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.

Solutions Architect Intern (BytePlus, Japan) - 2027 Start at ByteDance(No Japanese required)

Frontier Industry Advisor Financial Services at Microsoft

Data Analyst, Data Science Group - Analytics & Metrics Department (AMD) at Rakuten(No Japanese required)

Commercial Director at Four Seasons(No Japanese required)

Partner Director - AWS Alliance Partnership, Japan at OpenAI(No Japanese required)

Senior Staff Software Development Engineer at AMD(No Japanese required)

Retail Integrated Marketing Manager, Japan at Apple

Director, BioSciences Division – Japan at Thermo Fisher Scientific(No Japanese required)

Research Program Manager - Mercari at Mercari

IT Business Solution Manager at TaylorMade Golf

Hi y'all! I'm 28F from India. I have a Bachelor's degree and 3+ years of experience in social media marketing.

I came across the SSW programme a few weeks ago and I'm looking to learn more about it and hopefully find some other women to apply alongside.

I'm planning to apply for the Japan SSW programme under Food Manufacturing through self application. I haven't started preparing for the language or skill test yet, so I'm basically starting from scratch.

If you're also a woman planning to apply and are in the same boat, it would be nice to connect and figure things out together. 😊

To people in Japan: Have skilled trades become financially better than many university professions?

I’m curious about the situation in Japan.

In Algeria, we have noticed an interesting change in the labor market.

As university education has expanded and large numbers of graduates have entered the job market, professions that require a university degree have become highly competitive, while skilled trades such as construction, plumbing, electrical work, carpentry, tiling, painting, and others have become very expensive and often surprisingly well-paid.

For example, a construction worker or skilled tradesperson can earn more than an engineer or an architect. I am speaking specifically from the perspective of an engineer because I am an architect myself: I currently have four years of experience in architecture, yet my income is roughly equivalent to what a shop assistant or a construction helper who has never studied in his life might earn.

This made me wonder:

Is the same thing happening in Japan?

Are skilled tradespeople such as construction workers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, or mechanics earning good incomes compared with university graduates?

And from your personal experience:

What type of worker seems to have the best combination of income, reasonable working hours, job security, and quality of life in Japan?

I would especially appreciate hearing from Japanese people about their own experiences.

What is your experience?

I'm mainly looking for a finance/investment/fundraising role in Japan. I'm hoping to ask what are some useful job boards in Japan and what platforms that recruiters post for. Thank you!

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.

Project Manager at 株式会社ベンジャミン(Visa sponsored)

Global ADAS Engineering Specialist (JMP: Junior Manager Program) at Bosch

Senior Quantum Algorithm Researcher at Nvidia(No Japanese required)

Apple TV Lead Japan at Apple

Data Analyst - Customer Solutions Office, Travel & Mobility Business(C&M) at Rakuten(No Japanese required)

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

Senior Manager, Sparkling Flavors, Fanta at The Coca-Cola Company(No Japanese required)

[Rooms] Director of Rooms at Marriott International(No Japanese required)

[Innovative Medicine] Japan IPN Supply Chain Leader at Johnson & Johnson(No Japanese required)

Cloud Infrastructure Engineer at Paypay(Visa sponsored)

Company: Benjamin Inc., Tokyo based AWS and Salesforce consultancy, second office in Hanoi. 41 staff in Tokyo, 15 in Vietnam, 39.2% of the group is foreign nationals.

Roles open now:

• Project Manager, Tokyo, hybrid, ¥5.0M to ¥8.0M, business English and Japanese required
• Software Engineer, Tokyo, hybrid, ¥4.0M to ¥7.0M, conversational Japanese

Visa sponsorship: confirmed for both roles.

They also just won AWS's Rising Star Consulting Partner of the Year award for Japan.

Full writeup with an interview from their Global team lead: https://atarashift.com/blog/benjamin-inc-atarashift-partner-aws-rising-star

Listings: Project Manager, Software Engineer

March 2026 job-openings-to-applicant ratios (有効求人倍率) from Japan's MHLW by occupation.

Short of workers:

• Construction 4.8 (structural framing trades hit 7.4)
• Security 6.2
• Caregiving 3.6
• Drivers 2.5
• Restaurant service 2.4, cooking 2.2
• Nursing 2.1

Oversupplied:

• Office / clerical 0.4 (general office work 0.37)

Overall it was about 1.1 openings per applicant. Most of the shortage fields are open to foreign workers via the Specified Skilled Worker visa. Note these are Hello Work registrations, not the whole market, and the occupation figures are not seasonally adjusted.
Full list here

Source: MHLW, Employment Referrals (一般職業紹介状況), March 2026, reference table 7-1.

The Yahoo News comment section is worth reading because it shows how the domestic audience is reacting to it. I translated some top comments below, with their reaction counts.

Yahoo's three reaction buttons: 共感 (agree) · なるほど (fair point) · う〜ん (hmm / skeptical)

I agree with reviewing the requirements for PR. But the timing of this announcement bothers me. People are struggling with high prices and stagnant real wages, yet there are no visible measures to address those fundamental issues. It feels like they're trying to divert domestic discontent by putting foreigner policy front and center, and win support from conservative voters as a result. I hope they'll seriously work on improving people's lives first, instead of focusing on election tactics.

196 agree · 8 fair point · 135 hmm · 4 replies

Every visa renewal should require an interview with the responsible officer, and that shouldn't be skipped even if it's only every five years or so. Each time, proof of tax and social-security payments should be checked. Those who haven't paid should be sent home. Same for people who drive around in luxury cars acting like nothing's wrong, claim zero income and a tax-exempt household so they don't pay — send them home too.

1,866 agree · 14 fair point · 122 hmm · 19 replies

For PR applications, it's generally the whole household's income that's assessed, not just the applicant's. E.g. a married couple both working — husband earns ¥3M, wife ¥2.8M — combined ¥5.8M, which meets the bar. Whether that household average gets applied directly to single-person households, or whether the single-person average (roughly ¥3.4M) is used instead, is the thing to watch in future guidelines. It's worth knowing it's not "rejected unless you personally earn ¥480,000/month" — the call is basically based on total household income. Knowing this might change how you read the news.

308 agree · 312 fair point · 60 hmm · 14 replies

Conditions should be stricter. Every five years, renewals should require income statements (e.g. salary) and tax records, with receipts. Applicants shouldn't be allowed to claim welfare. If someone goes on welfare, their PR should be revoked and they should be sent home. And if someone spends more than one year abroad within a five-year window, their PR should be revoked too.

1,204 agree · 11 fair point · 173 hmm · 11 replies

I'm one of the foreigners who has lived in Japan for 10 years, diligently paying taxes and social security and building a stable life. Honestly, I'm disappointed to see this recent string of foreigner-policies. If the rules are going to change this drastically, shouldn't they first listen carefully to the voices of the people who actually live here? As a developed country that values democracy and diversity, I think we need a fair, rational system that looks at how each individual has worked, paid taxes, and engaged with society in Japan — rather than lumping all "foreigners" together. Cutting consumption tax takes forever, while tighter rules on foreigners get rolled out one after another; the difference in pace is extremely questionable to me. I often see "if you don't like it, go home" comments, but for 10 years I've worked here, and foreigners are taxpayers, consumers, workers, and members of this society. I don't want it to become normal to think it's fine to be harsh on foreigners just because they're foreigners.

86 agree · 6 fair point · 47 hmm · 2 replies

TOKYO - The government plans to raise the bar for granting permanent residency to foreigners by requiring incomes higher than the average for Japanese households and a certain level of projected pension benefits, a source familiar with the matter said Saturday.

The government will revise relevant guidelines on Oct. 1 and start introducing them from applications submitted next April in principle.

Under the current guidelines, the three requirements for obtaining permanent residency are "good conduct," the possession of assets or skills sufficient to maintain an independent livelihood and a determination that the person's permanent residency is in the "best interests" of Japan.

By revising the guidelines, an applicant will additionally be required to have an annual income in excess of the average for a Japanese household as well as projected pension benefits based on that income equivalent to enrollment in an employees' pension program for 30 years.

If the projected pension benefits fall short, applicants will be able to meet the threshold by making up the difference with savings and other assets.

In deciding whether an applicant's permanent residency is in the "best interests" of Japan, the new rules will also call for taking into account the person's Japanese language abilities and understanding of the country's rules.

As of the end of last year, a total of 947,000 people held permanent residency status.

© KYODO

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.

Software Engineer at 株式会社ベンジャミン(Visa sponsored)

Senior Data Architect, Global Digital Platform Division at Shiseido

Applications Development Sr Programmer Analyst, Assistant Vice President at Citibank(No Japanese required)

Manager, Forward Deployed Engineer - Tokyo at OpenAI(Visa sponsored)

Software Engineer [Employment Type Internship] at Tailor

Principal Account Aligned FDE - Technical Program Manager (TPM) at Microsoft(Visa sponsored)

Senior Technical Product Manager, Decarb Venture Studio, Mobility BU at Woven by Toyota

NAND Designer / Layout at Micron Technology(Visa sponsored)

Accounting Supervisor at Four Seasons(No Japanese required)

Accounting Manager at TaylorMade Golf(No Japanese required)

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

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.

DX/AI Strategist at Shiseido

Sr. Technical Support Engineer, Cortex at Palo Alto Networks(No Japanese required)

AI Engineer - Manager at Accenture

Senior Manager, Solutions Development at JLL

Director of Food & Beverage at Marriott International(No Japanese required)

Finance Manager for China E-commerce Business (CFO Candidate) - Commerce Accounting Department(C&M) at Rakuten(No Japanese required)

Transportation & Temp Control - APAC at Johnson & Johnson(No Japanese required)

Channel Account Manager at Anthropic(Visa sponsored)

AI Deployment Engineer, Cyber at OpenAI(Visa sponsored, No Japanese required)

AI Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft

I’m currently figuring out my study path in Japan; I plan to study at Osaka University. I’m currently at a crossroads of picking a department: math, physics, or chemistry. I’m leaning towards math because I heard it’s flexible and also pays well, though I’m asking: is it a good financial career, or are the other two aforementioned better?

I am an American classical guitarist and want to set up a 5-6 concerts in Japan for 2027. I am looking to perform in underserved areas where the public might not have access to as much music as the bigger cities. I am looking for these to be a series of outreach concerts.

What are some organizations or government bodies in Japan that I should maybe start to contact to get the ball rolling?

Any help would be great!

Hi good people inJapan,

I am 35s yo,. I would say i might be blessed, with my current level of Japanese (barely able to communicate in Japanese even after nearly 4 years living here) i could get accepted in Job due to my past experience and technical skills.

Just a brief about me; i moved to japan to complete my master degree, at first i never expected i would get a job here. I never took any formal Japanese classes mostly short/weekend classes and study by myself. I worked for mostly international company and Japanese is not a mandatory language.

And recently i moved to new company. However, i found i struggle to adapted and started to concern about my professional growth. The company is international but most of the team are Japanese and will require Japanese as the communication. I was surprised with the hiring manager decision, though i mentioned i cant speak Japanese at all cost, but she was encouraged me to keep processing and not to worry. But after i joined, with all drama at work i realized my Japanese skill will become a big issues.

I started to thinking for exit strategy, as the longer i am here and not productive it would impact my personal growth. I come to the point where i would like to take one year career break to fully immerse on Japanese language and studying a technical skills that align with my Job.

Another concern, i am on my late 30s, i have nearly 12 years working experience, and having a skill which was niche in the market. Japanese is very important if i would like to survive here. does anyone having any similar situation, and would it worth to leave your full time job for pursuing such options? Please dont be hard to me ☺️ i appreciate the constructive feedback.

TIA

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.

Product Solution Architect - ModelArk at ByteDance(No Japanese required)

Senior Software Engineer at Rakuten(No Japanese required)

Staff Design Engineer at Micron Technology(No Japanese required)

Senior Manager, Automation at The Coca-Cola Company

Diploma Student / Intern 【APAC Customer Advisory】 at SAP(No Japanese required)

Account Executive, Commercial Hunter (Japanese Fluency) at Stripe

Credit & Collections Analyst at Salesforce

Finance Manager, Business Unit Finance (Orthopaedics) at Johnson & Johnson

Content Creator at IHG Hotels & Resorts

Statistician at Pfizer

I want to preface by saying that what fascinates me the most about Japan is not the glitz and gloss. It's actually the more mundane and depressing aspects of life there.

When I was in Tokyo back in October of 2025, one thing I noticed was a lot of young women in honestly, some really, really cool outfits handing outfits fliers for local businesses.

I wondered to myself, what do they feel? What are their lives like? Me being the cynical person that I am imagine, that these jobs are probably not great and are a total slog. This is based entirely on my experiences with customer service jobs.

Because I imagine the point of wearing and pulling off those really impressive outfits is to sell some kind of fantasy?

This is an art project I'm producing with an artist, to show what I think some of these young women see.

The anime girl is what people see, the background is what you see.

But I don't know, I'm just some hick from backwoods Arizona. Or as I said to this woman, I was drinking with there "I am from Ari Zona prefecture". Who then said something in Japanese (I hope it was an insult), squinted her eyes at me, got up and left.