Where International Students Actually Get Hired in Japan (2026 Data)

Last updated: 1 September 2026

You open a job site, set your filters, and nothing comes back. The school noticeboard has nothing for you. None of your seniors have offers either. So you conclude there are no jobs for international students.

That feeling is half right. Here are the numbers first.

39,766 students changed status last year

To start working here you change your residence status from “Student” to a working one. The Immigration Services Agency publishes those applications and results every year.

In 2024 it processed 41,142 applications and approved 39,766. That is an approval rate of 96.7%.

By nationality: China 14,511, Vietnam 8,484, Nepal 3,909, South Korea 1,688, Indonesia 1,331. Those five make up 75.2% of the total.

Ten years ago the figure was 10,969. It is now 3.6 times larger, and 96.7% of applications succeed. Roughly one in thirty is refused. The system is not the thing that is closed.

It looks empty because the jobs pile up in Tokyo

Tokyo 42.4%, Osaka 12.2%, Kanagawa 5.6%. The Kanto region alone is 59.3%. When a job site keeps showing you Tokyo, that is because that is where the jobs are.

Most people stop there and decide their own city has nothing. There is one more number to look at first.

Kansai has 7,754 a year

Where	Share	People a year
Tokyo	42.4%	about 16,861
Osaka	12.2%	about 4,851
Hyogo	2.7%	about 1,074
Kyoto	2.7%	about 1,074
Kinki region	19.5%	about 7,754

Osaka and Hyogo together come to about 5,900. Kobe, Nishinomiya and Amagasaki are 15 to 30 minutes from central Osaka by train. That is 5,900 jobs a year inside commuting distance.

Job hunting in Tokyo from elsewhere means fares and a hotel. Out of the 199,000 yen a month it costs to live, saving that is not easy. Searching where you already live costs nothing.

Tokyo does have more. But “you cannot get hired unless you move to Tokyo” is not what this data says.

The companies hiring are ones you have never heard of

This is the part people get wrong most often.

• 40.9% were hired by companies with 1 to 49 employees
• Widen that to under 100 employees and it is 55.8%
• 27.3% went to companies capitalised at 5 million yen or less

More than half have fewer than a hundred staff. Not the companies on television, and not the ones people know back home. Searching by company names you recognise will find you nothing.

By sector, 86.4% is non-manufacturing. Retail leads at 10.2%, then information and communications at 9.3%.

Four job types cover a third of everything

Translation and interpreting 12.5%, information processing and communications technology 9.5%, administration excluding executives 8.7%, overseas trade 4.7%. Those four are 35.4% of the total.

Which means how close you can get to those four decides how much you find. If your Japanese is usable, translation, interpreting and overseas trade open up. Pushing your kanji and reading widens the list directly.

The pay, without decoration

Monthly pay lands at 200,000 to 250,000 yen for 46.1%, under 200,000 for 25.7%, and 250,000 to 300,000 for 17.9%.

One in four starts under 200,000 yen a month. That is not comfortable. But the ceiling on 28 hours of part-time work is 137,312 yen a month. Even 200,000 is more than 60,000 yen a month above it.

And once you are hired, employer social insurance starts coming out of your pay, so the drop from gross to net is steeper than it was as a student. Do not compare the headline figures alone.

A quarter of hires came from vocational schools

By final education:

• University 44.7%
• Vocational school (senshu gakko) 24.5%
• Graduate school: masters 19.7%, doctorate 4.4%
• Junior college 2.7%, other 4.1%

One in four came through a vocational school. That is behind the 68.7% from universities and graduate schools, but the vocational route is real.

There is a condition. For the engineer or specialist in humanities visa, a vocational school graduate needs the title of “senmonshi” or “kodo senmonshi”. The Ministry of Education grants it only for courses it has approved, which must run two years or more and total at least 1,700 class hours.

A Japanese language school is not a vocational school, so no senmonshi comes with it. Finishing language school alone does not qualify you for this visa. Know that before you choose your next step.

The nearest office is above Hankyu Umeda station

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare runs Employment Service Centers for Foreigners in four cities: Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka. They give information to international students, run job-hunting guidance, offer internship programmes, and hold recruitment interview events.

It is the building on top of Hankyu Umeda station, reachable without changing trains from the Kobe, Takarazuka and Kyoto lines. From Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi it is about 15 minutes and roughly 300 yen. No bullet train and no hotel.

You can use it while you are still enrolled. First year of language school or first year of vocational school, the guidance sessions are open to you.

What to do this week

The next move depends on where you are studying now.

If you are at a Japanese language school

1. Call the Osaka centre and ask when the next guidance session is. Go before you decide on a school
2. If you are considering a vocational school, ask that school whether the course carries senmonshi. Some do not
3. Keep your attendance up. It is looked at when you apply for the work visa

If you are at a vocational school

1. Same office. Interview events are for people still enrolled. After graduation is late
2. Stop searching by company name. Search by job type. Those four cover 35.4% of all hires
3. Filter to Osaka and Hyogo. Spend less time looking at Tokyo listings and feeling behind

Either way it is the same address. A 300 yen train ride, this week.

FAQ

Q. Are there really jobs for international students in Japan?
Yes. In 2024 the Immigration Services Agency approved 39,766 changes from student status to a working status. By nationality that included 3,909 Nepalese, 8,484 Vietnamese and 14,511 Chinese. The figure is 3.6 times what it was ten years ago and the approval rate is 96.7%.

Q. Do I have to move to Tokyo?
No. Tokyo accounts for 42.4% of hires, but the Kinki region holds 19.5%, about 7,754 a year. Osaka at 12.2% and Hyogo at 2.7% come to roughly 5,900, all within commuting distance of Kobe and Nishinomiya.

Q. Why does nothing come up on job sites?
Because 55.8% of hires are at companies with fewer than 100 employees and 40.9% at fewer than 50. Searching by names you recognise finds nothing. Search by job type instead: translation and interpreting 12.5%, IT 9.5%, administration 8.7%, overseas trade 4.7%.

Q. Can I get hired from a vocational school?
Yes. Vocational school graduates are 24.5% of all hires. But the engineer or specialist in humanities visa requires the senmonshi or kodo senmonshi title, which only comes from courses approved by the Ministry of Education. Ask the school before you enrol.

Q. Can I get a job straight after Japanese language school?
Not on the engineer or specialist in humanities visa. A language school is not a vocational school, so no senmonshi is awarded and the education requirement is not met. You either go on to a vocational school or university, or take a route that does not ask for a degree, such as specified skilled worker.

Q. How much will I earn?
46.1% are paid 200,000 to 250,000 yen a month, 25.7% under 200,000, and 17.9% between 250,000 and 300,000. One in four starts under 200,000. That is still more than 60,000 yen a month above the 137,312 yen ceiling on 28 hours of part-time work.

Summary

• The jobs exist: 39,766 approvals in 2024, including 3,909 Nepalese, at a 96.7% approval rate
• It looks empty because Tokyo holds 42.4%. The Kinki region still has 7,754 a year
• Osaka plus Hyogo is about 5,900, inside commuting range of Kobe and Nishinomiya. No travel budget needed
• 55.8% of hires are at companies under 100 staff. Names you know will not appear
• Four job types cover 35.4%: translation and interpreting, IT, administration, overseas trade
• 25.7% start under 200,000 yen a month. Still above the part-time ceiling by 60,000 or more
• Vocational school graduates are 24.5%, but the visa needs the senmonshi title
• Language school alone does not meet the education requirement
• The Osaka Employment Service Center sits above Hankyu Umeda and is open to you while enrolled

Sources: Immigration Services Agency, employment of international students by Japanese companies, 2024 (published November 2025) / same, engineer / specialist in humanities / international services / Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, employment policy for foreign workers / Osaka Employment Service Center for Foreigners / Ministry of Education, on the senmonshi and kodo senmonshi titles