Thinking about moving to Japan? You’re not alone—Japan is a popular destination for those hoping to move abroad. What’s more, Japan actually needs more international developers. But how easy is it to immigrate to and work in Japan? Scores of videos on social media warn that living in Japan is quite different from holidaying here, and graphic descriptions of exploitative companies also create doubt. The truth is that Japan is not the easiest country to immigrate to, nor is it the hardest. Some Japanese tech companies and developer roles offer great work-life balance and good compensation; others do not. Based on other developers’ experiences, you’ll thrive here if you: Are an experienced developer Value safety, good food, and convenience over a high salary Are willing to invest time and effort into learning Japanese over the long term Read on to discover if Japan is a good fit for you, and the best ways to get a visa and begin your life here. What is it like working as a developer in Japan? TokyoDev conducts an annual survey of international developers living in Japan. Many of the questions in TokyoDev’s 2024 survey specifically addressed respondents’ work environments. Compensation When TokyoDev asked about “workplace difficulties” in the 2024 survey, 45% of respondents said that “compensation” was their number one problem at work. Overall, compensation for developers in Japan is far lower than the US developer median salary of 120,000 USD (currently 17.5 million yen), but higher than the Indian developer median salary of 640,000 rupees (currently around 1.1 million yen). Yet evaluating compensation for international developers in Japan, specifically, is trickier than you might expect. It’s hard to define an expected salary range because international developers tend to work in different companies and roles than the average Japanese developer. According to a 2024 survey conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the average annual salary of software engineers in Japan was 5.69 million yen. In a survey conducted that same year by TokyoDev, though, English-speaking international software developers in Japan enjoyed a median salary of 8.5 million yen. Of those international developers who responded, only 71% of them worked at a company headquartered in Japan, and almost 80% of them used English always or frequently, with 79% belonging to an engineering team with many other non-Japanese members. Wages, then, are heavily influenced by a range of factors, but particularly by whether you’re working for a Japanese or international company. In general, 75% of the international developers surveyed made 6 million yen or more. The real question is, is that enough for you to be comfortable in Japan? The answer is likely to be yes, if you don’t have overseas financial obligations or dependents. If you do, you’ll want to look carefully at rent, grocery, and education prices in your area of choice to guesstimate the expense of your Japanese lifestyle. Work-life balance Japan has a tradition of long hours and overtime. The Financial Times reports that the Japanese government has taken many measures to reduce the phenomenon of death from overwork (過労死, karoushi), from capping overtime to 100 hours a month, to setting up a national hotline for employees to report abusive companies. The results seem mixed. The Financial Times article adds that in 2024, employees at 26,000 organizations reported working illegal overtime at 44.5% of those businesses. On the other hand, average working hours for men fell to below 45 hours per week, and for women to below 35, which is similar to average working hours in the US. Still, 72% of the developers surveyed by TokyoDev worked for less than 40 hours a week. In addition, 70% of TokyoDev respondents cited work-life balance as their top workplace perk. The number of respondents happy with their working conditions came in just below that, at 69%. There was some correlation between hours worked and the type of employer, though. Employees at international subsidiaries were slightly more likely to enjoy shorter work weeks than those at Japanese companies. Remote work Remote work is still relatively new in Japan. Although more offices adopted the practice during Covid, many of them are now backtracking and requiring employees to return to the office, often with a hybrid schedule. While only 9% of TokyoDev respondents weren’t allowed any remote work, 76% of those required to work in-office were employed by Japan-headquartered companies. By contrast, of the 16% who worked fully remotely, only 57% worked for a Japanese company. Those with the option to work remotely really enjoy it. When asked what their most important workplace benefit was, 49% of respondents answered “remote work,” outstripping every other answer by far. Job security A major plus of working in Japan is job security—which, given the waves of layoffs at American tech companies, may now seem extra appealing. It’s overwhelmingly difficult to fire or lay off an employee with a permanent contract (正社員, seishain) in Japan, due to labor laws designed to protect the individual. This may be why 54% of TokyoDev survey respondents named “job security” as their most important workplace perk. Not every company will adhere to labor protection laws, and sometimes businesses pressure employees to “voluntarily” resign. Nonetheless, employees have significant legal recourse when companies attempt to fire them, change their contracts, or alter the current workplace conditions (sometimes, even if those conditions were never stated in writing). Developer stories TokyoDev regularly interviews developers working at our client companies, for information on both their specific positions and their general work environment. Our interviewees work with a variety of technology in many different roles, and at companies ranging from fintech enterprises like PayPay to game companies like Wizcorp. Why do developers choose Japan? In 2024 TokyoDev also asked developers, “What’s your favorite thing about Japan?” The results were: Safety: 21% Food: 13% Convenience: 11% Culture: 8% Peacefulness: 7% Nature: 5% Interestingly, there was a strong correlation between the amount of time someone had lived in Japan and their answer. Those who had been in Japan three years or less more frequently chose “food” or “culture.” Those who’d lived in Japan for four or more years were significantly more likely to answer “safety” or “peacefulness.” Safety It’s true that Japan enjoys a lower crime rate than many developed nations. The Security Journal UK ranked it ninth in a list of the world’s twenty safest countries. In 2024, World Population Review selected Tokyo as the safest city in the world. The homicide rate in 2023 was only 0.23 per 100,000 people, and has been steadily declining since the nineties. There are a few women-specific concerns, such as sexual violence. Nonetheless, the subjective experience of many women in the TokyoDev audience is that Japan feels safe; for example, they experience no trepidation walking around late at night. Of course, crime statistics don’t take into account natural disasters, of which Japan has more than its fair share. Thanks to being located on the Ring of Fire, Japan regularly copes with earthquakes and volcanic activity, and its location in the Pacific means that it is also affected by typhoons and tsunamis. To compensate, Japan also takes natural disaster countermeasures extremely seriously. It’s certainly the only country I’ve been to that posts large-scale evacuation maps on the side of the street, stores emergency supply stockpiles in public parks, and often requires schoolchildren to keep earthquake safety headgear at their desks. Food Food is another major draw. Many respondents simply wrote that “food” or “fresh, affordable food” was their favorite thing about Japan, but a few listed specific dishes. Favorite Japanese foods of the TokyoDev audience include: Yakiniku (self-grilled meat) Ramen Peaches Sushi Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki (savory pancake) Curry rice Onigiri (rice balls) Of those, sushi was mentioned most often. One respondent also answered the question with “drinking,” if you think that should count! Personal experiences Our contributors have also shared their personal experiences of moving to and working in Japan. We’ve got articles from Filipino, Indonesian, Australian, Vietnamese, and Mongolian developers, as well as others sharing what it’s like to work as a female software developer in Japan, or to live in Japan with a disability. Why shouldn’t you live in Japan? Safety, food, convenience, and culture are the most commonly-cited upsides of living in Japan. The downsides are the necessity of learning the language and some strict, yet often-unspoken, cultural expectations. Language Fluency in Japanese is not strictly necessary to live or work in Japan. Access to government services for you and your family, such as Japanese public school, is possible even if you speak little Japanese. (That doesn’t mean that most city hall clerks speak English; usually they’ll either locate a translator, or work with you via a translation app.) Nonetheless, TokyoDev’s 2024 survey showed that language ability was highly correlated to social success in Japan. In particular, 56% of all respondents were happy or very happy with their adjustment to Japanese culture. Breaking down that number, though, 76% of those with fluent or native Japanese ability reported being happy with their cultural adjustment, while only 34% of those with little or no Japanese ability were similarly happy. The same held true for social life satisfaction: 59% of those with fluent or native Japanese ability were happy or very happy with their social life, compared to 42% of those who don’t speak much Japanese. While English study is compulsory in Japan and starts in elementary school, as of 2025, only 28% of Japanese people speak English, and most of them can’t converse with high fluency. Living and working in Japan is possible without Japanese, but it’s hard to integrate, make friends, and participate in cultural activities if you can’t communicate with the locals. Cultural expectations As mentioned above, fluency in Japanese is closely allied to fluency in Japanese culture. At the same time, one does not necessarily imply the other. It’s possible to be fluent in Japanese, but still not grasp many of the unspoken rules your Japanese friends, neighbors, and coworkers operate by. Japan’s culture is both high-context and specifically averse to confrontation and outspokenness; if you get it “wrong,” people aren’t likely to tell you so. Japanese culture also values conformity: as the saying goes, “the nail that sticks up, gets hammered down.” While there are hints of things changing, with many Japanese companies saying support for greater diversity is necessary, minorities or those who are different may experience pressure to fit in. Introspection is required: are you the kind of person who’s adept at “reading the room,” a highly-valued quality in Japan? Conversely, are you self-confident enough to not sweat the small stuff? Either of these personality types may do well in Japan, but if social acceptance is very important to you, and you’re also uncomfortable with feeling occasionally awkward or uncertain, then you may struggle more to adjust. I want to go! How can I get there? If you’ve decided to immigrate to Japan, there are a number of ways to acquire a work visa. The simplest way is to get hired by a company operating in Japan. Alternatively, you can start your own business in Japan, come over on a Working Holiday, or even—if you’re very determined—arrive first as an English teacher. Let’s begin with the most straightforward route: getting hired as a developer. Getting a developer job in Japan As mentioned before, Japan needs more international developers. Some types of developers, though, will find it easier to get a job in Japan. In particular, companies in Japan are looking for the following: Senior developers. Companies are particularly interested in those with management experience and soft skills such as communication and leadership. Backend developers. This is one of the most widely-available roles for those who don’t speak Japanese. Developers who know Python. Python is one of Japan’s top in-demand languages. AI and Machine Learning Specialists. Japan is leaning hard on AI to help cope with demographic changes. Those who already know, or are willing to learn, Japanese. Combining those criteria, an experienced developer who speaks Japanese should have little difficulty finding a job! If you’re none of these things, you don’t need to give up—you just need to be patient, flexible, and willing to think outside the box. As Mercari Senior Technical Recruiter Clement Chidiac told me, “I know a bunch of people that managed to land a job because they’ve tried harder, going to meetups, reaching out to people, networking, that kind of thing.” Edmund Ho, Principal Consultant at Talisman Corporation, agreed that overseas candidates hoping to work in Japan for the first time face a tough road. He believes candidates should maintain a realistic, but optimistic, view of the process. “Keep a longer mindset,” he suggested. “Maybe you don’t get an offer the first year, but you do the second year.” “Stepping-stone” jobs Candidates from overseas do face a severe disadvantage: many companies, even those founded by non-Japanese people, are only open to developers who already live in Japan. Although getting a work visa for an overseas employee is cheaper and easier in Japan than in many countries, it still presents a barrier some organizations are reluctant to overcome. By contrast, once you’re already on the ground, more companies will be interested in your skills. This is why some developers settle on a “stepping-stone” position—in other words, a job that may not be all you hoped for, but that is willing to sponsor your visa and bring you into the country. Here’s where some important clarification on Japanese work visas is required. Work visas The most common visa for developers is the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa, a broad-category visa for foreign workers in those fields. To qualify, a developer must have a college degree, or have ten years of work experience, or have passed an approved IT exam. Another relatively common visa for high-level developers is the Highly-Skilled Professional (HSP) visa. To acquire it, applicants must score at least 70 points on an assessment scale that addresses age, education level, Japanese level, income, and more. The HSP visa has many advantages, but there is one important difference between it, and the more standard Engineer visa. The Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa is not tied to a specific company. It grants you the legal right to work within those fields for a specific period of time in Japan. The Highly-Skilled Foreign Professional visa, on the other hand, is tied to a specific employer. If you want to change jobs, you’ll need to update your residency status with immigration. Some unscrupulous companies will try to claim that because they sponsored your Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Servicesvisa, you are obligated to remain with their company or risk being deported. This is not the case. If you do leave your job without another one lined up, you have three months to find another before you may be at risk for deportation. In addition, the fields of work covered by the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa are incredibly broad, and include everything from sales to product development to language instruction. As TokyoDev specifically confirmed with immigration, you can even come to Japan as an English instructor, then later work as a developer, without needing to alter your visa. Those with the HSP visa will need to go to immigration and alter their residency status each time they change roles. However, if you have the points and qualifications for an HSP visa, that means you’re also eligible for Permanent Residency within one to three years. Once you’ve obtained Permanent Residency, you’re free to pursue whatever sort of employment you like. International or Japanese company? As you begin your job hunt, you’ll hopefully receive responses from several sorts of companies: Japanese companies that also primarily hire Japanese people, Japanese companies with designated multinational developer teams, companies that were founded in Japan but nonetheless hire international developers for a variety of positions, and international subsidiaries. There are advantages and disadvantages to working with mostly-Japanese or mostly-international companies. Japanese companies The more Japanese a company is—both in philosophy and personnel—the more you’ll need Japanese language skills to thrive there. It’s true that a number of well-established Japanese tech companies are now creating developer teams designed to be multinational from the outset: typically, these are very English-language friendly. Some organizations, such as Money Forward, have even adopted English as the official company language. However, this often results in an institutional language barrier between development teams and the rest of the company, which is usually staffed by Japanese speakers. Developers are still encouraged to learn Japanese, particularly as they climb the promotional ladder, to help facilitate interdepartmental communication. Some companies, such as DeepX and Beatrust, either offer language classes themselves or provide a stipend for language learning. In addition to the language, you’ll also need to become “fluent” in Japanese business norms, which can be much more rigid and hierarchical than American or European company cultures. For example, at introductory drinking parties (themselves a potential surprise for many!), it is customary for new employees or women employees to go around with a bottle of beer and pour glasses for their managers and the company’s senior management. As mentioned in the cultural expectations section, most Japanese people won’t correct you even if you’re doing it all wrong, which leaves foreigners to discover their gaffes via trial-and-error. The advantage here is that you’ll be pressured, hopefully in a good way, to adapt swiftly to the Japanese language and business culture. There’s a sink-or-swim element to this approach, but if you’re serious about settling in Japan, then this “downside” could benefit you in the long run. Finally, there is the above-mentioned issue of compensation. On average, international companies pay more than Japanese ones; the median salary difference is around three million yen per year. Specific roles may be paid at higher rates, though, and most Japanese companies do offer bonuses. Many Japanese companies also offer other perks, such as housing stipends, spouse and child allowances, etc. If you receive an offer, it’s worth examining the whole compensation package before you make a decision. International companies The advantages of working either for an international company, or for a Japanese company that already employs many non-Japanese people, are straightforward: you can usually communicate in English, you already understand most of the business norms, and such companies typically pay developers more. You do run the risk of getting stuck in a rut, though. As mentioned earlier, TokyoDev found in its own survey that the correlation between Japanese language skills and social life satisfaction is high. You can of course study Japanese in your free time—and many do—but the more your work environment and social life revolve around English, the more difficult acquiring Japanese becomes. Want a job? Start here! If you’re ready to begin your job hunt, you can start with the TokyoDev job board. TokyoDev only works with companies we feel good about sending applicants to, and the job board includes positions that don’t require Japanese and that accept candidates from abroad. Other alternatives These visas don’t lead directly to working as a software developer in Japan, but can still help you get your foot in the door. DIY options If you prefer to be your own boss, there are several visas that allow you to set up a business in Japan. The Business Manager visa is typically good for one year, although repeated applicants may get longer terms. Applicants should have five million yen in a bank account when they apply, and there are some complicated requirements for getting and keeping the visa, such as maintaining an office, paying yourself a minimum salary, following proper accounting procedures, etc. The Startup visa is another option if the Business Manager visa appeals to you, but you don’t yet have the funds or connections to make it happen. You’ll be granted the equivalent of a Business Manager visa for up to one year so that you can launch your business in Japan. Working Holiday visa This is the path our own founder Paul McMahon took to get his first developer job in Japan. If you meet various qualifications, and you belong to a country that has a Working Holiday visa agreement with Japan, you can come to Japan for a period of one year and do work that is “incidental” to your holiday. In practice, this means you can work almost any job except for those that are considered “immoral” (bars, clubs, gambling, etc.). The Working Holiday visa is a great opportunity for those who have the option. It allows you to experience living and working in Japan without any long-term commitments, and also permits you to job-hunt freely without time or other visa constraints. J-Find visa The J-Find visa is a one-year visa, intended to let graduates of top universities job-hunt or prepare to found a start-up in Japan. To qualify, applicants should have: A degree from a university ranked in the top 100 by at least two world university rankings, or completed a graduate course there Graduated within five years of the application date At least 200,000 yen for initial living expenses TokyoDev contributor Oguzhan Karagözoglu received a J-Find visa, though he did run into some difficulties, particularly given immigration’s unfamiliarity with this relatively new type of visa. Digital Nomad visa This is another new visa category that allows foreigners from specific countries, who must make over 10 million yen or more a year, to work remotely from Japan for six months. Given that the application process alone can take months, the visa isn’t extendable or renewable, and you’re not granted residency, it’s questionable whether the pay-off is worth the effort. Still, if you have the option to work remotely and want to test out living in Japan before committing long-term, this is one way to do that. TokyoDev contributor Christian Mack was not only one of the first to acquire the Digital Nomad visa, but has since opened a consultancy to help others through the process. Conclusion If your takeaway from this article is, “Japan, here I come!” then there are more TokyoDev articles that can help you on your way. For example, if you want to bring your pets with you, you should know that you need to start preparing the import paperwork up to seven months in advance. If you’re ready now to start applying for jobs, check out the TokyoDev job board. You’ll also want to look at how to write a resume for a job in Japan, and our industry insider advice on passing the resume screening process. These tips for interviewing at Japanese tech companies would be useful, and when you’re ready for it, see this guide to salary negotiations. Once you’ve landed that job, we’ve got articles on everything from bringing your family with you, to getting your first bank account and apartment. In addition, the TokyoDev Discord hosts regular discussions on all these topics and more. It’s a great chance to make developer friends in Japan before you ever set foot in the country. Once you are here, you can join some of Japan’s top tech meetups, including many organized by TokyoDev itself. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Do you feel that the number of applications needed to land a role has skyrocketed? If so, your instincts are correct. According to a Workday Global Workforce Report in September 2024, job applications are growing at a rate four times faster than job openings. This growth is fuelled by a tight job market as well as the new availability of remote work and online job boards. It’s also one of the results of improved generative AI. Around half of all job seekers use AI tools to create their resumes or fill out applications. More than that, a 2024 survey found that 29 percent of applicants were using AI tools to complete skills tests, while 26 percent employed AI tools to mass apply to positions, regardless of fit or qualifications. This never-before-seen flood of applications poses new hardships for both job candidates and recruiters. Candidates must ensure that their applications stand out enough from the pile to receive a recruiter’s attention. Recruiters, meanwhile, are struggling to manage the sheer number of resumes they receive, and winnow through heaps of irrelevant or unqualified applicants to find the ones they need. These problems worsen if you’re an overseas candidate hoping to find a role in Japan. Japan is a popular country for migrants, thereby increasing the competition for each open position. In addition, recruiters here have set expectations and criteria, some of which can be triggered unknowingly by candidates unfamiliar with the Japanese market. With all this in mind, how can you ensure your resume stands out from the crowd—and is there anything else you can do to pass the screening stage? I interviewed nine recruiters, both external and in-house, to learn how applicants can increase their chances of success. Below are their detailed suggestions on improving your resume, avoiding Japan-specific red flags, and persisting even in the face of rejection. The competition The first questions I asked each recruiter were: How many resumes do you review in a month? How long does it take you to review a resume? Some interviewees work for agencies or independently, while others are employed by the companies they screen applicants for. Surprisingly, where they work doesn’t consistently affect how many resumes they receive. What does affect their numbers is whether they accept candidates from overseas. One anonymous contributor stated the case plainly: “The volume of applications depends on whether the job posting targets candidates in Japan or internationally.” In Japan: we receive around 20–100+ applications within the first three days. Outside of Japan: a single job posting can attract 200–1,000 applications within three days. ”[Because] we are generally only open to current residents of Japan, our total applicant count is around 100 or so in a month,” said Caleb McClain, who is both a Senior Software Engineer and a hiring manager at Lunaris. “In the past, when we accepted applications from abroad it was much higher, though I unfortunately don’t have stats for that period. It was unmanageable for a single person (me) reviewing the applications, though! “Given that I deal with 100 or so per month, I probably spend a bit more time than others screening applications, but it depends. I’ll give every candidate a quick read through within a minute or so and, if I didn’t find a reason to immediately reject them, I’ll spend a few more minutes reading about their experience more deeply. I’ll check out the companies they have listed for their experience if I’m not familiar with them and, if they have a Github or personal projects listed, I’ll also spend a few minutes checking those out.” For companies that accept overseas candidates, the workload is greater. Laine Takahashi, a Talent Acquisition employee at HENNGE, estimated that every month they receive around 200 completed applications for engineering mid-career roles and 270 applications for their Global Internship program. Since their application process starts with a coding test as well as a resume and cover letter, it can take up to two weeks to review, score, and respond to each application. Clement Chidiac, Senior Technical Recruiter at Mercari, explained that the number of resumes he reviews monthly varies widely. “As an example, one of the current roles I am working on received 250+ applications in three weeks. Typically a recruiter at Mercari can work from 5–20 positions at a time, so this gives you an idea.” He also said that his initial quick scan of each resume might take between 5–30 seconds. External recruiters process resumes at a similar rate. Edmund Ho, Principal Consultant for Talisman Corporation, works with around 15 clients a month. To find them, he looks at 20–30 resumes a day, or 600–700 a month, and can only spend 30 seconds to 2 minutes on each one before coming to a decision. Axel Algoet, founder and CEO of InnoHyve, only reviews 200 resumes a month—but “if you count LinkedIn profiles, it’s probably around 1,000.” Why LinkedIn? “I usually start by looking at LinkedIn—the companies they’ve worked at and the roles they’ve had,” Algoet explained. “From there, I can quickly tell whether I’m open to talking with them or not. Since I focus on a very specific segment of roles, I can rapidly identify if a candidate might be a fit for my clients.” Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) Given the sheer volume of resumes to review and respond to, it’s not surprising that companies are using Applicant Tracking Systems. What’s more unexpected is how few recruiters personally use an ATS or AI when evaluating candidates. Both Ho and Algoet reported that though a high percentage of their clients use an ATS—as many as 90 percent, according to Ho—they themselves don’t use one. Ho in particular emphasized that he manually reads every resume he receives. Lunaris doesn’t use an ATS, “unless you count Notion,” joked McClain. “Open to recommendations!” Koji Hamane, Vice President of Human Resources at KOMOJU, said, “Up to 2023, we were managing the pipeline on a spreadsheet basis, and you cannot do it anymore with 3,000 applications [a year]. So it’s more effective and efficient in terms of tracking where each applicant sits in the recruiting process, but it also facilitates communication among [the members of] the interview panel.” The ATS KOMOJU uses is Workable. “Workable, I mean, you know, it works,” Hamane joked. “It’s much better than nothing. . . . Workable actually shows the valid points of the candidates, highlights characteristics, and evaluates the fit for the required positions, like from a 0 to 100 point basis. It helps, but actually you need to go through the details anyway, to properly assess the candidates.” Chidiac explained that Mercari also uses Workable, which has a feature that matches keywords from the job description to the resume, giving the resume a score. “I’ve never made a decision based on that,” said Chidiac. “It’s an indicator, but it’s not accurate enough yet to use it as a decision-making tool.” For example, it doesn’t screen out non-Japanese speakers when Japanese is a requirement for the role. I think these [ATS] tools are going to be better, and they’re going to work. I think it’s a good idea to help junior recruiters. But I think it has to be used as a ‘decision helper,’ not a decision-making tool. There’s also an element of ethics—do you want to be screened out by a robot? HENNGE uses a different ATS, Greenhouse, mostly to communicate with candidates and send them the results of their application. “ Everything they submit,” said Sonam Choden, HENNGE’s Software Engineer Recruiter, “is actually manually checked by somebody in our team. It’s not that everything is automated for the coding test—the bot only checks if they meet the minimum score. Then there is another [human] screener that will actually look over the test itself. If they pass the coding test, then we have another [human] screener looking through each and every document, both the resume and the cover letter.” How to format your resume The good news is that, according to our interviewees, passing the resume screening doesn’t involve trying to master ATS algorithms. However, since many recruiters are manually evaluating a high number of resume every day, they can spend at most only a few minutes on each one. That’s why it’s critical to make your resume stand out positively from the rest. You can see tips on formatting and good practices in our article on the subject, but below recruiters offer detailed explanations of exactly what they’re looking for—and, importantly, what red flags lead to rejection. Red flags The biggest red flags called out by recruiters are frequent job changes, not having skills required by the position, applications from abroad when no visa support is available, mismatches in salary expectations, and lack of required Japanese language ability. Frequent job changes Jumpiness. Job-hopping. Career-switching. Although they had different names for it, nearly everyone listed frequent job changes as the number one red flag on a candidate’s resume—at least, when applying to jobs in Japan. “There’s a term HR in Japan uses: ‘Oh, this guy is jumpy,’” Clement Chidiac told me. When he asked what they meant by that, they told him it referred to a candidate who had only been in their last job for two years or less. “And my first reaction was like, ‘Is that a bad thing?’ I think in the US, and in most tech companies, people change over every two to three years. I remember at my university in France, I was told you need to change your job externally or internally every three years to grow. But in Japan, there’s still the element of loyalty, right?” It’s changing a little bit, but when I have a candidate, a good candidate, that has had four jobs in the past ten years, I know I’m going to get questioned. . . . If I get a candidate that’s changed jobs three times in the past three years, they’re not likely to pass the screening, especially if they’re overseas. “Which is fair, right?” he added. “Because it’s a bit expensive, it’s a bit of a risk, and [it takes] a bit of time.” Why do Japanese companies feel so strongly on this issue? Some of it is simply history—lifetime employment at a single company was the Japanese ideal until quite recently. But as Chidiac pointed out, hiring overseas candidates represents additional investments in both money and time spent navigating the visa system, so it makes sense for Japanese companies to move more cautiously when doing so. Sayaka Sasaki, who was previously employed as a Sourcing Specialist by Tech Japan Inc., told me that recruiters attempt to use past job history to foresee the future. “A lack of consistency in career history can also lead to rejection,” she said. “Recruiters can often predict a candidate’s future career plans and job-switching tendencies based on their past job-change patterns.” Koji Hamane has another reason for considering job tenure. “When you try to leave some achievement or visible impact, [you have to] take some time in the same job, in the same company. So from that perspective, the tenure of each position on a resume really matters. Even though you say, ‘I have this capability and I have this strength,’ your tenure at each company is very short, and [you] don’t leave an impact on those workplaces.” In this sense, Hamane is not evaluating loyalty for its own sake, but considering tenure as a variable to assess the reproducibility of meaningful achievement. For him, achievement and impact—rather than tenure length itself—are the true signals of qualities such as leadership and resilience. Long-time or regular freelancers may face similar scrutiny. Though Chidiac is reluctant to call freelancing a red flag, he acknowledged that it can cause problems. “[With] an engineer that’s been doing freelance for the past three or four years, I know I’m going to get pushback from the hiring team, because they might have worked on three-, four-, five-month projects. They might not have the depth of knowledge that companies on a large scale might want to hire.” Also my question is, if that person has been working on their own for three or four years, how are they going to work in the team? How long are they going to stay with us? Are they going to be happy being part of a company and then maybe having to come to the office, that kind of thing? He gave an example: “If you get 100 applicants for backend engineer roles, it’s sad, but you’re going to go with the ones that fit the most traditional background. If I’m hiring and I’m getting five candidates from PayPay . . . I might prioritize these people as opposed to a freelancer that’s based out of Spain and wants to relocate to Japan, because there are a lot of question marks. That’s the reality of the candidate pool. “Now, if the freelancer in Spain has the exact experience that I want, and I don’t have other applicants, then yeah, of course I’ll talk to that person. I’ll take time to understand [their reasons].” How to “fix” job-hopping on your resume If you have changed jobs frequently, is rejection guaranteed? Not necessarily. These recruiters also offered a host of tips to compensate for job-hopping, freelancing stints, or gaps in your work history. The biggest tip: include an explanation on your resume. Edmund Ho advises offering a “reason for leaving” for short-term jobs, defining short-term as “less than three years.” For example, if the job was a limited contract role, then labelling it as such will prevent Japanese companies from drawing the conclusion that you left prematurely. Lay-offs and failed start-ups will also be looked upon more benevolently than simply quitting. In addition, Ho suggested that those with difficult resumes avail themselves of an agent or recruiter. Since the recruiter will contact the company directly, they have the chance to advocate and explain your job history better than the resume alone can. Sasaki also feels that explanations can help, but added a caveat: “Being honest about what you did during a gap period is not a bad thing. However, it is important to present it in a positive light. For example, if you traveled abroad or spent time at your family home during the gap period, you could write something like this: ‘Once I start a new job, it will be difficult to take a long vacation. So, I took advantage of this break to visit [destination], which I had always dreamed of seeing. Experiencing [specific highlight] was a lifelong goal, and it helped me refresh myself while boosting my motivation for work.’ “If the gap period lasted for more than a year, it is necessary to provide a convincing explanation for the hiring manager. For instance, you could write, ‘I used this time to enhance my skills by studying [specific subject] and preparing for [certification].’ If you have actually obtained a qualification, that would be a perfect way to present your time productively.” Hamane answered the question quite differently. “Do you gamble?” he asked me. He went on: “ When I say ‘gamble,’ ultimately recruiting is decision-making under uncertainty, right? It comes with risks. But the most important question is, what are the downside risks and upside risks?” “In the game of hiring,” Hamane explained, “employers are looking for indicators of future performance. Tenure, to me, is not inherently valuable, but serves as a variable to assess whether a candidate had the opportunity to leave a meaningful impact. It’s not about loyalty or raw length of time, but about whether qualities like resilience or leadership had the chance to emerge. Those qualities often require time. However, I don’t judge the number of years on its own—what matters is whether there is evidence of real contributions.” A shorter tenure with clear impact can be just as strong a signal as longer service. That’s why I view tenure not categorically, but contextually—as one indicator among others. If possible, then, a candidate should focus on highlighting their work contributions and unique strengths in their resume, which can counterbalance the perceived “downside risk” of job-hopping. Incompatibility with the job description Most other red flags can be categorized as “incompatible with the job description.” This includes: Not possessing the required skills Applying from abroad when the position doesn’t offer visa support Mismatch in salary expectations Not speaking Japanese Many of the resumes recruiters receive are wholly unsuited for the position. Hamane estimated that 70 percent of the resumes his department reviews are essentially “random applications.” Almost all the applications are basically not qualified. One of the major reasons why is the Internet. The Internet enables us to apply for any job from anywhere, right? So there are so many applications with no required skills. . . .  From my perspective, they are applying on a batch basis, like mass applications. Even if the candidate has the required job skills, if they’re overseas and the position doesn’t offer visa support, their resume almost certainly won’t pass. Caleb McClain, whose company is currently hiring only domestically, said, “The most common reason [for rejection] is the person is applying from abroad. . . . After that, if there’s just a clear skills mismatch, we won’t move forward with them.” Axel Algoet pointed out that nationality can be a problem even if the company is open to hiring from overseas. “I support many companies in the space, aerospace, and defense industries,” he said, “and they are not allowed to hire candidates from certain countries.” It’s important to comprehend any legal issues surrounding sensitive industries before applying, to save both your own and the company’s time. He also mentioned that, while companies do look for candidates with experience at top enterprises, a prestigious background can actually be a red flag—-mostly in terms of compensation. Japanese tech companies on average pay lower wages than American businesses, and a mismatch in expectations can become a major stumbling block in the application process overall. “Especially [for] candidates coming from companies like Indeed or some foreign firms,” Algoet said, “if I know I won’t be able to match or beat their current salary, I tell them upfront.” Not speaking Japanese is another common stumbling block. Companies have different expectations of candidates when it comes to Japanese language ability. Algoet said that, although in his own niche Japanese often isn’t required at all, a Japanese level below JLPT N2 can be a problem for other roles. Sasaki agreed that speaking Japanese to at least the JLPT N3 level would open more doors. Anticipating potential rejection points If you can anticipate why recruiters might reject you, you can structure your resume accordingly, highlighting your strengths while deemphasizing any weak points. For example, if you don’t live in Japan but do speak Japanese, it’s important to bring attention to that fact. “Something that’s annoying,” said Chidiac, “that I’m seeing a lot from a hiring manager point of view, is that they sort of anticipate or presume things. . . . ‘That person has only been in Japan for a year, they can’t speak Japanese.’ But there are some people that have been [going to] Japanese school back home.” That’s why he urges candidates to clearly state both their language ability and their connections to Japan in their resume whenever possible. Chidiac also mentioned seniority issues. “It’s important that you highlight any elements of seniority.” However, he added, “Seniority means different things depending on the environment.” That’s why context is critical in your resume. If you’ve worked for a company in another country or another industry, the recruiter may not intuitively know much about the scale or complexity of the projects you’ve worked on. Without offering some context—the size of the project, the size of the team, the technologies involved, etc.—it’s difficult for recruiters to judge. If you contextualize your projects properly, though, Chidiac believes that even someone with relatively few years of experience may still be viewed favorably for higher roles. If you’ve led a very strong project, you might have the seniority we want. Finally, Edmund Ho suggested an easy trick for those without a STEM degree: just put down the university you graduated from, and not your major. “It’s cheating!” he said with a chuckle. Green flags Creating a great resume isn’t just about avoiding pitfalls. Your resume may also be missing some of the green flags recruiters get excited to see, which can open doors or lead to unexpected offers. Niche skills Niche skills were cited by several as not only being valuable in and of themselves, but also being a great way to open otherwise closed doors. Even when the job description doesn’t call for your unusual ability or experience, it’s probably worth including them in your resume. “I’ll of course take into consideration the requirements as written in our current open listings,” said McClain, “as that represents the core of what we are looking for at any given time. However, I also try to keep an eye out for interesting individuals with skills or experience that may benefit us in ways we haven’t considered yet, or match well with projects that aren’t formally planned but we are excited about starting when we have the time or the right people.” Chidiac agrees that he takes special note of rare skills or very senior candidates on a resume. “We might be able to create an unseeable headcount to secure a rare talent. . . . I think it’s important to have that mindset, especially for niche areas. Machine learning is one that comes to mind, but it could also be very senior [candidates], like staff level or principal level engineers, or people coming from very strong companies, or people that solve problems that we want to solve at the moment, that kind of thing.” I call it the opportunistic approach, like the unusual path, but it’s important to have that in mind when you apply for a company, because you might not be a fit for a role now, but you might not be aware that a role is going to open soon. Sasaki pointed out that niche skills can compensate for an otherwise relatively weak resume, or one that would be bypassed by more traditional Japanese companies. “If the company you are applying to is looking for a niche skill set that only you possess, they will want to speak with you in an interview. So don’t lose hope!” Tailoring to the job description “I don’t think there’s a secret recipe to automatically pass the resume screening, because at the end of the day, you need to match the job, right?” said Chidiac. “But I’ve seen people that use the same resume for different roles, and sometimes it’s missing [relevant] experience or specific keywords. So I think it’s important to really read the job description and think about, ‘Okay, these are all the main skills they want. Let me highlight these in some way.’” If you’re a cloud infrastructure engineer, but you’ve done a lot of coding in the past, or you use a specific technology but it doesn’t show on your CV, you may be automatically rejected either by the recruiter or by the [ATS]. But if you make sure that, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve seen the need for coding skill. I’m going to add that I was a software engineer when I started and I’m doing coding on my side project,’ that will help you with the screening. It’s not necessary to entirely remake your resume each time, Chidiac believes, but you should at least ensure that at the top of the resume you highlight the skills that match the job description. Connections to Japan While most of this advice would be relevant anywhere in the world, recruiters did offer one additional tip for applying in Japan—emphasizing your connection to the country. “Whenever a candidate overseas writes a little thing about any ties to Japan, it usually helps,” said Chidiac. For example, he believes that it helps to highlight your Japanese language ability at the top of your resume. [If] someone writes like, ‘I want to come to Japan,’ ‘I’ve been going to Japanese school for the last five years,’ ‘I’ve got family in Japan,’ . . . that kind of stuff usually helps. Laine Takahashi confirmed that HENNGE shows extra interest in those kinds of candidates. “Either in the cover letter or the CV,” she said, “if they’re not living in Japan, we want them to write about their passion for coming to Japan.” Ho went so far as to state that every overseas candidate he’d helped land a job in Japan had either already learned some Japanese, or had an interest in Japanese culture. Tourists who’d just enjoyed traveling in Japan were less successful, he’d found. How important is a cover letter? Most recruiters had similar advice for candidates, but one serious point of contention arose: cover letters. Depending on their company and hiring style, interviewees’ opinions ranged widely on whether cover letters were necessary or helpful. Cover letters aren’t important “I was trying to remember the last time I read a cover letter,” said Clement Chidiac, “and I honestly don’t think I’ve ever screened an application based on the cover letter.” Instead, Mercari typically requests a resume and poses some screening questions. Chidiac thought this might be a controversial opinion to take, but it was echoed strongly by around half of the other interviewees. When applying to jobs in Japan, there’s no need to write a cover letter, Edmund Ho told me. “Companies in Japan don’t care!” He then added, “One company, HENNGE, uses cover letters. But you don’t need,” he advised, “to write a fancy cover letter.” “I never ask for cover letters,” said Axel Algoet. “Instead, I usually set up a casual twenty-minute call between the hiring manager and the candidate, as a quick intro to decide if it’s worth moving forward with the interview process.” Getting to skip the cover letter and go straight to an early-stage interview is a major advantage Algoet is able to offer his candidates. “That said,” he added, “if a candidate is rejected at the screening stage and I feel the client is making a mistake, we sometimes work on a cover letter together to give it another shot.” Cover letters are extremely important According to Sayaka Sasaki, though, Japanese companies don’t just expect cover letters—they read them quite closely. “Some people may find this hard to believe,” said Sasaki, “but many Japanese companies carefully analyze aspects of a candidate’s personality that cannot be directly read from the text of a cover letter. They expect to see respect, humility, enthusiasm, and sincerity reflected in the writing.” Such companies also expect, or at least hope for, brevity and clarity. “Long cover letters are not a good sign,” said Koji Hamane. “You need to be clear and concise.” He does appreciate cover letters, though, especially for junior candidates, who have less information on their resume. “It supplements [our knowledge of] the candidate’s objectives, and helps us to verify the fit between the candidate’s motivation and the job and the company.” Caleb McClain feels strongly that a good cover letter is the best way for a candidate to stand out from a crowd. “After looking at enough resumes,” he said, “you start to notice similarities and patterns, and as the resume screener I feel a bit of exhaustion over trying to pick out what makes a person unique or better-suited for the position than another.” A well-written and personal cover letter that expresses genuine interest in joining ‘our’ team and company and working on ‘our’ projects will make you stand out and, assuming you meet the requirements otherwise, I will take that interest into serious consideration. “For example,” McClain continued, “we had an applicant in the past who wrote about his experience using our e-commerce site, SolarisJapan, many years ago, and his positive impressions of shopping there. Others wrote about their interests which clearly align with our businesses, or about details from our TokyoDev company profile that appealed to them.” McClain urged candidates to “really tie your experience and interests into what the company does, show us why you’re the best fit! Use the cover letter to stand out in the crowd and show us who you are in ways that a standard resume cannot. If you have interesting projects on Github or blogs on technical topics, share them! But of course,” he added, “make sure they are in a state where you’d want others to read them.” What to avoid in your cover letter “However,” McClain also cautioned, “[cover letters are] a double-edged sword, and for as many times as they’ve caused an application to rise to the top, they’ve also sunk that many.” For this reason, it’s best not to attach a cover letter unless one is specifically requested. Since cover letters are extremely important to some recruiters, however, you should have a good one prepared in advance—and not one authored by an AI tool. “I sometimes receive cover letters,” McClain told me, “that are very clearly written by AI, even going so far as to leave the prompt in the cover letter. Others simply rehash points from their resume, which is a shame and feels like a waste. This is your chance to really sell yourself!” He wasn’t the only recruiter who frowned on using AI. “Avoid simply copying and pasting AI-generated content into your cover letter,” Sasaki advised. “At the very least, you should write the base structure yourself. Using AI to refine your writing is acceptable, but hiring managers tend to dislike cover letters that clearly appear to be AI-written.” Laine Takahashi and Sonam Choden at HENNGE have also received their share of AI-generated letters. Sometimes, Choden explained, the use of AI is blatantly obvious, because the places where the company or applicant’s name should be written aren’t filled out. That doesn’t mean they’re opposed to all use of AI, though. “[The screeners] do not have a problem with the usage of AI technology. It’s just that [you should] show a bit more of your personality,” Takahashi said. She thinks it’s acceptable to use AI “just for making the sentences a bit more pretty, for example, but the story itself is still yours.” A bigger mistake would be not writing a cover letter at all. “There are cases,” Takahashi explained, “where perhaps the candidate thought that we actually don’t look at or read the cover letter.” They sent the CV, and then the cover letter was like, ‘Whatever, you’re not going to read this anyway.’ That’s an automatic fail from our side. “We do understand,” said Choden, “that most developers now think cover letters are an outdated type of process. But for us, there is a lot of benefit in actually going through with the cover letter, because it’s really hard to judge someone by one piece like a resume, right? So the cover letter is perfect to supplement with things that you might not be able to express in a one-page CV.” Other tips for success The interviewees offered a host of other tips to help candidates advance in the application process. Recruiters vs job boards There are pros and cons to working with a recruiter as opposed to applying directly. Partnering with a recruiter can be a complex process in its own right, and candidates should not expect recruiters to guarantee a specific placement or job. Edmund Ho pointed out some of the advantages of working with a recruiter from the start of your job search. Not only can they help fix your resume, or call a company’s HR directly if you’re rejected, but these services are free. After all, external recruiters are paid only if they successfully place you with a company. Axel Algoet also recommended candidates find a recruiter, but he offered a few caveats to this general advice. “Many candidates are unaware of the candidate ownership rule—which means that when a recruiter submits your application, they ‘own’ it for the next 12–18 months. There’s nothing you can do about it after that point.” By that, he means that the agency you work with will be eligible for a fee if you are hired within that timeframe. Other agencies typically won’t submit your application if it is currently “owned” by another. This affects TokyoDev as well: if you apply to a company with a recruiter, and then later apply to another role at that company via TokyoDev within 12 months of the original application, the recruiter receives the hiring fee rather than TokyoDev. That’s why, Algoet said, you should make sure your recruiter is a good fit and can represent you properly. “If you feel they can’t,” he suggested, “walk away.” And if you have less than three years of experience, he suggests skipping a recruiter entirely. “Many companies don’t want to pay recruitment fees for junior candidates,” he added, “but that doesn’t mean they won’t hire you. Reach out to hiring managers directly.” From the internal recruiter’s perspective, Sonam Choden is in favor of candidates who come through job boards. “I think we definitely have more success with job boards where people are actively directly applying, rather than candidates from agents. In terms of the requirements, the candidates introduced by agents have the experience and what we’re looking for, but those candidates introduced by agents might not necessarily be looking for work, or even if they are . . . [HENNGE] might not be their first choice.” Laine Takahashi agreed and cited TokyoDev as one of HENNGE’s best sources for candidates. We’ve been using TokyoDev for the longest time . . . before the [other] job boards that we’re using now. I think TokyoDev was the one that gave us a good head start for hiring inside Japan. “And now we’re expanding to other job boards as well,” she said, “but still, TokyoDev is [at] the top, definitely.” Follow up Ho casually nailed the dilemma around sending a message or email to follow up on your application. “It’s always best to follow up if you don’t hear back,” he said, “but if you follow up too much, it’s irritating.” The question is, how much is too much? When is it too soon to message a recruiter or hiring manager? Ho gave a concrete suggestion: “Send a message after three days to one week.” For Chidiac, following up is a strategy he’s used himself to great effect. “Something that I’ve always done when I look for a job is ping people on LinkedIn, trying to anticipate who is the hiring manager for that role, or who’s the recruiter for that role, and say ‘Hey, I want to apply,’ or ‘I’ve applied.’” [I’ve said] ‘I know I might not be able to do this and this and that, but I’ve done this and this and this. Can we have a quick chat? Do you need me to tailor my CV differently? Do you have any other roles that you think would be a good fit?’ And then, follow up frequently. “This is something that’s important,” he added, “showing that you’ve researched about the company, showing that you’ve attended meetups from time to time, checking the [company] blogs as well. I’ve had people that just said, ‘Hey, I’ve seen on the blogs that you’re working on this. This is what I’ve done in my company. If you’re hiring [for] this team, let me know, right?’ So that could be a good tip to stand out from other applicants. [But] I think there’s no rule. It’s just going to be down to individuals.” “You might,” he continued, “end up talking to someone who’s like, ‘Hey, don’t ever contact me again.’ As an agency recruiter that happened to me, someone said, ‘How did you get my phone [number]? Don’t ever call me again.’ . . . [But] then a lot of the time it’s like, ‘Oh, we’re both French, let’s help each other out,’ or, ‘Oh, yeah, we were at the same university,’ or ‘Hey, I know you know that person.’” Chidiac gave a recent example of a highly-effective follow-up message. “He used to work in top US tech companies for the past 25 years. [After he applied to Mercari], the person messaged me out of the blue: ‘I’m in Japan, I’m semi-retired, I don’t care about money. I really like what Mercari is doing. I’ve done X and Y at these companies.’ . . . So yeah, I was like, I don’t have a role, but this is an exceptional CV. I’ll show it to the hiring team.” There are a few caveats to this advice, however. First, a well-researched, well-crafted follow-up message is necessary to stand out from the crowd—and these days, there is quite a crowd. “Oh my goodness,” Choden exclaimed when I brought up the subject. “I actually wanted to write a post on LinkedIn, apologizing to people for not being able to get back to them, because of the amount of requests to connect and all related to the positions that we have at HENNGE.” Takahashi and Choden explained that many of these messages are attempts to get around the actual hiring process. “Sometimes,” Choden said, “when I do have the time, I try to redirect them. ‘Oh, please, apply here, or go directly to the site,’ because we can’t really do anything, they have to start with the coding test itself. . . . I do look at them,” Choden went on, “and if they’re actually asking a question that I can help with, then I’m more than happy to reply.” Nonetheless, a few candidates have attempted to go over their heads. Sometimes we have some candidates who are asking for updates on their application directly from our CEO. It’s quite shocking, because they send it to his work email as well. “And then he’s like, ‘Is anybody handling this? Why am I getting this email?’,” Choden related. Other applicants have emailed random HENNGE employees, or even members of the overseas branch in Taiwan. Needless to say, such candidates don’t endear themselves to anyone on the hiring team. Be persistent “I know a bunch of people,” Chidiac told me, “that managed to land a job because they’ve tried harder going to meetups, reaching out to people, networking, that kind of thing.” One of those people was Chidiac himself, who in 2021 was searching for an in-house recruiter position in Japan, while not speaking Japanese. In his job hunt, Chidiac was well aware that he faced some major disadvantages. “So I went the extra mile by contacting the company directly and being like, ‘This is what I’ve done, I’ve solved these problems, I’ve done this, I’ve done that, I know the Japanese market . . . [but] I don’t speak Japanese.’” There’s a bit of a reality check that everyone has to have on what they can bring to the table and how much effort they need to [put forth]. You’re going to have to sell yourself and reach out and find your people. “Does it always work? No. Does it often work? No. But it works, right?” said Chidiac with a laugh. “Like five percent of the time it works every time. But you need to understand that there are some markets that are tougher than others.” Ho agreed that job-hunters, particularly candidates who are overseas hoping to work in Japan for the first time, face a tough road. He recommended applying to as many jobs as possible, but in a strictly organized way. “Make an Excel sheet for your applications,” he urged. Such a spreadsheet should track your applications, when you followed up on those applications, and the probation period for reapplying to that company when you receive a rejection. Most importantly, Ho believes candidates should maintain a realistic, but optimistic, view of the process. “Keep a longer mindset,” he suggested. “Maybe you don’t get an offer the first year, but you do the second year.” Conclusion Given the staggering number of applications recruiters must process, and the increasing competition for good roles—especially those open to candidates overseas—it’s easy to become discouraged. Nonetheless, Japan needs international developers. Given Japan’s demographics, as well as the government’s interest in implementing AI and digital transformation (DX) solutions for social problems, that fact won’t change anytime soon. We at TokyoDev suggest that candidates interested in working in Japan adopt two basic approaches. First, follow the advice in this article and also in our resume-writing guide to prevent your resume from being rejected for common flaws. You can highlight niche skills, write an original cover letter, and send appropriate follow-up messages to the recruiters and hiring managers you hope to impress. Second, persistence is key. The work culture in Japan is evolving and there are more openings for new candidates. Japan’s startup scene is also burgeoning, and modern tech companies—such as Mercari—continue to grow and hire. If your long-term goal is to work in Japan, then it’s worth investing the time to keep applying. That said, hopefully the suggestions offered above will help turn what might have been a lengthy job-hunt into a quicker and more successful search. To apply to open positions right now, see our job board. If you want to hear more tips from other international developers in Japan, check out the TokyoDev Discord. We also have articles with more advice on job hunting, relocating to Japan, and life in Japan.

When interviewing with a Japanese company, you’ll naturally want to know: “Is this a good place to work?” And while Glassdoor is the standard in English-speaking countries for employees leaving online reviews, the site is only rarely used in Japan, and then primarily by non-Japanese workers. Many countries have a culture that endorses directly reviewing employers in an open, public environment—Japan does not. However, there are still sites where you can find important information on your potential employer. What to watch out for In particular, you want to avoid signing on with a company that engages in exploitative practices—or as they’re known in Japan, a “black company” (ブラック企業, burakku kigyou). The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare has a FAQ describing what defines these companies: Imposing extremely long working hours with high quotas. Recognition of workers’ rights is low throughout the company; unpaid overtime and/or workplace bullying (パワハラ, pawahara) are common. The company assigns shifts to workers without consent. The company discriminates among workers in the above circumstances. In a 2023 survey, those who had worked for such toxic companies listed high turnover rates as the most common sign that something was wrong, followed by long working hours and unpaid overtime. As you examine online review sites and other sources, look for clues such as: Turnover rate: how long do employees typically stay? Internal promotion: can you see employees rising in the ranks? Upper management: are there any non-Japanese employees in management positions? Recent company announcements: do they often make sudden pivots in their business policies? If you discover, for example, that the company can’t retain employees, shows no history of internal promotions, and has just issued a return-to-office order out of the blue, it’s safe to assume you don’t want to work there. OpenWork OpenWork, also known as Vorkers, hosts over 19 million company reviews. The reviews are represented in a radar chart for easy visual reference, and are also broken down into different categories, such as work-life balance, the ease of working for women, and reasons for considering quitting. In addition, applicants can post questions for employees to answer. If you don’t speak Japanese, the site is still readable with Google Translate. You’ll need to make a free account to see all of the information, but much of it is accessible even without an account. Other Japanese sites JobTalk and Engage Hyouban are other Japanese-language review sites. JobTalk contains 4.4 million reviews of around 230,000 different companies, and Engage Hyouban boasts 30 million reviews for 220,000 companies. Neither of these sites offer as much information on tech companies in Japan as OpenWork does. If you’re applying to a large company such as Rakuten, you may find some additional reviews there, but many of TokyoDev’s clients are smaller companies that aren’t listed at all. Google Maps Reviews An unusual but occasionally helpful place to find company reviews is on Google Maps. If you search for a business’s main corporate office location—usually in Tokyo—you will sometimes find reviews written by current or former employees. Whether these reviews are high-quality or trustworthy is another matter. Rakuten, for example, has reviews with a range of opinions. Cybozu, by contrast, mostly has reviews from those who would like to work for the company but currently don’t. Still, the reviews of its corporate office are consistently positive, so you can at least get an impression of the physical environment. LinkedIn “If you’re worried that a company might be a poor place to work, try contacting current or past employees via LinkedIn,” suggested Paul McMahon, founder of TokyoDev. “This probably works best if you’re late in the hiring process.” You can send a connect request saying, ‘I’ve received an offer from company X, and want to confirm what it’s really like to work there as an engineer. Mind if I ask you a couple of questions?’ Whether or not they respond, you can still glean good information from the profiles of past and current employees. Check to see if developers tend to leave the company quickly, for example, or how long the average employee goes before being promoted. You should keep in mind though that LinkedIn is not popular in Japan, for several good reasons. If you are applying to a primarily Japanese company, many of your future coworkers won’t be active there, which means you still may not be getting a complete picture. TokyoDev In 2020, TokyoDev began interviewing developers in order to provide a more complete, boots-on-the-ground picture of daily life at specific companies. Our Developer Stories feature interviews with developers at top Japanese tech companies, who share details about both their specific jobs and the general work environment. The goal is to give applicants a good sense of how a company operates on a day-to-day basis, from the perspective of those on the inside. So far, TokyoDev has interviewed developers from Mercari, PayPay, Givery, HENNGE, KOMOJU, and more. In addition, TokyoDev’s job board is a selective one, listing only companies that we feel good about sending applicants to. In the rare event that employees later reach out with poor reviews of a business, if those reports can be confirmed, then TokyoDev will end its relationship with that company. Conclusion In short, the answer to the question “Is there a Japanese equivalent to Glassdoor?” is, “Not really.” However, by combining some of the alternatives—OpenWork, LinkedIn, TokyoDev, and perhaps even Google Maps—you can gather enough information to decide whether you want to work with a particular Japanese company. You could also ask fellow developers in our Discord. Curious about working in Japan in general? See our articles on the subject, as well as moving to Japan, living in Japan, starting a business in Japan, and more.

In 2023 I attended RubyKaigi for the first time and also wrote my first recap, which I’m pleased to say was well-received! This was my third time attending RubyKaigi, and I was once again really impressed with the event. I’m eternally grateful to the conference organizers, local organizers (organizers recruited each year who live/lived in the area RubyKaigi is held), designers, NOC team, helpers, sponsors, speakers, and other attendees for helping create such a memorable experience, not just during the three day conference, but over my entire time in Matsuyama. What is RubyKaigi? RubyKaigi is a three-day technology conference focused on the Ruby programming language, held annually “somewhere in Japan.” It attracts a global audience and this year welcomed over 1500 attendees to Matsuyama, Ehime. The traveling nature of the conference means that for the majority of the attendees (not just the international ones), it’s a chance to take a trip—and the days leading up to and following the event are full of fun encounters with other Rubyists as we wander around town. Checking social media a few days before the conference, I saw posts tagged with “RubyKaigi Day –3” and started getting FOMO! Talks RubyKaigi featured 3 keynotes, 51 talks, 11 Lightning talks, the TRICK showcase, and Ruby Committers and the World. There were talks in the Main Hall, Sub Hall, and Pearls Room, so you frequently had 3 options to choose from at any given time. Despite being held in Japan, RubyKaigi is an international conference that welcomes English speakers; all talks in the Sub Hall are in English, for example, and all the Japanese talks also have real-time translation and subtitles. Organizers put a great deal of thought into crafting the schedule to maximize everyone’s chances of seeing the talks they’re interested in. For example, every time slot has at least one English and one Japanese talk, and colleagues are scheduled to speak at different times so their work friends don’t have to split their support. The power of pre-study One great feature of RubyKaigi is its esoteric talks, delivered by speakers who are enthusiastic experts in their domains. I’m more of a Ruby user than a Ruby committer (the core team who have merge access to the Ruby repository), so every year there are talks during which I understand nothing—and I know I’m not alone in that. One of the topics I struggle with is parsers, so before the conference I created these sketch notes covering “How Do Computers Understand Ruby?”. Then, as I was listening to previously incomprehensible talks I found myself thinking, “I know this concept! I can understand! Wow, that’s cool!” Sketch notes on "How do Computers Understand Ruby" My plan for next year is to organize my schedule as soon as RubyKaigi’s talks are announced, and create a pre-conference study plan based on the talks I’m going to see. Just when I thought I’d leveled up, I attended Ryo Kajiwara’s talk “You Can Save Lives with End-to-End Encryption in Ruby,” where he talked about the importance of end-to-end encryption and told us all to stop using SMTP. It was a humbling experience because, after the first few slides, I couldn’t understand anything. Ruby taught me about encoding under the hood This year’s opening keynote was delivered by Mari Imaizumi, who took us on the journey of how converting the information you want to convey into symbols has been a thing since basically forever, as well as how she originally got interested in encoding. She talked about the competing standards for character encoding, and her experience with Mojibake. It made me think about how lucky I am, that the internet heavily favours English speakers. Even when I was exploring the Web in the 2000s, it was rare for me to come across content scrambled by encoding. TRICK 2025: Episode I There was a point at which it seemed like the awards were going to be a one-man-show, as Pen-san took the fifth, fourth, and third places, but the first-place winner was Don Yang, who until then hadn’t received any awards. The moment that stood out for me, though, was when Pen-san was talking about his work that won “Best ASMR”: code in the shape of bubbles that produces the sound of ocean waves when run. Pen-san explained how the sound was made and said something like, “Once you know this, anyone can write this code.” To his right you could see Matz waving his arm like, “No, no!” which captured my own feelings perfectly. Drawing of Pen san and Matz ZJIT: building a next-generation Ruby JIT Maxime Chevalier-Boisvert started her talk by apologising for YJIT not being fast enough. Because YJIT is hitting a plateau, she is now working on ZJIT. While YJIT uses a technique called Lazy Basic Block Versioning, ZJIT is method-based JIT. It will be able to “see” more chunks of code and thus be able to optimize more than YJIT. Ruby committers and the world There were humorous moments, like when the panel was asked, “What do you want to depreciate in Ruby 4.0?” Matz answered, “I don’t want to depreciate anything. If stuff breaks people will complain to me!” Also, when the question was, “If you didn’t have to think about compatibility, what would you change?” the committers started debating the compatibility of a suggested change, leading the moderator to say committers are always thinking about compatibility. Matz ended this segment with the comment that it might seem like there’s a big gap between those on stage and those in the audience, but it’s not that big—it’s something that you can definitely cross. Sketch notes for Ruby Committers and The World Eliminating unnecessary implicit allocations Despite this being an unfamiliar topic for me, Jeremy Evans explained things so well even I could follow along. I really liked how approachable this talk was! Jeremy shared about how he’d made a bug fix that resulted in Ruby allocating an object where it hadn’t allocated one before. Turns out, even when you’re known for fixing bugs, you can still cause bugs. And as he fixed this case, more cases were added to the code through new commits. To prevent new code changes from adding unnecessary allocations, he wrote the “Allocation Test Suite,” which was included in the Ruby 3.4 release. Optimizing JRuby 10 JRuby 10 is Ruby 3.4 compatible! What stood out to me the most was the slide showing a long list of CRuby committers, and then three committers on the JRuby side: Charles Nutter (the speaker), his friend, and his son. This was one of those talks where the pre-study really helped—I could better understand just what sort of work goes into JRuby. Itandi’s sponsor lightning talk Usually sponsors use their time to talk about their company, but the speaker for Itandi spent most of his time introducing his favorite manga, Shoujiki Fudousan. He encouraged us to come visit the Itandi booth, where they had set up a game in which you could win a copy of the manga. Sponsors This year there were a total of 102 sponsors, with so many gold and platinum-level sponsors the organizers held a lottery for the booths. To encourage attendees to visit each booth, there was once again a stamp rally with spaces for all 46 booths, although you could reach the pin-badge goal with just 35 stamps. It also helped keep track of where you had/hadn’t been. Since sponsors are an invaluable part of the conference, and they put so much effort into their booths, I always want to be able to show my appreciation and hear what each of them have to say. With 46 to visit, though, it was somewhat difficult! Each booth had plenty of novelties to hand out and also fun activities, such as lotteries, games, surveys and quizzes, and coding challenges. By day three, though, the warm weather had me apologetically skipping all coding challenges and quizzes, as my brain had melted. For me, the most memorable novelty was SmartHR’s acrylic charm collection! Since they missed out on a booth this year, they instead created 24 different acrylic charms. To collect them, you had to talk to people wearing SmartHR hoodies. I felt that was a unique solution and a great icebreaker. Collection of SmartHR acrylic charms I actually sent out a plea on X (Twitter) because I was missing just a few charms—and some SmartHR employees gave me charms from their own collection so I could complete the set! (Although it turns out I’m still missing the table-flipping charm, so if anyone wants to help out here . . . ) Hallway track (Events) Every year RubyKaigi has various official events scheduled before and after the conference. It’s not just one official after party—this year there were lunches, meetups, drinkups, board games, karaoke, live acts until three a.m., morning group exercises (there’s photographic proof of people running), and even an 18-hour ferry ride. I need sleep to understand the talks, and I need to wake up early because the conference is starting, and I need to stay up late to connect with other attendees! The official events I attended this year were SmartHR’s pre-event study session, the Women and Non-binary Dinner, the RubyKaigi Official Party, the STORES CAFE for Women, the Leaner Board Game Night, RubyKaraoke, RubyMusicMixin 2025 and the codeTakt Drinkup. I got to chat with so many people, including: Udzura-san, who inspired my Ruby study notes; Naoko-san, one of STORES’s founders; and Elle, a fellow Australian who traveled to Japan for RubyKaigi! The venues were also amazing. The official party was in a huge park next to Matsuyama Castle, and the board game event took place in what seemed to be a wedding reception hall. Compared to the conference, where you are usually racing to visit booths or heading to your next talk, it’s at these events you can really get to know your fellow Rubyists. But it’s not just about the official events; my time was also full of random, valuable catch ups and meetings. For lunch, I went out to eat tai meshi (sea bream rice) with some of the ladies I met at the dinner. I was staying at emorihouse, so following the after party we continued drinking and chatting in our rooms. After RubyMusicMixin, I didn’t want the night to end and bumped into a crew headed towards the river. And on day four, the cafe I wanted to go to was full, but I got in by joining Eririn-san who was already seated. That night I ended up singing karaoke with a couple of international speakers after running into them near Dogo Onsen earlier that day. Part of the joy of RubyKaigi is the impromptu events, the ones that you join because the town is so full of Rubyists you can’t help but run into them. I organised an event! This year I organised the Day 0 Women and Non-binary Dinner&DrinkUp. We were sponsored by TokyoDev, and we had a 100 percent turnout! I’m grateful to everyone who came, especially Emori-san who helped me with taking orders and on-the-day Japanese communications. With this event, I wanted to create a space where women and non-binary people–whether from Japan or overseas, RubyKaigi veterans or first-timers—could connect with each other before the conference started, while enjoying Matsuyama’s local specialities. We’re still a minority among developers, so it was exciting for me to see so many of us together in one place! Group photo from Women & Non-binary Dinner and DrinkUp! I’d love to host a similar event next year, so if you or your company is interested in sponsoring, please reach out! Matz-yama (Matsuyama) Last year’s RubyKaigi closed with the announcement that “We’ve taken Matz to the ocean [Okinawa], so now it’s time to take him to the mountains.” (Yama means “mountain” in Japanese.) Matsuyama city is located in Ehime, Shikoku, and its famous tourist attractions include Matsuyama Castle and Dogo Onsen, which is said to have inspired the bathhouse in Spirited Away. RubyKaigi banner on display at Okaido Shipping Street Ehime is renowned for mikan (蜜柑, mandarin oranges), and everywhere you go there is mikan and Mikyan, Ehime’s adorable mascot character. Before arriving, everyone told me, “In Ehime, mikan juice comes out of the tap,” which I thought meant there were literally pipes with mikan juice flowing through them all over Ehime! However, reality is not so exciting: yes, mikan juice does flow from taps, but there’s clearly a container behind the tap! There’s no underground mikan juice pipe network. 😢 RubyKaigi also highlighted Ehime’s specialties. This year’s theme color was red-orange, break-time snacks were mikan and mikan jelly, the logo paid homage to the cut fruit, and one of the sponsors even had a mikan juice tap at their booth! Also, included among this year’s official novelties was a RubyKaigi imabari towel, since Imabari city in Ehime is world famous for their towels. I’m an absolute fan of how RubyKaigi highlights the local region and encourages attendees to explore the area. Not only does this introduce international attendees to parts of Japan they might otherwise not visit, it’s a chance for local attendees to play tourist as well. Community In Matz’s closing keynote, Programming Language for AI Age, he touched on how it’s odd to delegate the fun tasks to an AI. After all, if AI does all the fun things and we do all the hard things, where’s the joy for us in that? To me, creating software is a collaborative activity—through collaboration we produce better software. Writing code is fun! Being able to connect with others is fun! Talking to new people is fun! I’ve met so many amazing people through the Ruby community, and RubyKaigi has played an important role in that. Through the community I’ve gotten advice, learned new things, and shared resources. My sketch-notes have been appreciated by others, and as I walk around there are #rubyfriends everywhere who all make me feel so welcomed. RubyKaigi attracts a variety of attendees: developers and non-developers, Ruby experts and Ruby beginners. It’s a fun conference with a wonderful community, and even though it’s a technical conference, non-technical people can enjoy participating as well. Community growth comes with its own issues, but I think attracting newcomers is an important aspect of RubyKaigi. As someone who first came as a developer completely new to Ruby, every year I learn more and am inspired to give back to the Ruby community. I hope that RubyKaigi continues to inspire participants to love Ruby, and encourages them to understand and improve it. By growing the Ruby community, we ensure Ruby will continue on as a Programming Language for the AI Age. Looking forward to Hakodate next year, and to seeing you all there! PS: Surprise, Detective Conan? I really love the Detective Conan series. This year RubyKaigi Day Three and the 2025 Detective Conan movie premiere were on the same day . . . so as soon as Matsuda-san said, “It’s over!” I ran out of the hall to go watch the movie at Cinema Sunshine Kinuyama. And next year’s RubyKaigi location, Hakodate, was the setting for the 2024 Detective Conan movie. What a deep connection RubyKaigi and Detective Conan have! Detective Conan decorations set up at the cinema in Kinuyama

You can technically get by in Japan without a Japanese bank account. For those who are here on short-term visas, or who plan to move frequently from city to city, it’s perfectly possible to live and work in Japan without one. However, if you want to work a full-time job, rent an apartment, join social activities, or enroll your children in school, you’ll almost certainly need to make an account. Following is an overview on what you’ll need to open an account, some common problems foreigners encounter, and what banks will work best for your needs. If you don’t have a bank account . . . The “chicken-and-egg problem” is what many foreigners call it—that strange bureaucratic trap you encounter when moving to Japan. You need a local phone number to get an apartment, but you need a registered address to get a bank account, and you need a bank account to get a local phone number! Luckily, there is an order of operations that can get you all three as fast as possible. But let’s say you haven’t decided where you want to live yet, or there’s some other reason for delay. Can you get by in Japan without an account? Strangely enough, it’s not that difficult, thanks to Japan’s cash-based society. Getting paid Direct deposit is more common now, and most companies will also ask you to make an account with a specific bank to receive your paycheck. Nonetheless, they cannot require you to make an account with that bank. You are within your rights to insist on being paid to the account of your choice. Getting cash Be aware that Japan has two methods of getting cash from a machine: ATMs, which function generally like ATMs around the world, and cash machines, which are usually located in banks and are only usable with that bank’s cash card. For example, if you go into Mitsui Sumitomo and have a cash card for some other bank, you will not be able to use it. Many ATMs found at convenience stores, as well as Japan Post Bank ATMs, will allow you to withdraw yen from your foreign accounts. Of the various convenience store options, 7-Eleven ATMs are your best bet. There are some limitations: Depending on the ATM, additional fees may be charged Many ATMs can’t check your foreign account’s balance The single transaction withdrawal limit may be reduced—at Japan Post Bank ATMs, you can’t withdraw more than 50,000 yen from a foreign account at one time 7-Eleven ATMs do not allow you to freely select an amount to withdraw and instead require you to pick from options starting from 10,000 yen and up Using your foreign card In addition, most stores that accept credit or debit cards will also be able to process foreign-issued cards—at least, I’ve never had mine rejected. If the store is not large or is not part of a national chain, however, the odds of them not being able to process your card are higher. Additionally, some stores may not be able to support chips, so if your card does not have a magnetic stripe, you would be unable to use it. As a side note, one of the services that does not permit foreign credit cards is the one you’d least expect—Disneyland. If you want to purchase park tickets online, the website theoretically accepts most foreign cards, yet very few seem to actually work. Personally I got around this problem by using Klook, a third-party app that had no difficulty processing my credit card, and delivered my digital tickets without issue. Finding housing Finally, share-houses and other short-term, foreigner-friendly rental accommodations don’t require a Japanese bank account to rent. These often come furnished, may include utilities, and can be rented without the hassle of a deposit or key money. Of course, they will cost more overall than long-term housing, but they’re good options for those without a Japanese account. But you should make a bank account As you can see, it’s possible to live in Japan without a Japanese account, at least for a while. But it’s not convenient, and the longer you live in Japan, the more inconvenient it becomes. Renting Renting your own apartment with a long-term lease will almost certainly require a Japanese bank account. In this case, having a Japanese bank account and phone number is the bare minimum; they will also want to see your residency status, employment contract or income statement, and either guarantors or the endorsement of a guarantor company. In addition, while you can pay most utility bills with cash at a convenience store, it’s becoming more and more convenient to set up automatic withdrawal, with some companies attempting to discourage convenience store payments by applying a service fee for the paper bill. Automatic withdrawals also mean you’re less likely to miss a payment and have your gas turned off without warning, as happened to me! Employment Your employer will also want you to make a bank account, as almost all big businesses prefer direct deposits. Government benefits The government, at a certain point, requires you to have a local account. It’s how you can expect to receive your tax refund and any social benefits you may be entitled to, such as the child support allowance (jidou teate, 児童手当). Japanese society Aside from the basics of life, many social clubs, activities, and schools require participants to have bank accounts. This will depend somewhat on where you live. In Tokyo, my husband’s taiko club insisted that he set up monthly debits from a Japanese account in order to participate. My children’s public elementary school required us to make an entirely new account with their preferred bank, so that they could withdraw lunch fees. By contrast, in our new small town in Kansai, the children’s karate and ballet classes are cash-only. The school did ask us to make a new account at a regional bank for lunch fees, but when we were unsuccessful—a point I’ll explore below—they were fine with collecting the payments in cash. In short, it’s better to bite the bullet and make the account. The actual difficulty of doing so will depend on which bank you choose. The kinds of banks in Japan There are of course all kinds of banks in Japan, from online banks to large national institutions. From the immigrant’s point of view, however, there are several distinct categories. Japan Post Bank The Japan Post Bank (Yuucho Ginkou, ゆうちょ銀行) deserves a category of its own. Unlike other banks in Japan, the Japan Post Bank does not require six months residency or an employment contract in Japan to open an account. You must, however, have at least three months remaining on your residence card when you apply. In addition, if you have less than six months residency and no employment contract, your account will be treated as a non-resident account with limited services. There are branches all over Japan wherever a post office is; you can also open an account online. Conventional foreigner-friendly banks Several banks in Japan are well known for being foreigner-friendly and providing some English services. SMBC Trust Bank Prestia and SBI Shinsei Bank are the usual recommendations in this category. Both offer English-language online banking, and English support via chat. Online banks You can also select a bank that operates purely online (netto ginkou, ネット銀行). For simple bank procedures, such as acquiring a debit card and depositing your paycheck, these don’t operate much differently from conventional banks. Popular choices include: PayPay, which operates a thriving cashless payment service Sony Bank, which has 90,000 partner ATMs in Japan Seven Bank, the official online bank of 7-Eleven and has ATMs in every branch Japanese-speaking banks Aside from convenience, there’s really nothing stopping you from banking with any bank in Japan. You should be able to make an appointment at any branch and request their help in opening an account. Granted, this approach requires time, patience, possibly multiple appointments, and—if you don’t speak Japanese—a lot of translation. Nonetheless it can be done, and will probably even be necessary at one point or another, since jobs, schools, and activities in Japan may ask you to work with their preferred bank. What you’ll need to apply Typically, this is what you’ll need to open an account with a bank: Your residence card. This is always required. A second form of ID. This could include your My Number card, your student ID, your Residence Certificate (住民票, juuminhyo), or a utility bill or other document with your full name in katakana. The exact specifications for a second form of ID differ from bank to bank, so check their instructions carefully. An employment contract and/or Employee ID. For most banks, if you want to open an account before you’ve lived in the country for six months, you will need to provide proof of employment. A local phone number Do I need a hanko? A hanko (判子, also called an inkan 印鑑) is a stamp which, on many Japanese documents, serves as your official signature. Do you absolutely need to have one to open an account? Not necessarily. Some banks, such as Japan Post Bank, will permit you to start banking with only your signature. Should you buy and use one anyway? Yes, for several good reasons: You may need it later for more advanced procedures, such as renting an apartment, getting a loan, or car registration. If your signature doesn’t match exactly when you’re submitting paperwork in the future, your bank may reject it. A hanko will remain the same, as long as it is not damaged. If you damage or lose your hanko, the bank will require you to re-register the imprint so that they have a current copy on file. If you sign up for a bank account with your signature, but later acquire and use a hanko, this can lead to confusion with your bank. Again, a Japanese bank will reject paperwork with any inconsistencies. This may not seem like a hard thing to keep straight, but if and when you have multiple accounts in Japan, remembering which requires your signature and which requires hanko can be a hassle. Why not? Hanko are not that expensive, they make great souvenirs, and they’re an easy way to integrate. My own hanko has my surname in katakana, and receives a lot of interest from Japanese people due to its unique appearance. If you’re intimidated by the process of buying a hanko in person, you can order one online. I used Google Translate to buy mine at Shibuya Stamp Shop, but there are English websites available as well. Be careful not to buy a hanko that is self-stamping (such as a shachihata), as many banks will refuse to accept them. Additionally, you should make sure that you carefully store the hanko you use for bank accounts and use it only for bank accounts. It is fine to use one hanko for multiple bank accounts. People commonly have several hanko, each for different levels of tasks; you don’t want to be stamping delivery slips or kids’ homework with the same security device you use to control your finances! U.S. citizen requirements U.S. citizens and green card holders will require a few more documents, thanks to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). If you’re opening an account in person, you should bring your passport and social security card with you. If you’re opening the account online, expect to fill out additional forms to establish your TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number). Usually these forms will be requested by mail, which delays the so-called “online application” process considerably. For U.S. citizens and green card holders, it’s faster to apply for an account in person. Should I apply online? Quite a few banks now claim to offer online applications in English, to ease account opening procedures. But what is meant by an “online application” can differ hugely. By smartphone is best First, if you want to apply online, it’s best to have a smartphone with a domestic SIM. Smartphones are the main way consumers access the internet in Japan, so many solutions are built smartphone-first. You can often save several steps by using a smartphone. For example, if you apply via smartphone with SMBC Trust Bank Prestia, you have the option to take a selfie as one form of ID, which means you only need your residence card. Do note that the facial ID process can be finicky for these systems, and may reject your photo. If you use a computer or tablet, however, the bank requires two forms of ID. Seven Bank, as an online bank, also strongly prefers customers to use a smartphone; those who don’t have one can use a Debit Card and conduct transactions from its ATMs, but won’t be able to use their Direct Banking Service. Is it really online? “Applying online” isn’t always as simple as it sounds. Japan Post Bank and Sony Bank both allow users to make an account via the bank’s app, a process that they claim takes around 30 minutes. But Shinsei’s online application barely qualifies as such. While you do fill out the initial form on the website, it’s only so you can receive a printed application form in the mail around one week later. You’ll then have to send back copies of your IDs to the bank via mail, for an additional 7-10 business days of processing—at which point, you might be better served by visiting a branch with Google Translate. Online-only banks often have similar processing times for foreigners, but with an additional down side: since they’re online-only, there is no option to visit a local branch and hammer everything out in one go! These estimated application times also depend on everything going smoothly via the bank’s app or website, which is not guaranteed. Modern banks often rely on relatively new MyNumber card integrations, or “AI” facial/document recognition, and bugs are unfortunately common. Common problems Forewarned is forearmed, and in that spirit, here are some of the most common issues experienced by foreigners banking in Japan. Technical difficulties Personally I bank with Japan Post Bank, and am very happy with the service I receive—-except when I need to try and set up a new direct withdrawal online. For whatever reason, I’ve found that trying to access the forms via Chrome causes all sorts of problems. Switch to Safari, though, and suddenly everything works. Using VPNs, adblockers, or other common security extensions can also frequently cause issues with financial sites in Japan. Name issues If you take away one important thing from this article, let it be this. From the beginning, choose the Japanese version of your name and keep it consistent. It’s a given that if you do not have a Japanese name, you will need to spell it out in katakana. However, for many names there are several accepted katakana variations. For example, I prefer to spell my surname Callahan as カラハン (Karahan), but it was spelled (without my input) as キャラハン (Kyarahan) on my health insurance card. Fortunately I didn’t run into any issues and was able to change it later. However, that would have caused issues with opening a bank account, if I’d attempted to use my health insurance card as a secondary form of ID. Long names and middle names will also cause problems—unfortunately, these are mostly unavoidable. There frequently isn’t enough space in a form to write your name properly, either in the Roman alphabet or in katakana. You might be tempted to leave out your middle name whenever possible, but you risk your application not being accepted because it doesn’t match your full legal name. For me personally, a long legal name has been only a minor inconvenience. However, for my Sri Lankan neighbor, her long name created so many problems that she was unable to open an account at our local bank. Although she is a permanent resident and speaks Japanese fluently, even after three separate trips to the bank, she was still unable to open the account. Banks will also unfortunately have different recommendations in the event that your full name does not fit their paper or electronic application; some will ask that you fill in as much as possible and truncate, while others may concede and allow only your first and last names. Still other banks may require you to use your English name and not accept a primary katakana rendering. These mismatches can cause issues when attempting to connect accounts in the future, and those can usually only be solved with human help—perhaps a reason to consider banking at an institution that has physical branches. Kanji difficulties Several times I’ve been asked to create a new account with a regional bank that didn’t offer service in English. Both times, I was asked by bank employees to fill out several forms with my address written in kanji. Best practice, of course, would be to have already memorized my own address in kanji. In reality, I ended up copying it from the tiny writing on the back of my residence card. At the first bank, the kind employees carefully showed me how to write some of the more complicated kanji. At the second, I was mostly left to my own devices, and the subsequent scrawl caused my application to be rejected; they asked me to come back with someone who spoke, and wrote, Japanese. If you do need to open an account at a Japanese-speaking bank, try keeping a copy of your address in your phone, or even printing out the kanji version in large characters that are easier to copy. Of course, if you have a Japanese-writing friend who is willing to accompany you that day, that will also speed things along. I’ll add that the bank that rejected me was the same bank that my neighbor applied to three times. I wouldn’t describe my visit there as an ordinary banking experience in Japan; this particular branch is clearly unwilling to assist or accommodate foreign residents. A cash card is not a debit card Perhaps this isn’t a widespread misunderstanding, but it caught me by surprise: most banks provide only cash cards by default, and debit cards are opt-in. A cash card is not a debit card—it is good only for pulling cash out of a cash machine or ATM. Some banks, such as Prestia and Sony, do give you a debit card straight away. Others, such as Japan Post Bank, require a subsequent application for a debit card once the account is open. You can distinguish a cash card from a debit card by looking for a network logo such as Visa, Mastercard, or JCB. If it does not have one, it’s likely a cash card. Holidays and ATM times If you live or work near convenience stores, you shouldn’t have much problem withdrawing cash whenever you want. However, you should still keep an eye out for ATM working hours or your bank’s maintenance hours. For example, many ATMs are unusable over a portion of the New Year or Golden Week. Japan Post Bank shuts down completely for part of Golden Week—a shutdown that includes ATMs, online services, the smartphone app, and even your debit card! You should also keep an eye on time-sensitive withdrawal fees. Many ATMs will display a screen that shows one withdrawal fee for business hours, and another for early morning or late-night transactions. The difference is fairly small—a business-hour withdrawal may cost 110 yen, as opposed to a late-night withdrawal at 220 yen—but if you’re cost-conscious, it’s good to take note. Sending and receiving money internationally The cost of sending and receiving money internationally adds up quickly. Not only do Japanese banks often charge steep fees for currency conversion and wiring, but there’s yet more paperwork involved. If you enjoy a prestigious bank account, such as the Sony Bank and Shinsei Platinum accounts, then one of the perks is lowered or waived fees for international transfers. If you don’t, then an online transfer service like Wise is certainly faster and frequently cheaper. If you are interested in moving large amounts of money and want to avoid fees as much as possible, here’s a detailed breakdown of the average transfer rates for various institutions and accounts. Frequently-recommended banks Following are some of the banks most often recommended by other immigrants, with a brief overview of their pros and cons. Japan Post Bank Japan Post Bank is one of the easiest banks to open an account with when you first arrive in Japan. Pros Doesn’t require six months residency or an employment contract to open an account Branches all over Japan in the post offices Can open an account and check your virtual bankbook via apps No monthly maintenance fees Cons Service is mostly in Japanese Services may be limited and fees may be high during the first six months if you do not have an employment contract Have to apply separately for a debit or bank card Access to ATMs on post office grounds is limited to the hours for that branch, which can be inconsistent High fees for international transfers SBI Shinsei Bank Shinsei is a good choice for those who want some service in English, and who intend to send and receive money internationally. Pros English Internet banking and online service Foreign currency accounts with high interest rates Free ATM withdrawals up to five times a month If you have a higher-level account (Diamond, Platinum, Gold, or Silver) you can receive foreign currency remittances for free Cons The “online” application procedure is really more by mail Initially only given a cash card Standard accounts are charged 2,200 yen per remittance SMBC Trust Bank Prestia Prestia is ideal for those who want a full-service bank that offers a travel-friendly debit card. Pros English-language bank app, online service, and assistance for housing loans, investment, etc. If you apply for an account via the app, you only need your residence card as a form of ID (assuming you meet the six-month residency requirement) Upon opening an account, automatically get both a yen account and a foreign currency account Immediately receive a GLOBAL PASS Visa debit card that can be used domestically and overseas Cons Monthly maintenance fee of 2,200 yen unless you keep a minimum balance of 500,000 yen or meet other requirements Easily confused with SMBC Bank, but the services and branches are not interchangeable Sony Bank For those who’d prefer an online bank, Sony Bank offers another international-friendly debit card and a comprehensive rewards system. Pros Automatically get the Sony Bank WALLET cash card, which can be used internationally Has Club S, a three-tier rewards system based on the balance of your yen and foreign currency accounts. Platinum members can get perks such as 2% cashback, unlimited free cash withdrawals, waived transfer and remittance fees, etc. Cons Only online banking is available in English (the app is in Japanese) As an online bank it has no physical branch to visit Special note: the Rakuten credit card Rakuten also has an online bank. While this is less often suggested as a bank for new immigrants, it is one of the few places foreigners can easily apply for a credit card. Conclusion Like most bureaucratic processes in Japan, opening an account can take quite a bit of time and paperwork, but is ultimately doable, not to mention beneficial in the long run. To recap: If you intend to live and work in Japan for more than a few months, you should open a local bank account. Japan Post Bank doesn’t require six months residency or employment to open an account, as other banks do. Banks such as SBI Shinsei, SMBC Trust Bank Prestia, and Sony Bank have a reputation for being foreigner-friendly; however, with proper preparation, you can have an account at any bank in Japan. The greatest difficulties in banking tend to be name-related. You can avoid most of them by keeping your legal name and its katakana spelling consistent from the beginning, as well as obtaining a hanko before opening the account. U.S. citizens and green card holders should expect more paperwork related to FATCA. Judging by these banks’ English-language sites, they’re pushing non-Japanese-speaking customers towards applying online or via mail rather than visiting their branches. However, if you’re a U.S. citizen, or just don’t want to download yet another app, don’t be afraid to go in person. With the exception of one local bank, I’ve consistently had positive experiences with bank personnel—they’ve often gone above and beyond to help me, despite the language barrier. So long as you’re patient with the process, and do your research on bank requirements, then opening an account will swiftly be one more item checked off that moving-to-Japan list.