Jobs in Japan
Exclusive employer contracts in Japan across manufacturing, construction, and specialized trades — matched by a dedicated TAPS specialist.
Japan's manufacturing and construction sectors face persistent skilled-labor shortages, creating steady demand for specialized trades under structured visa programs. Every EMIGRATLY contract is verified directly with the employer before a candidate is matched.
- Capital
- Tokyo
- Currency
- Japanese Yen (JPY)
- Languages
- Japanese
- Population
- ~124 million (2023 est.)
Routes into this country
Choose where you are from to see the checks, documents and authorities for your route.
At a Glance
Latest published figures, and where this country sits among the 30 destination countries. The bar shows rank: a fuller bar means a higher figure.
- Population
- 123.37 million (2025) 2nd of 29 destinations
- GDP per person
- US$35,951 (2025) 7th of 29 destinations
- Foreign-born share of population
- 2.8% (2024) 24th of 28 destinations
- Unemployment rate
- 2.5% (2025) 18th of 25 destinations
Source: World Bank Open Data, retrieved 2026-09-29. Each figure is for the year shown; countries without a published value for an indicator are left out of that ranking.
Your Rights, From Official Sources
What the government and the ILO publish, in plain words. Laws change: your contract and the official page always win over this summary.
Who can apply
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The Agency says it has made memoranda of cooperation with sending countries so that specified skilled foreign workers are sent and accepted smoothly and properly. Its list includes India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Indonesia, as well as Cambodia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Brazil and Bhutan did not appear in the part of the list we read.
Immigration Services Agency of Japan: bilateral memoranda of cooperation on specified skills, read 8 October 2026
Recruitment fees and your documents
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An accepting organisation must make sure that the job placement agencies and certified sending organisations it uses do not break Japan's Employment Security Act. The Agency points to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for the rules on job placement.
Immigration Services Agency of Japan: information about the Philippines (Specified Skilled Worker), read 8 October 2026 -
For Type 1 specified skilled workers, the employer (receiving organisation) must provide support: transport to and from the airport or port, help with housing, information about the employment contract, help finding a new job if the contract ends through no fault of yours, and activities to meet Japanese people. The Agency says the worker may not be made to bear the cost of this support, and that the receiving organisation pays for it, including interpreters.
Immigration Services Agency of Japan: Q&A on the Specified Skilled Worker Program, Q76 to Q83, read 8 October 2026 -
Before you enter Japan you must be given guidance that covers your pay and duties and the fact that it is illegal for a contract to include a security deposit or a penalty for breaking the contract. If anyone asks you to pay a deposit or sign a penalty clause, treat it as a warning sign.
Immigration Services Agency of Japan: Q&A on the Specified Skilled Worker Program, Q85, read 8 October 2026
If something goes wrong
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The Agency refuses to register an organisation as a support organisation if, in the past year, workers or trainees it received went missing because of unpaid wages or because complaints and consultations were not properly handled. The Agency also runs a Foreign Resident Support Center (FRESC) and a consultation service for foreign residents.
Immigration Services Agency of Japan: Q&A on the Specified Skilled Worker Program, Q76 and Q77, and its Support for residents menu, read 8 October 2026 -
For Filipino workers, procedures on the Philippine side are handled at the Migrant Workers Office of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo (03-6441-0428 or 03-6441-0478) or of the Philippine Consulate-General in Osaka (06-6575-7593), which support English, Filipino and Japanese. The Agency lists the licensed sending organisations on the Philippine DMW's website.
Immigration Services Agency of Japan: information about the Philippines (Specified Skilled Worker), read 8 October 2026
Checked against the linked pages on 2026-10-08. This is general information, not legal advice.
How Employers Hire Foreign Workers Here
Route: Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) programme, with accepting organisations and support organisations. Here the big employers do not recruit through their own careers pages, so there is no honest employer list to show. This is the process they must follow, from official sources. Laws change: your contract and the official page always win over this summary.
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Agreements with sending countries. The Immigration Services Agency says it has made memoranda of cooperation with sending countries, including India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Indonesia, so that specified skilled workers are sent and accepted properly. Brazil and Bhutan did not appear in the part of the list we read.
Immigration Services Agency of Japan: bilateral memoranda of cooperation on specified skills, read 8 October 2026 -
Agencies an employer may use. An accepting organisation must make sure that the job placement agencies and certified sending organisations it uses do not break Japan's Employment Security Act.
Immigration Services Agency of Japan: information about the Philippines (Specified Skilled Worker), read 8 October 2026 -
Support the employer provides. For Type 1 workers the receiving organisation must provide support such as transport from the airport or port, help with housing, information about the contract and help finding a new job if the contract ends through no fault of yours. The Agency says the worker may not be made to bear the cost.
Immigration Services Agency of Japan: Q&A on the Specified Skilled Worker Program, read 8 October 2026 -
Before you travel. Before you enter Japan you must be given guidance covering your pay and duties and the fact that it is illegal for a contract to include a security deposit or a penalty for breaking the contract.
Immigration Services Agency of Japan: Q&A on the Specified Skilled Worker Program, read 8 October 2026 -
Checks on support organisations. The Agency refuses to register an organisation as a support organisation if, in the past year, workers or trainees it received went missing because of unpaid wages or because complaints were not properly handled.
Immigration Services Agency of Japan: Q&A on the Specified Skilled Worker Program, read 8 October 2026
Checked against the linked pages on 2026-10-08. Anyone who offers a job here outside this process, or asks you to pay for a named company's job, is a warning sign: check them at /verify. This is general information, not legal advice.
What's That Worth Back Home?
Enter an amount in JPY to see it in your home currency — live exchange rates, refreshed every 12 hours.
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Indicative only, not a guaranteed offer amount — rates from exchangerate-api.com. Your actual offer is set out in your employment contract.
Geography
Japan is an island nation made up of four main islands (Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku) and thousands of smaller ones, mostly mountainous, with significant seismic and volcanic activity — Mount Fuji is the iconic symbol of the country.
Economy and Key Industries
The world's third-largest economy, built on advanced manufacturing, automotive, and electronics — with a rapidly aging population driving deliberate, structured foreign-worker programs to fill real labor gaps.
Foreign Worker Population
Japan has expanded its Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) visa program specifically to address labor shortages in construction, manufacturing, and caregiving — a direct route for several EMIGRATLY sectors, with defined skill tests and Japanese-language requirements depending on the category.
Lifestyle for Foreign Workers
Climate
Four distinct seasons: humid summers, cold winters in the north (Hokkaido) and much milder in the south.
Culture
Japan is exceptionally safe and highly organized. Language and cultural adaptation is real and worth preparing for — workplace etiquette, punctuality norms, and everyday systems (garbage sorting, train etiquette) differ meaningfully from most EMIGRATLY source countries, and your TAPS specialist will brief you on it directly.
Cost of living
Comparable to other major developed economies; Tokyo is expensive, regional cities and rural postings noticeably less so.
Sectors EMIGRATLY Places Into
Manufacturing, construction, and specialized trades are EMIGRATLY's primary Japan sectors.
Publicly Showcased Roles
No roles from this destination are publicly listed right now — some of our employer contracts here are confidential by request. Register and your TAPS specialist will match you against everything we hold, public or private.
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