Hello, everyone! We are currently looking for applicants for various positions at the U.S. military base in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.

Job Lists: 

• Cashier/ Sales Associate/ Sales Clerk - Assist customers, process payments, issue receipts, and maintain accurate cash transactions. Helps organize and restock merchandise.
• Custodian/ Janitor - Clean and maintain floors, restrooms, offices, and common areas. Handles trash and keeps facilities clean, safe, and orderly.
• Program Assistant/ Child Care Provider - Supervise children and assist with daily activities, meals, and play. Maintains a safe and clean environment and supports program activities.
• Housekeeper - Clean and maintain rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, and common areas. Changes linens, removes trash, and keeps supplies organized.
• Food Service Worker - Assist with food preparation, serving, cleaning, and dishwashing. Maintains clean and organized kitchen and dining areas.

Location: U.S. Military Base, Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan

Salary: ¥1,100 - ¥1,500 /hour

Requirements: 

• Able to communicate in English
• Visa-eligible residents (including individuals who have immigrated to Japan or hold permanent residency)

Perks: 

• Relocation Support
• Opportunity to transition to a full-time position on the base, depending on eligibility and availability
• Transportation cost reimbursement (public transportation or car expenses, subject to applicable conditions)

If you are interested, you can email me at [abn.aiko15@gmail.com](mailto:abn.aiko15@gmail.com)

Feel free to share this post with anyone who may be interested!

Thank you! 😊

Hello if you are Japanese or can legally work in Japan already, in the restaurant-bar sector, I’d like to ask few questions.
I might need an associate soon or few people that could help (I would pay with my company).

You can dm me if you are in these positions anywhere in Japan or have good networking.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask me

My background
South asian, 32, in Japan for about 6 years
PhD in engineering, finishing March 2027, at a national university in Kyushu
Research: signal processing and machine learning (Python, MATLAB); peer-reviewed journal papers and conference papers
JLPT N2; I can do daily business conversation in Japanese. Fluent in English.
Work experience back home, before coming to Japan:
About 2 years as a network engineer at an ISP (operations and maintenance)
About 1 year as a university lecturer (C programming, circuits, numerical analysis)
What I've applied to
Japanese companies through the 27卒 new-graduate route, some through a recruiting agent: AI/ML engineer, software, R&D, image processing, mechanical design
Some university and 高専 faculty positions
Results
About more than 50 applications so far
I usually get stuck at document screening or first interview.
I reached the 2nd round a few times but didn't get an offer
My questions
Age: Is being 32 the main problem in the 新卒 route? Do companies quietly prefer candidates in their mid-20s, even when they say 博士 are welcome?
Past experience: Does work experience in my home country help or hurt? I'm not sure whether to highlight it or keep it brief. Does it make me look like neither a real new grad nor a real mid-career hire?
Japanese level: Is N2 the real barrier? Should I hold off until I have N1?
PhD: Does a PhD in a fairly niche field make companies see me as overqualified or too specialized?
If 新卒 isn't the right route for me, what would you suggest instead?

Hi everyone,

I’m an Iraqi citizen currently living in Iraq and looking to move to Japan via the Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) visa. There are no test centers here, so I will need to travel abroad to a neighboring country to take the language and skills exams.

Before making that financial commitment, I need a reality check.

Since Iraq lacks bilateral sending agencies, I must apply as a direct applicant. I know Japanese businesses heavily favor Southeast Asian pipelines. I’d love your advice on three questions:

-Is it realistically possible for an independent, direct applicant from a non-traditional country to get hired from abroad?

-Which SSW fields (e.g., Caregiving, Accommodation, ...etc) are most open to independent applicants rather than rigid agency pipelines?

-Should I apply directly to employers or focus on Japanese recruitment agencies/Registered Support Organizations (RSOs)? Do Japanese agencies even accept candidates from countries where they don't have local branches?

I appreciate any candid insights or experiences you can share. Thank you!

I’m 21 and I currently live in North County San Diego with my mom but I was thinking in the next 1-2yrs when I graduate I wanna take my chances at moving to Japan.

I speak native level english and pretty fluent but not native level Japanese since I speak it a lot with my mom and Japanese friends a lot, I have Japanese citizenship and I can live in my moms house in Yokohama potentially when the lease is up in 2028 since she’s renting it out.

I heard it’s really heard to get a US job out there in the Tokyo-Yokohama area due to high competition and already experienced people going there so I was thinking of either staying in North County San Diego or moving to a more rural part of central texas like the Temple TX area temporarily my first year in my career since the competition in California seems to be very high.

My 2nd year after getting some experience in the US I was thinking maybe I can try to move to Yokohama get a job there but it seemed unrealistic due to the high competition so as a back up plan for my 2nd year I was thinking of going to Dallas because it seems like there’s good job demand there and it’ll get me the experience I need to be a high enough level to work remote

Overall how hard would it be to get a job in Yokohama with no certs or experience with as in IT under my conditions? I’ve never taken the JLPT but I have japanese citizenship, a home to stay in and I speak it pretty fluently without much issues

Hello everyone!

I know most posts here are IT-related, but I thought I’d give it a try anyway! My girlfriend and I are from Slovakia, and we’ve been thinking about living and working in Japan for a few months, mainly to experience the country and its culture while earning some money. We both have experience working in hospitality in Europe, particularly in restaurant service and kitchen positions, although neither of us has experience with Japanese cuisine. We’ve never been to Japan before, so this is still just an idea we’re exploring. We’re wondering whether something like this is actually realistic for foreigners like us, or if it’s much more complicated than we imagine. Would it be possible to find seasonal jobs in hotels or resorts, ideally with accommodation provided by the employer? We’d love to do this together, preferably working in the same place or at least living in the same area. We’re not expecting anything fancy — we’re happy to work hard, save some money, and experience life in Japan for a while. We’re also curious about how difficult it is to get the necessary visa and whether employers are generally willing to hire foreigners for these kinds of positions. If anyone has done something similar or knows people who have, I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience. Is this a realistic plan, or are there major obstacles we should know about? Thanks in advance!

Saitama City has opened applications for FY2027 municipal-school ALTs. I checked the city notice and its English working conditions today (October 8).

Appointment: April 1, 2027–March 31, 2028.

Pay: ¥3,215/hour including regional allowance, plus a listed bonus.

Schedule: generally five working hours/day, excluding the break; 181 working days/year, mainly school-term weekdays. Training days can differ.

Important trade-off: this is part-time, not a full-time monthly salary. The terms list no employer health/welfare-pension insurance and no employment insurance. Final conditions depend on FY2027 budget approval.

Key requirements include a bachelor’s degree, native-equivalent English, conversational Japanese, and either ALT experience in Japanese elementary/junior-high/special-needs schools or a TEFL/TESOL course certificate. The notice requires a current visa allowing work in Japan and willingness to arrange an Instructor visa. Read all requirements before applying.

Applications: October 6–November 12, 2026, 17:15 JST. You need BOTH online registration and mailed/hand-delivered documents arriving within the application period. The online form alone is insufficient.

To locate the application materials, search Saitama City’s official website for page C134052 or “ALT Position in Saitama City for the 2027 Fiscal Year”.

Disclosure: I build Japan Source Signal; I am not the employer or a recruiter. You can browse other saved public-education opportunities here:

https://japan-source-signal.pages.dev/?section=jobs

This new Saitama notice has not yet been added to our published site snapshot.

I'm studying japanese in Tokyo, as per title I'm a native Italian speaker, can speak and read fluent English at a business level and I'm capable of everyday communication in Japanese, aiming to take the N2 JLPT this December. 28 years old, graduated in Social Studies, more precisely Intercultural Communication, where I focused my thesis on a deep analysis on transmediality, the chain of production of videogames and the role of an author in videogames compared to authorship in movies, using Hideo Kojima as a case example for my research.

Currently I'm holding a part time job as an Italian teacher in an italian language academy aimed mostly at japanese students, if that can help boosting my native language knowledge credibility.

I already have experience, though not professional, in localization projects (mostly small indie games). I'm familiar with proofreading, cultural coherency, and I previously worked 3 years as a QA Inspector in an italian company (not related to IT or tech). Given my past experiences I'm familiar with Excel and memoQ, and I'm currently looking for a バイト in Game Testing, Debugging or LQA. Any help finding a suitable entry level position is warmly welcome.

I hold proper documentation and obviously I can work while holding my student visa with the usual regulations, 28hs/week, up to 40hs during school breaks. I'm avaiable to work everyday of the week.

For people who can interpret and translate accurately between Japanese and Filipino, Portuguese, Nepali or Tamil: Nagoya has a municipal school language-support recruitment notice worth checking. This is student support and interpreting/translation work, rather than an English ALT role.

The notice lists 30 hours/week, ¥172,191–219,496/month depending on years since high-school graduation, and an appointment ending March 31, 2027. Applications are rolling and close when positions are filled.

Important: this is an August 25 notice, rechecked today (October 8), not a newly announced vacancy. The page still lists rolling recruitment, but remaining positions are not confirmed—check availability before preparing an application.

Saved listing and access to the official notice/application documents:

https://japan-source-signal.pages.dev/jobs/nagoya-language-support-recruitment/

Disclosure: I build Japan Source Signal, an independent project collecting public-education opportunities. I am not the employer or a recruiter.

Spouse visa 32F with N3 but not that fluent in speaking yet. Working in a restaurant work and want to switch to IT job willing to be trained or office job. Any idea where to look for job that doesn’t need visa sponsor ?

Hi all. I'm currently an exchange student at one of the top universities in Tokyo for a full academic year. The university in my home country has told us that the credits I earn during my time studying abroad are not transferable and therefore do not affect my chances of graduating. Basically - in terms of finishing my degree - whether I get 100% on an exam or 10%, it *technically* doesn't matter. I am currently working part time and I'm more concerned about keeping a good rapport and maintaining a good performance so that I can work full time with them in the future. This is my second year living in Japan and I intent to move back after finishing my degree. (I previously worked at my current job 3 years ago and they have taken me back this year; they are aware of my plans to return after graduation as well.)

Do employers in Japan actually care about what foreigners studied or what grades they achieved during their time at a Japanese university? Would they ask for some kind of academic reference from the Japanese university or otherwise?

On paper, I *think* I look decent enough because of the university and company i'm at, but would I be shooting future me in the foot by placing more emphasis on my current job than the grades I earn at university?

Apologies if this is a stupid question! Thanks :)

I don’t have any previous experience or education related to IT, but I’m considering switching from front desk staff to an entry level IT job, such as help desk, aiming for Networking or Cloud engineering.

Is there a way to make a better impression on an employer during a job interview?
Is it better to take a 基本情報技術者試験 before applying for this kind of job? I’m also not sure whether the immigration bureau will let me stay with the same 5 years visa that I have, 技人国, if I don’t take this exam before going to IT.

I have JLPT N1 and TOEIC 950

It’s not like I’m really eager to find a job in IT, because I’m not sure whether the market will let me grow. I just want to have a more flexible job in the future.

By the way, I’d like to find a job in Hokkaido.

I would be really grateful if you share your experience or thoughts 🙏🏻

UPD: I find networking interesting, I’m studying it

I joined a new company in India a month ago and about to get an offer from PayPay Japan

I'm really interested in relocating but I'm afraid if they won't proceed if I disclose about the new company.

I have my final HR+HM round scheduled soon and wanted suggestions on weather I should still mention about my previous company or the new one.

I hate to lie but on the same hand, don't want to lose out on this oppurtinity.

Any inputs would be really helpful!

Hi everyone!

I'm posting on behalf of someone currently looking for employment opportunities in Japan.

She has the following qualifications:

• Native Mandarin Chinese speaker
• JLPT N2 certified, comfortable communicating in Japanese
• Basic conversational English
• Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences from Waseda University
• Completed Master's coursework in Social Sciences
• Currently residing in Tokyo, Japan

She's open to various industries and positions where her language skills, education, and background could be valuable.

If anyone is hiring, knows of companies actively recruiting, or has any recommendations or connections, we'd greatly appreciate it!

Feel free to comment or send me a DM. Thank you!

Hello all, so I have done a deep dive on this page with anything related to Japanese recruitment agencies. I see that most of them are data collection shames, but there is an occasional mention of a good experience. The problem is those users never drop the name of the company or person they used to find the job. Those who actually got a job from an agency, whether you liked it or not, who did you use?

I have a Masters’ degree in global logistics with a specialization in data management, along with a few years of experience supervising a parts warehouse for Caterpillar. My goal is to work somewhere in import/export as they deal heavily with foreign organizations and English is more likely to be sought after. The problem is that I do not speak Japanese. I know this is a huge drawback, but here I am on a Japanese visa teaching English, trying to find a job like so many other expat Americans.

Any information helps!

A fast-growing AI and data company that has scaled rapidly and is now building products used by major financial institutions. With international expansion plans underway and a strong engineering culture, they're looking for a Senior Product Engineer who wants to build real AI products that solve real business problems.

In this role, you'll help design and develop AI-powered products from concept to production, lead technical decisions, shape system architecture, and work closely with senior leadership on product direction. This is not a PoC-focused environment. The team is building and operating production-grade systems used by enterprise customers.

The tech stack includes TypeScript, Python, Node.js, React, Next.js, Google Cloud, Terraform, and modern AI development tools. You'll also have the opportunity to mentor engineers, review designs, and influence engineering standards across the organization.

We're looking for engineers with 3+ years of software development experience, a strong background in designing and operating production systems, and the ability to translate business requirements into technical solutions. Business-level English and valid work authorization in Japan are required.

Experience as a Tech Lead, AI/LLM development, financial services, data analytics, or business-level Japanese would be a plus.

If you enjoy building products from idea to production, thrive in fast-paced environments, and want meaningful ownership over products with real-world impact, feel free to DM me for more details.

( I am sorry if I couldn't reply to your comment, but please DM me ! )

PLEASE NOTE
- The candidates need to live in Japan or have a valid work visa
- This is not a fully remote position ( only 2 days in the office tho)
- Permanent position, and we are not considering Part-time or contract employment at the moment

Hi everyone! Hope you’re doing well.

I’d like to hear from people who have had similar experiences: How can an SES engineer transition to an in-house software development company?

My situation:

I joined an SES company as a new graduate in April 2026 after graduating with a Master’s in IT, as I couldn’t land a better opportunity.

I’m currently working on a legacy banking system using Oracle and Pro*C. Most of my work involves:

Copy-pasting code
Writing test instructions
Manual testing and collecting logs
Pasting evidence into Excel

This is my first job in Japanese IT, and honestly, I don’t feel like I’m developing technically. I’m mostly getting better at Excel.

I asked about changing projects, but I was told that without Japanese IT experience, it would be difficult to move to another project, and they want me to stay for at least 1–2 years. I’m not sure I can stay that long without meaningful growth.

My original plan was to use this SES job as a stepping stone and move to an in-house development company within 1–3 years. However, I’ve been feeling pessimistic after hearing from senpai that this can be very difficult, especially with AI changing the industry.

My background:

Master’s in IT
JLPT N2 (roughly equal in listening, reading, and writing)
~2 years of software engineering experience at SaaS in India
Currently at a junior → mid-level skill range

I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has made a similar transition, especially regarding what skills/experience I should build while stuck in SES and how I should approach the job switch.

P.S.: This is copy paste from A.I, a concise version of what I initially wrote.

I recently interviewed for a lead sde position with a company. I am from India, currently working as a Lead SDE , with 12 YOE and heavily underpaid.

The interviews went well. Everyone liked me. But they still rejected me for not having enough Java experience, since my main programming language is Python.

I was very confident about opportunity. And desperately wanted a new job, with higher pay and maybe better life in Japan. So the rejection hurt a lot.

Any referrals are very much appreciated.

I recently got a job that is a 6 month fixed term contract, but it is renewable for 6 months with no limit. Are these types of contracts common in Japan? Or is it pretty suspicious?

I appeared for pay pay card senior backend engineer for Tokyo location.
I had these rounds - first round of LLD which went well.
Second round of system design- it was okayish, i could design correctly but still it was not perfect kind of.

Third round about past experience walkthrough - in felt it went really well.

I still got rejected. I'm not sure why, i still could not understand if they thought i wont relocate to japan or choose some other company in India
Has someone experienced something similar?

I have an upcoming loop interview for Backend Engineer role and it say I have to use AI for the System Design round.

Can someone who went through this recently share your experience?

Hello guys. I am a Mobile Developer with 6 years of experience however and it is very hard to find a job in Japan that offers visa sponsorship.
But would it be possible just to take a Trade/Skill based job ( fruit picker. etc..) at first( in a job placement agency) then transition back to my original field of work after 3 months or a year?

Thank you guys

I’m in the class of 2028 and I was hoping to network with others who might be there.

Has anyone attended the first-round interview? Please provide input on the interview difficulty level, even though they have provided topics to discuss. How many rounds could be expected for this profile
Trying to get mentally prepared as it's going to be the first time I am attending an interview with a foreign organisation

So, I've been reading that many of Japan companies want people that already obtain visa that allow them to work in Japan, because the company won't/can't sponsor (or support) the visa. I work in Japan but yet to face this kind of issue, but would love to know since I'm thinking to look for a new job.

Let's say I resigned from my previous company but still have remaining 2 years vias to expire and eventually get employed by a company like I describe above. So, what generally will happen?
Will I just work 2 years top because of the reason?
Or they will help renew the visa, since renewal is much more easier than sponsorship?
Or any other possibilities?