Working in Japan: Jobs, Residence Statuses, Minimum Wage, Taxes and Economy

The Japanese job market is hiring: the MHLW records in July 2026 a ratio of 1.18 job offers per applicant, 1.00 for permanent jobs and 2.10 for new offers. The central bank describes “tight” labour market conditions. For a foreigner, the entry point is the residence status: the ISA guidebook distinguishes statuses that allow work in a specific field, those that authorise any activity (permanent resident, spouse of a Japanese national or permanent resident, long-term resident) and those that do not allow work in principle (temporary visitor, student, dependant).

For the search, the public Hello Work offices list job offers, and Employment Service Centres for Foreigners exist in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka (MOFA). The ISA guidebook reminds us that placement involves no payment by the candidate, that agencies must hold a licence and that working conditions must be provided in writing (pay, place, content). The V.I.E and V.I.A programmes, presented by the French embassy, are aimed at ages 18-28. For a plan to leave, the guide for company employees sets out the social protection options.

Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services: this status covers jobs requiring technical or humanities knowledge: engineer, interpreter, designer, language teacher, marketing manager. The ISA requires a degree in the field concerned or documented professional experience, and pay at least equal to that of a Japanese national. The lengths of stay granted are 5 years, 3 years, 1 year or 3 months.

Highly Skilled Professional: a points-based system built on academic background, experience and income. From 70 points, the ISA grants a 5-year stay, the possibility of carrying out several activities and eased conditions for permanent residence, with a shortened period that depends on the number of points. A separate scheme, J-Skip, has existed since April 2023 for exceptional profiles.

Other statuses: the ISA guidebook also cites the employee transferred within a group (Intra-company Transferee), the manager (Business Manager), the researcher, the teacher or the skilled worker. The application generally goes through a certificate of eligibility issued by the ISA, which the employer can request for the candidate. A change of employer must be notified to the ISA within 14 days. The ISA has also revised its procedure fees as of 1 October 2026: check the amount in force.

The MOFA lists 32 partner countries and regions in the programme. France has been on it since 2000, with a maximum of 1,800 visas a year. The conditions: be between 18 and 30 inclusive at filing, stay primarily for a holiday, travel without children or dependants, hold a valid passport, a return ticket or the funds to buy one, reasonable resources for the initial period, be in good health and have never received a Japanese working holiday visa. The application is filed with the embassy or a consulate of Japan in France.

Employment is an incidental activity meant to supplement the travel budget; bars, cabarets, nightclubs and gaming venues are prohibited, on pain of deportation. The participant reports their address to the city office within 14 days. For health, a stay of more than three months falls under national insurance (Kokumin Kenko Hoken), as the ISA guidebook indicates: see the working holiday visa guide, the page on working holiday visa insurance and the detail of healthcare reimbursement.

The MHLW wage structure survey (June 2025, companies with 10 or more employees) gives an average contractual monthly salary of 340,600 yen for full-time workers (373,400 for men, 285,900 for women). Only four prefectures exceed this average: Tokyo (418,300 yen), Kanagawa, Aichi and Osaka. For foreigners, the average salary is 254,300 yen (+4.8%), and 313,200 yen (+7.3%) for those in a specialised or technical function. The average hourly wage of part-time workers is 1,518 yen.

• Legal working time: 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week; a break of at least 45 minutes beyond 6 hours of work and 60 minutes beyond 8 hours; at least one day of rest a week (ISA).
• Overtime: it requires a written agreement (the “36” agreement); principle ceiling of 45 hours a month and 360 hours a year; premium of at least 25%, raised to 50% beyond 60 hours a month, 35% for work on a legal rest day, 25% between 10 pm and 5 am.
• Paid leave: 10 working days after six months of continuous presence with at least 80% attendance, up to 20 days with seniority.

Shakai hoken, social insurance, groups together health insurance (Kenko Hoken), the employees’ pension (Kosei Nenkin) and unemployment insurance; the ISA guidebook specifies that the employer and employee share health and pension contributions equally, and that the employee’s dependants pay no health contribution. Health rates are published by the employees’ health insurance association (Kyokai Kenpo) by prefecture; the guide to the healthcare system gives the detail. A self-employed person, for their part, falls under the national pension and their municipality’s health insurance.

National tax: seven brackets from 5% to 45% depending on taxable income, to which is added a reconstruction surtax of 2.1% of the tax until 2037; the National Tax Agency indicates that from 1 January 2027, this surtax will fall to 1.1% and be accompanied by a special defence levy of 1%. Resident tax: a rate of 10% (4% for the prefecture, 6% for the municipality) plus a flat-rate portion, calculated on the previous year’s income and owed by the person resident on 1 January, even if they leave the country afterwards (MIC, ISA).

An employee has tax withheld at source and settled at year-end by the employer. A resident is taxed on worldwide income; a non-permanent resident (at most 5 years of residence in the last 10 years) is taxed on Japanese-source income and on foreign income paid or transferred to Japan. The tax return is filed from 16 February to 15 March (ISA). A France-Japan tax treaty aims to avoid double taxation: its provisions can be checked on the French tax authority’s website. For social protection, a seconded employee can remain enrolled in French social security for up to 5 years, with a certificate (CLEISS, the French liaison centre for international social security): see seconded employee and the page on reimbursement.

The “Economic indicators” block above gives the updated growth, inflation, unemployment, GDP per capita, population and euro-yen exchange rate. Official sources provide the context. The Cabinet Office puts second-quarter 2026 growth at +0.4% on the quarter, or +1.4% at an annualised rate (second estimate of 8 September 2026). The Bank of Japan judges that the economy is recovering moderately despite the effect of the situation in the Middle East, supported by global demand linked to artificial intelligence.

On prices, the index excluding fresh food has recently been rising 1.5 to 2.0% over one year; the bank also cites the depreciation of the yen among the factors pushing up producer prices. On 18 September 2026, it raised its policy rate to 1.25% by 7 votes to 2, effective 24 September, and announces it will continue raising rates depending on the evolution of activity and prices.

Demographics explain the tension on labour: according to the Statistics Bureau, Japan has 122.93 million inhabitants on 1 July 2026 (−0.35% over one year), with 29.5% aged 65 and over and 59.8% aged 15-64. The foreign population reaches 3.896 million on 1 February 2026, up 12.14% over one year, of whom 86.7% are aged 15 to 64. The central bank notes that the sense of labour shortage remains strong and sustains wage growth: a favourable context for skilled candidates. For the stay itself, the guide to living in Japan details daily life.