want to shift outside india for at least a few years but I do want to prioritise building wealth as well. I do feel that I can get a 45L base offer in Bangalore (stocks on top of that) as well but I'm not sure how to compare both of them. I tried to draw parallels using FAANG companies in Japan and how much they pay there but this offer seems to be low balled according to that.

I don't think "Save abroad, come back rich' strategy would work for Japan because the currency is weaker as well. It would work well for a similar offer in Europe because of currency differences. I'm open to relocate from an experience and exploration point of view (I think I only have 1-2 years to take such risks) but it should make financial sense as well.

Need help from people who have ideas about living expenses and lifestyle in Japan and help me draw parallels with Indian pay ranges

I am a recent going to be grad by end of this month , working in a startup and dont have japanese speaking skills , just wondering how one can search and get job in japan i have registered in free platoforms that consult and help yet its been 6 months and got continuous rejections japandev and tokyodev like website's also dont got much of early career openings for been like past 1 year.

FYI : CSE grad , with 4 internships and decent command over AIML and data science roles till now

Hi all,

I have 12+ years of experience in Testing and Quality Assurance in a variety of domains including Banking (Digital, channels Testing, Cards, Loans, Workflow, EQUATION system and PRIME), Content Management Systems (CMS Drupal, Wordpress), Travel (Airline, Hotel and holidays), B2C, B2B, payment gateways, fraud tools, ERP,IBM Business Process Automation (BPM) and CRM testing processes.

I do not possess Japanese language skills and please let me know the chances of applying and selected for a job in Japan.

I'm an Indian national currently working in the Middle East.