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Working in Japan's IT and Tech Sector as a Foreigner
Working in Japan's IT and tech sector as a foreigner starts with knowing what kind of employer you are dealing with, because pay, working language, and contract structure differ between foreign-capital firms, Japan-headquartered companies, and system integrators (SIers), whose projects can run through multi-layer subcontracting chains.12 Misreading the employer or the contract can cost you pay, add to your visa paperwork, or leave you working under an arrangement that labor law treats as disguised dispatch.34
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (ISA) website. This article is general information, not immigration or tax advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed gyōseishoshi or immigration lawyer on whether your status of residence covers your work arrangement, and a licensed zeirishi (tax accountant) on cross-border tax and social-insurance obligations.
Overview
This article is for software engineers and IT professionals who are considering a move to Japan or already work there. It maps the main employer types, sets government wage statistics beside English-speaking developer survey data, summarizes the visa routes engineers use, and separates the visa, tax, and social-insurance questions raised by remote work for a foreign employer.
Demand for IT workers is real, but the most cited headcount figure is a projection, not a measurement. A study commissioned by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) estimated that Japan's IT-talent shortfall in 2030 would be 164,000 (low scenario), 449,000 (medium), or 787,000 (high), assuming 0.7% annual labor-productivity growth (as of 2019-03, a 2019 projection; confirm current figures with METI).5 The same study's overview says supply and demand would balance in 2030 if labor productivity rose 3.54% a year (as of 2019-04).6
No newer METI headcount projection specific to IT talent was found for this article. METI's 2040 employment-structure estimate (March 2026) uses a broader category that also covers mechanical engineers and other information-and-communications technicians, so it is not a count of software engineers.7
A more recent signal comes from the Information-technology Promotion Agency (IPA), a government-affiliated body. In its FY2025 corporate survey, 85.5% of responding companies said the number of staff who drive digital transformation (DX) was "somewhat" or "greatly" insufficient (as of 2026-07).8 That is a share of companies reporting a shortage, not a count of missing workers.8
For that reason, this article starts from employer type and contract structure rather than job title.
The employer landscape
The categories below follow the employer types used in the survey data this article relies on, plus the subcontracting structure documented by Japan's Fair Trade Commission.12 Startups are not covered as a separate category, because none of the sources used here reports on them separately.2
Foreign-capital tech firms and their Japan offices
This category covers Japanese subsidiaries and branches of overseas tech companies, and overseas companies with no Japan operations that employ people living in Japan. In the TokyoDev Developer Survey 2025, a self-selected survey of mostly English-speaking developers, the median total annual compensation was ¥13.5M for respondents working for an international company with no Japan operations (n=74) (as of the 2025-09 survey; confirm current figures with TokyoDev).2
Respondents at a Japanese subsidiary of an international company reported a median of ¥11.5M (n=167) (as of the 2025-09 survey).2 The survey asked for "total annual compensation" without saying whether stock or bonuses should be included, so these medians do not tell you how much of the pay is equity.9
If you are moved to Japan by a multinational that has an office in Japan, your visa route may be Intra-Company Transferee rather than the usual engineer status; see the visa section below.10
Japan-headquartered companies
Japan-headquartered employers made up the largest group in the same survey, with a median of ¥8.5M (n=613) (as of the 2025-09 survey).2 The survey treats all Japan-headquartered employers as one category, so it cannot separate companies that run engineering in English from those that work in Japanese.2
Language use still tracks employer type in the data: 83% of respondents who "always" used Japanese at work were at a company headquartered in Japan (as of the 2025-09 survey).9 For any individual employer, the signals you can check yourself are whether the job ad is written in English, whether it states a working language for the engineering team, and what Japanese level it asks for.
SIers and the multi-layer subcontracting structure
A system integrator (SIer, エスアイヤー, esu-ai-yā) builds and runs information systems for client organizations. "SIer" is an industry term. The matching government occupation is システムエンジニア（受託開発） ("system engineer, contract development"), defined as developing software on commission for a client's information system.11
The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) describes Japan's software industry as working through multi-layer subcontracting supply chains, a 多重下請構造 (tajū shitauke kōzō, "multi-layer subcontracting structure"). Its 2022 survey summary shows the chain running from the end user to a prime contractor, through intermediate subcontractors, down to final-tier subcontractors.121
The chain looks like this; the dotted line shows client-site placement, described below.1
The JFTC's 2022 survey of software firms was prompted by concern that price beating (買いたたき, kaitataki) and demands for unpaid work on specification changes were occurring inside these chains.12 In the same survey, many firms said the chain contains operators that take a margin without adding work (中抜き, nakanuki).1
An engineer at the bottom of the chain can be stationed at the client's office, a practice called 客先常駐 (kyakusaki jōchū, "stationed at the client's site"). The 2019 case reported by Bengo4.com involved this kind of placement.13 The contract types behind such placements, and the legal risks they carry, are covered under common traps below.
Japanese-language requirement by employer type
No government source measuring how much Japanese each type of tech employer expects was found for this article. The best available data is the TokyoDev Developer Survey 2025, which reports median pay by how often respondents use English at work.2
The figures below come from a self-selected sample (as of the 2025-09 survey; confirm current figures with TokyoDev).2
| English used at work | Median compensation | Respondents | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Never | ¥5.5M | 54 | 2025-09 | 2 |
| Rarely | ¥5.5M | 69 | 2025-09 | 2 |
| Sometimes | ¥6.5M | 59 | 2025-09 | 2 |
| Frequently | ¥9.5M | 133 | 2025-09 | 2 |
| Always | ¥10.5M | 597 | 2025-09 | 2 |
The survey reports medians only, so the gap is a raw correlation within one sample. It does not show that language alone drives pay, because English use also tracks employer type and experience.29
The largest group, 599 respondents, "always" used English at work (as of the 2025-09 survey).9 The share rises with experience: 74% of respondents with 10 or more years of experience used only English at work, against 51% of those with 3 years or less (as of the 2025-09 survey).2
Respondents' self-rated Japanese ability was spread across levels, and 41% rated themselves at business level or above (as of the 2025-09 survey).14
| Self-rated Japanese ability | Respondents | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | 47 | 2025-09 | 14 |
| Basic | 212 | 2025-09 | 14 |
| Conversational | 332 | 2025-09 | 14 |
| Business | 241 | 2025-09 | 14 |
| Fluent | 105 | 2025-09 | 14 |
| Native or bilingual | 55 | 2025-09 | 14 |
Japanese ability can also matter for the visa itself. The Immigration Services Agency (ISA) asks for proof of Japanese ability when the duties applied for mainly use language skills, such as translation, interpretation, or front-desk customer service, and again at extension if your duties change to that kind of work (as of 2026-07).15
Salary data by employer tier
Two kinds of source give tech salary figures in Japan: government wage statistics and surveys of English-speaking developers. They measure different populations in different ways, so they rarely agree.162
The government baseline
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) runs job tag (職業情報提供サイト, shokugyō jōhō teikyō saito, "occupational information site"). Its wage figures come from the 令和7年 (2025) 賃金構造基本統計調査 (chingin kōzō kihon tōkei chōsa, "Basic Survey on Wage Structure").16
job tag calculates annual income (年収, nenshū) as monthly contractual cash earnings × 12, plus annual bonuses and other special payments (formula as of the 2026-08-28 notice; confirm current figures with MHLW job tag).16 Stock compensation is not part of the formula.16
Several job tag occupations draw on one statistical classification, so different occupation pages can show identical figures.16 Across the IT occupation pages checked, only two distinct figures appear, so they are best read as two statistical groups:
| Statistical group | job tag occupation pages showing it | Annual income, national | Monthly hours | Average age | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group 1 | ソフトウェア開発（パッケージソフト） (package software development); システムエンジニア（受託開発） (system engineer, contract development); プログラマー (programmer); システムエンジニア（Webサービス開発） (system engineer, web services) | ¥5.785M | 159 | 37.1 | 令和7年 (2025) survey, accessed 2026-10-10 | 17111819 |
| Group 2 | システムエンジニア（基盤システム） (system engineer, infrastructure); ITコンサルタント (IT consultant) | ¥8.89M | 173 | 38.3 | 令和7年 (2025) survey, accessed 2026-10-10 | 2021 |
A programmer page and a web-services engineer page show the same ¥5.785M because job tag applies one statistical figure to several occupations. The two groups above are not pay differences between individual roles.16
Each job tag page also offers prefecture-level figures through a prefecture selector, which is worth checking if you will work outside Tokyo.17
English-speaking developer survey data
The TokyoDev Developer Survey 2025 had 989 participants and 47 questions (as of the 2025-09 survey).2 Responses were collected between 2025-09-04 and 2025-09-28, read from the survey's response-timeline chart.22
The sample is self-selected. Respondents arrived mainly through TokyoDev (39%), Reddit (16%), and LinkedIn (14%), and 985 of 1,009 survey sessions were completed in English (as of the 2025-09 survey).22 78% lived in Greater Tokyo, and 57 respondents (about 6%) were Japanese citizens (as of the 2025-09 survey).14
Respondent counts differ by one or two between the survey's summary page and its subpages; the figures here use the summary page where both exist.29 The overall median total annual compensation was ¥9.5M, up from ¥8.5M in 2024 (as of the 2025-09 survey).9
The two tables below show medians by employer type and by years of experience (as of the 2025-09 survey).2
| Employer type | Median | n | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| International company (no Japan operations) | ¥13.5M | 74 | 2025-09 | 2 |
| Japanese subsidiary of international company | ¥11.5M | 167 | 2025-09 | 2 |
| Japanese company (Japan-headquartered) | ¥8.5M | 613 | 2025-09 | 2 |
| Sole proprietorship | ¥7.5M | 28 | 2025-09 | 2 |
| Experience | Median | n | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 year | ¥2.8M | 43 | 2025-09 | 2 |
| 1–3 years | ¥5.2M | 173 | 2025-09 | 2 |
| 4–6 years | ¥6.3M | 230 | 2025-09 | 2 |
| 7–9 years | ¥9.4M | 163 | 2025-09 | 2 |
| 10–12 years | ¥11M | 158 | 2025-09 | 2 |
| 13–15 years | ¥12.5M | 97 | 2025-09 | 2 |
| 16–20 years | ¥12.8M | 67 | 2025-09 | 2 |
| 20+ years | ¥14.2M | 77 | 2025-09 | 2 |
Most respondents had some remote-work option: 389 worked hybrid (43%), 290 had remote work at their own discretion (32%), 141 were fully remote, and 92 had no remote work (as of the 2025-09 survey).9
Reading the bands: base pay, bonus, and total compensation
The job tag figure and the TokyoDev median differ for structural reasons. job tag reports a national statistical average built from contractual pay and bonuses, while TokyoDev reports the median of a self-selected, English-speaking, Tokyo-heavy group.161422
The two sources also define pay differently. job tag's 年収 is monthly contractual pay × 12 plus bonuses and special payments, while TokyoDev asked for "total annual compensation" without defining what to include (as of the 2025-09 survey).169 Some respondents may have counted equity or overtime; others may not.
Immigration uses its own definitions. For Highly Skilled Professional points, ISA counts bonuses (賞与, shōyo) as income but excludes overtime pay (超過勤務手当, chōka kinmu teate) (as of 2026-04).23 For J-Skip, annual income means the expected pay for the activity in Japan, including pay from a foreign affiliated organization, not past income (as of 2026-10-10).24
Visa routes for software engineers
This section covers four statuses of residence used for engineering work. It summarizes how each applies to engineering work; the full requirements sit in the dedicated visa articles.
The map below shows, in simplified form, which route to read about first, using the transfer condition, J-Skip thresholds, and HSP points threshold set out in the sections that follow (as of 2026-10-10; confirm current figures with ISA).252410 Real eligibility depends on the full criteria, and an engineer can qualify for more than one route.
Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services
The default status for employed engineers is 技術・人文知識・国際業務 (Gijutsu・Jinbun Chishiki・Kokusai Gyōmu, usually shortened to "Gijinkoku"). It covers work requiring technology or knowledge in the natural sciences, such as engineering, or in the humanities, done under a contract with a public or private organization in Japan (本邦の公私の機関, honpō no kōshi no kikan).26
The contract can be employment, or a mandate or commission arrangement (委任・委託・委嘱), but it must be a continuing contract with a specific organization; more than one organization is allowed (as of 2026-07).15 Periods of stay are 5 years, 3 years, 1 year, or 3 months (as of 2026-07-13).26
IT engineers have an alternative to the usual education or work-experience proof. A pass certificate or qualification certificate for an information-technology exam designated by the Minister of Justice can be submitted instead (as of 2026-07-13).26 The designating notice is 平成25年法務省告示第437号, last amended by 令和2年法務省告示第118号 (as of 2026-10-10).27
The Japanese exams on the list are the following (as of 2026-10-10).27
| Exam | Japanese name | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registered Information Security Specialist Examination | 情報処理安全確保支援士試験 | 2026-10-10 | 27 |
| Information Technology Engineers Examination, 11 current categories: IT Strategist, Systems Architect, Project Manager, Network Specialist, Database Specialist, Embedded Systems Specialist, IT Service Manager, Systems Auditor, Applied Information Technology Engineer, Fundamental Information Technology Engineer, Information Security Management | 情報処理技術者試験 | 2026-10-10 | 27 |
| 25 past exam categories run by METI or its predecessor | (listed in the notice) | 2026-10-10 | 27 |
The notice also designates exams issued in China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Singapore, and South Korea (as of 2026-10-10).27 Only the specific exams named in the notice count, so check the exact exam name on the notice page before relying on a foreign certificate.27
For the full eligibility rules, documents, and renewal process, see Engineer/Humanities/International Services Visa.
Highly Skilled Professional and the points table
The 高度専門職 (kōdo senmonshoku, "Highly Skilled Professional", HSP) status is granted when an applicant scores 70 points or more on ISA's points table (as of 2026-10-10).25 Points come from education, work experience, annual income, research achievements, and Japanese ability, among other items (as of 2026-10-10).28
Engineers usually fall under HSP 1号ロ, advanced specialized or technical work in the natural or human sciences, done under a contract with an organization in Japan.28 An applicant whose annual income is under ¥3M is not recognized under 1号ロ even with 70 or more points (as of 2026-04).23
HSP 1号 brings preferential treatment, including permission for multiple activities, a 5-year period of stay, relaxed permanent residency (PR) requirements, work permission for a spouse, conditional accompaniment of parents and a domestic worker, and priority processing (as of 2026-10-10).29 HSP 2号 requires 3 or more years of HSP 1号 activity and 70 or more points, among other criteria, and carries an indefinite period of stay (as of 2026-10-10).2529
HSP also shortens the route to PR. Holders with 70 or more points can apply for PR after 3 years of continuous HSP activity, and holders with 80 or more points after 1 year (as of 2026-10-10).29 The PR guideline revised on 2026-10-01 keeps both special cases (as of 2026-10-01).30
For the points table itself, see Highly Skilled Professional Visa. For PR timing, see The HSP Fast Track to Permanent Residency.
J-Skip for high earners
特別高度人材制度 (tokubetsu kōdo jinzai seido, "Special Highly Skilled Professional", known as J-Skip) started in April 2023. It grants HSP status outside the points system when education or work history and income meet set levels (as of 2026-10-10).24
| J-Skip category | Requirement | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research and technical (1号イ, 1号ロ) | Master's degree or higher, and annual income of ¥20M or more | 2026-10-10 | 24 |
| Research and technical (1号イ, 1号ロ) | 10+ years' relevant work experience, and annual income of ¥20M or more | 2026-10-10 | 24 |
| Business management (1号ハ) | 5+ years' business-management experience, and annual income of ¥40M or more | 2026-10-10 | 24 |
Income here means the expected annual pay for the activity in Japan, not past income (as of 2026-10-10).24 J-Skip holders can apply for PR after 1 year of residence, and the ISA page shows no 2026 change to the criteria (as of 2026-10-10).24
Transfers from an overseas office
If a multinational moves you from its overseas office to its office in Japan for a fixed period, the relevant status is 企業内転勤 (kigyōnai tenkin, "Intra-Company Transferee"). The work done in Japan must be of the Gijinkoku type, and periods of stay are 5 years, 3 years, 1 year, or 3 months (as of 2026-10-10).10 Because the status is for a fixed-period transfer, ISA reviews requests to stay beyond about 5 years carefully for necessity (as of 2026-07).15
For permanent residency applications filed on or after 2027-04-01, years on Intra-Company Transferee do not count toward the 5 years on a work status within the standard 10-year path, because the revised PR guideline's definition of work status excludes 「企業内転勤」 and applies to that 5-year count (as of 2026-10-10).30
For the full rules, see Intra-Company Transferee Visa.
Working remotely for a foreign employer while living in Japan
Remote work for an employer outside Japan raises three separate questions: whether your status of residence covers the work, how the income is taxed, and which pension and health insurance system applies. Each has a different answer source, and the tax and social-insurance answers depend on your nationality and the employer's country through tax treaties and social security agreements.3132
Does your status of residence cover the work?
Holders of four statuses have no restriction on the kind of work they do: permanent resident (永住者), spouse or child of a Japanese national (日本人の配偶者等), spouse or child of a permanent resident (永住者の配偶者等), and long-term resident (定住者).15 For these holders, the immigration question does not arise; the tax and social-insurance questions below still do.
Employment-based statuses are different. Gijinkoku and HSP 1号ロ are both defined as activities done under a contract with a public or private organization in Japan.2628 The Immigration Control Act's notification duty also refers to "the organization in Japan that is the contract counterparty."33
ISA's published guidance does not say whether salaried work for a foreign employer with no Japanese entity, office, or registration falls within Gijinkoku activity.2615 It also does not say whether a Gijinkoku holder doing side work for a foreign employer needs 資格外活動許可 (shikakugai katsudō kyoka, "permission to engage in activity other than that permitted under the status of residence").34
If you hold an employment-based status and plan to work for a foreign employer with no Japanese entity, confirm with ISA directly, or with a gyōseishoshi or immigration lawyer, before you start. Paid activity that does not belong to your current status requires separate permission from ISA.34
What ISA does publish is the general rule for that permission. It is required when you will engage in income-generating business or paid activity that does not belong to your current status.34 ISA's listed conditions include that the side activity does not hinder your main activity, that you are actually doing your main activity, and, for statuses based on a contract with an organization in Japan, that organization's consent (as of 2026-10-10; confirm current figures with ISA).34 Standard processing takes 2 weeks to 2 months (as of 2026-10-10).34
For how work permission works across statuses, see Work Permission by Status of Residence and Can You Freelance on Your Visa?.
The digital nomad route is a different, short-stay status
Japan's digital nomad status is a form of 特定活動 (tokutei katsudō, "Designated Activities") for people staying up to 6 months to do international remote work (as of 2026-10-10).35 It permits work under an employment contract with a foreign-law corporation done in Japan by computer for that body's office abroad, or providing paid services to people abroad; employment or contracting with anyone in Japan is not permitted (as of 2024-07).36
| Requirement | Detail | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income | Personal annual income of ¥10M or more at application; a contracted salary expected to reach ¥10M also qualifies, and sole proprietors are assessed on profit after expenses | 2024-07 Q&A; page accessed 2026-10-10 | 3536 |
| Nationality | Must hold a nationality on ISA's list of eligible countries and regions | 2026-10-10 | 35 |
| Medical insurance | Private insurance covering death, injury, and illness, with treatment cover of ¥10M or more for the whole stay | 2026-10-10 | 3536 |
| Period | 6 months, not renewable; re-entry on the same status is possible after 6 months outside Japan | 2024-07 | 36 |
Holders receive no residence card and cannot join Japan's public medical insurance, because they are not 中長期在留者 (chūchōki zairyūsha, "mid- to long-term residents"), according to ISA's Q&A.36 The Basic Resident Registration Act's categories of foreign residents do not include people outside that group, which suggests holders are also not registered as residents; ISA's Q&A does not state this in those words.3637
ISA's Q&A also notes that, in many cases, pay for the nomad's activity in Japan is exempt from Japanese tax if tax-treaty conditions are met, such as a total stay of 183 days or less; conditions differ by treaty (as of 2024-07).36 For the status itself, see Designated Activities Visa.
Income tax when the payer is abroad
Your tax scope depends on your residence class under the Income Tax Act, not on where your employer is.31
| Class | Japanese | Who it covers | Taxed on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resident (other than non-permanent) | 居住者 (kyojūsha) | Has a domicile in Japan, or a residence continuously for 1 year or more | All income, wherever it arises31 |
| Non-permanent resident | 非永住者 (hi-eijūsha) | Resident without Japanese nationality whose domicile or residence in Japan totals 5 years or less in the past 10 years | Income other than foreign-source income, plus foreign-source income paid in or remitted to Japan31 |
| Non-resident | 非居住者 (hi-kyojūsha) | Anyone else | Japan-source income only31 |
"Non-permanent resident" is a tax category, not an immigration status.31 Whether salary counts as foreign-source matters for non-permanent residents. Income Tax Act Article 95(4) item 10 defines foreign-source salary as pay for work performed outside Japan, and NTA Tax Answer No.2878 lists salary for work performed in Japan as Japan-source income for non-residents.3839
Read together, those two texts indicate that salary for work you physically do in Japan is not foreign-source, wherever the payer sits. That is an inference from the two texts: no NTA page states it for remote workers, so confirm with a zeirishi how the remittance rule applies to you.3839
The statutory duty to withhold income tax falls on a person who pays salary to a resident "in Japan" (国内において).40 A salaried person paid by someone with no withholding obligation must file a final income tax return, 確定申告 (kakutei shinkoku).41 Anyone whose salary income exceeds ¥20M must also file, which is relevant at J-Skip income levels.41
If you pay income tax abroad on the same income, you may be able to deduct it from Japanese income tax through the 外国税額控除 (gaikoku zeigaku kōjo, "foreign tax credit"). The credit is capped at Japanese tax multiplied by adjusted foreign income over total income, and you must attach a detailed statement and proof of payment to your return.42
Treaty outcomes vary by country, so a zeirishi familiar with your home country's treaty is the right adviser for a cross-border setup. For background, see Tax Resident Classification in Japan, Worldwide Income vs. Japan-Source Income, and Year-End Adjustment vs. Kakutei Shinkoku: Which You File.
Health insurance and pension
Employees' Pension Insurance (厚生年金保険, kōsei nenkin hoken) applies by establishment. It is mandatory for corporate establishments in Japan, and for unincorporated establishments with 5 or more regular employees outside excluded industries; people under 70 regularly employed at a covered establishment are insured regardless of nationality.43 The Japan Pension Service (JPS) page does not address a foreign company with no establishment in Japan, so it gives no answer on whether such an employer brings you into the employee system.43
Outside the employee system, the residence-based schemes apply. Everyone living in Japan aged 20 to under 60 who is not in Employees' Pension is a Category 1 or Category 3 National Pension (国民年金, kokumin nenkin) insured person, and enrolment is done at the municipal office.44
National Health Insurance (国民健康保険, kokumin kenkō hoken) covers people with an address in a prefecture, except those in employee health insurance and other listed exclusions.45 MHLW describes it as covering all residents not enrolled in another medical insurance system, and directs questions about enrolment and premiums to the NHI desk of the municipality where you live.46
A social security (totalization) agreement can change this. Under an agreement, a worker generally joins only the system of the country where they work; a worker sent temporarily to Japan by an employer in a partner country, for a period not expected to exceed 5 years, stays in the home system only after obtaining a 適用証明書 (tekiyō shōmeisho, "certificate of coverage") from the home country's agency.32
The JPS page frames that exemption around employees sent by a partner-country employer and self-employed people working temporarily in Japan. It does not address someone who moved to Japan on their own and kept a foreign employer.32 Some agreements cover pensions only, not health insurance, and coverage differs by partner country (as of 2025-10-27).47
For the self-enrolment process, see Health Insurance and Pension for Freelancers. For how agreements work, see Totalization Agreements with Japan: What They Do and Certificate of Coverage for Japan: Avoid Double Payments.
Common traps for foreign engineers
SES contracts and client-site placement
An SES (システムエンジニアリングサービス, "system engineering service") contract places an engineer's working hours at a client's disposal. A 2019 Bengo4.com news article quoting a lawyer describes SES as providing engineers' labor hours (工数, kōsū) to a client under a 準委任契約 (jun-inin keiyaku, "quasi-mandate contract"), and notes that direct instructions from the client to the contractor's worker are judged disguised contracting.13
MHLW judges whether an arrangement is worker dispatch or contracting by its substance, not its contract form. That applies to system development, including agile development under a quasi-mandate contract.4
The key difference is who directs your work.4
In dispatch, the dispatching employer's worker works under the client's direction. In contracting, there is no direction relationship between the client and the contractor's workers.4
Gijinkoku holders working in dispatch form face stricter ISA rules from 2026 (as of 2026-07; confirm current figures with ISA).3
- For applications filed from 2026-03-09, extra documents are required: pledges (誓約書, seiyakusho) from both the dispatching employer and the client, plus copies of the working-conditions notice and the individual dispatch contract. Extensions also need dispatch ledgers and an employment-status report.3
- The client must be fixed at the time of application. Otherwise permission is not granted, except where the client is decided after post-hire training.3
- The period of stay is set according to the dispatch-contract period.3
- ISA may check your work content directly with the client as well as with the dispatching company.3
Where you work at several client sites, the work at every site must fall within Gijinkoku activity (as of 2026-07).15
If a dispatched Gijinkoku holder is put on work outside Gijinkoku activity, both the dispatching company and the client may be liable for facilitating illegal work (不法就労助長罪, fuhō shūrō jochō zai), punishable by up to 3 years' imprisonment, a fine of up to ¥3M, or both.15 Before accepting a dispatch placement, confirm that the duties at every client site are Gijinkoku-type work.15
For how dispatch and contract employment fit into Japan's employment categories, see Seishain, Keiyaku, Haken, and Arubaito: Japan's Employment Categories and The Three Main Labor Statutes.
Disguised contracting deep in the subcontracting chain
偽装請負 (gisō ukeoi, "disguised contracting") is an arrangement written as contracting that operates as dispatch. Where the ordering party directs and commands the worker, MHLW treats the arrangement as worker dispatch even under a contracting-form contract, and the Worker Dispatch Act applies.4
MHLW describes two general patterns.4
- The arrangement is worker dispatch in substance, which violates the Worker Dispatch Act.
- Work is re-contracted to an individual who is in substance a "worker" under the Labor Standards Act, so form and substance diverge.
For developers, MHLW's test is practical. Proper contracting requires the contractor to direct and manage its own workers and process the work independently; if the client's lead or developers directly instruct the contractor's developers on work methods or working hours, the arrangement is disguised contracting.4
Shared tools do not by themselves create disguised contracting. Joint meetings, email, chat, and project-management tools are fine where the parties collaborate as equals, but direct instructions on methods or hours through those channels are not.4 Cases outside MHLW's published examples are assessed individually by prefectural labor bureaus.48
Payment pressure can also pass down the chain. The JFTC's 2022 survey found price beating, payment reductions, and late payment passed down multi-layer chains, though no primary source quantifies the effect on engineers' pay at each tier.121 For the worker-status test itself, see The Freelance-vs-Employee Test.
Checking a job title against the actual role
No survey measuring how closely tech job titles in Japan match the work was found for this article. The checklist below helps you read an offer on its own terms instead.
- Compare the duties with a reference definition. job tag defines a programmer as someone who writes programs from detailed designs prepared by system engineers and performs unit tests, and a contract-development system engineer as someone who develops software on commission for a client's information system.1118 If a "senior engineer" or "architect" offer describes programmer duties, ask why.
- Ask who you report to and who directs your daily work. If the answer is someone at a client company, the contract-type questions in the two sections above apply.4
- Ask where you will work. If the role is based at a client's site (客先常駐), ask whether the contract is dispatch, SES, or another form, since the rules differ.413
- Check the pay against both baselines. Set the offer beside the job tag group figures and the TokyoDev medians for your experience band, keeping in mind how each source defines pay.162
- Check the contract type and term. A fixed-term contract has different renewal and conversion rules from an open-ended one.49
SIer pay: what the two data sources show
This article has no sourced data on how SIer pay grows with tenure, so this section compares the available figures rather than asserting a ceiling. The table sets them side by side (as of 2026-10-10 for job tag and the 2025-09 survey for TokyoDev).1120212
| Source | Population | Figure | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| job tag, Group 1 (includes システムエンジニア（受託開発）, the SIer-type occupation) | National wage statistics, 令和7年 (2025) survey | ¥5.785M | 2026-10-10 | 11 |
| job tag, Group 2 (infrastructure system engineer, IT consultant) | National wage statistics, 令和7年 (2025) survey | ¥8.89M | 2026-10-10 | 2021 |
| TokyoDev 2025, Japan-headquartered employers | Self-selected, mostly English-speaking respondents | ¥8.5M median | 2025-09 | 2 |
The figures differ because they come from different surveys measuring different groups. job tag reports national statistics for broad occupation classifications, while TokyoDev's sample is self-selected, recruited mainly through TokyoDev, Reddit, and LinkedIn, and concentrated in Greater Tokyo.161422
The TokyoDev Japan-headquartered category also mixes SIers with every other Japan-based employer, so it is not an SIer figure.2 Neither source shows how pay grows with tenure at an SIer.
Good to know
Compare offers on total compensation, including bonus and equity
job tag's annual income has no stock component, and TokyoDev's "total annual compensation" leaves the components undefined, so an equity-heavy offer cannot be compared directly with either (formula as of the 2026-08-28 notice; confirm current figures with MHLW job tag).169 For HSP points, bonuses count as income and overtime pay does not (as of 2026-04).23
Compare offers on the full annual figure, broken into base, bonus, allowances, and equity. Compensation Components Beyond Base Salary explains each component, and Salary Negotiation in Japan covers how to raise them.
Changing employers triggers a 14-day notification
Gijinkoku and HSP 1号イ or 1号ロ holders, including 2号 holders in those categories, must notify ISA within 14 days when a contract with their contracting organization ends or a new one is concluded.33 The same duty applies when the organization changes its name or address, or dissolves.33
You can file online, at a regional immigration office, or by mail to the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau (as of 2026-10-10).50 See Notifying Immigration of the Employer Change for the procedure.
If the move also needs a change of status or an extension, allow for ISA's standard processing times: 1–2 months for a change of status and 2 weeks to 1 month for an extension, or 1–3 months for a Certificate of Eligibility when hiring from abroad (as of 2026-07).15 From 2026-10-01, ISA fees for these applications vary according to the period of stay granted, so check the current fee before you file (as of 2026-10-01).51
Inter-Employer Movements: Same Industry, Cross Industry, Cross Status covers when a move needs more than a notification.
Fixed-term contracts and the five-year conversion rule
Where fixed-term contracts with the same employer total more than 5 years, you can apply to convert to an open-ended contract, and the employer is deemed to accept.49 See Fixed-Term vs. Permanent Contracts and the 5-Year Conversion Rule for how the count works.
Where to look for roles
The job-hunting articles cover where tech roles are advertised and how to approach them: Where to Look: The Bilingual Job-Board Landscape, Bilingual and Foreign-Specialty Recruiters, and Job-Hunting from Abroad vs. From Inside Japan.
See also
- Teaching English in Japan: JET, ALTs, Eikaiwa, and Career Paths
- Foreign Qualification Recognition in Japan
- Foreign-Source Income Rules for Non-Permanent Residents
- Side-Business While Employed: What's Allowed
- Change of Status of Residence