The Best Job Sites for Foreigners in Japan (2026 Guide)

Introduction

The best job site for you in Japan depends on two things: the kind of work you want and how much Japanese you speak. A student looking for a weekend combini shift needs a very different site from an engineer hunting for a bilingual career role.

Most big Japanese job boards are written only in Japanese and assume you can interview in Japanese. The sites in this guide are built for foreigners instead. They list jobs in English (and often other languages), flag how much Japanese each job needs, and many explain visa requirements up front.

Below you’ll find a quick comparison table, short reviews of the leading part-time and full-time sites, the free government services most people overlook, and the visa rules to check before you apply.

Quick comparison

Here is how the main sites compare at a glance. Each one is covered in more detail below.

Best sites for part-time jobs (arubaito)

If you want a part-time job (アルバイト, arubaito or baito), choose a site that lists jobs in English and tells you up front about pay, shifts and how much Japanese you need. These three are the strongest starting points.

Nihon Arubaito

Nihon Arubaito focuses entirely on part-time work for foreign residents, with listings written in English. It advertises more than 3,000 jobs across all 47 prefectures, with categories such as packing and sorting, restaurants, convenience stores, hotel bed making and cleaning, and delivery.

Its biggest strength is detail. Each listing shows the hourly wage, the nearest station with walking time, shift times and the minimum days per week. Station names appear in both English and Japanese, which makes commuting easy to plan. It also has dedicated pages for hand-cash and daily, weekly or advance-pay jobs, which many newcomers look for.

Best for: students, working-holiday makers and anyone who wants a nearby baito with clear pay and shift details. Browsing and applying are free.

YOLO JAPAN

YOLO JAPAN supports six languages and has a simple sign-up process. It lists full-time, part-time and one-off temporary jobs, and you can filter by your Japanese level, English level, other languages, industry and work style, including remote and teaching jobs.

Best for: people who want to compare part-time, temporary and full-time options in one place, or who prefer a language other than English.

WeXpats Jobs

WeXpats Jobs is aimed especially at international students. It is available in 11 languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese, and it has one of the larger pools of jobs for foreigners.

Best for: international students who want a large choice of student-friendly jobs.

If you read Japanese: mainstream Japanese baito sites list far more jobs than any English site. Many foreigners use an English site first, then switch to Japanese sites as their Japanese improves.

Best sites for full-time and career jobs

For a full-time job, the right site depends mostly on your Japanese level. English-only speakers should start with GaijinPot Jobs; bilingual professionals get better pay and more corporate roles on Daijob and CareerCross.

GaijinPot Jobs

GaijinPot Jobs is one of the oldest and best-known English job boards in Japan. It lists full-time and part-time roles in teaching, IT, hospitality, marketing and engineering, and you can apply from inside or outside Japan.

Many English-teaching jobs on GaijinPot need only basic Japanese, but most non-teaching jobs ask for advanced Japanese (around JLPT N2 or N1). The wider site also offers housing, study and living guides.

Best for: English speakers, especially those looking for teaching jobs or applying from abroad.

Daijob

Daijob has served bilingual and multilingual job seekers since 1998 and lists more than 10,000 jobs, mostly with global companies in Japan. Its filters let you narrow results to jobs that work fully in English or that offer visa support. It also runs job fairs and seminars.

Best for: bilingual professionals who want a corporate career with an international company.

CareerCross

CareerCross is a bilingual job board for professionals, strongest in finance, IT, engineering and marketing. Besides listings, it has a scout feature that lets employers find you, plus guides on résumés and interviews. Many roles expect business-level Japanese.

Best for: experienced bilingual professionals aiming for higher-paying roles.

Also worth checking

• Jobs in Japan: a broad board with English teaching and many other fields, plus job alerts.
• LinkedIn and Indeed: huge reach across all industries, though you will need to filter carefully for jobs open to foreigners.
• Specialist recruiters: agencies such as Robert Walters and Michael Page focus on finance, accounting and technology roles, and can negotiate on your behalf.

Free public help: Hello Work and the Employment Service Centers for Foreigners

Hello Work is Japan’s government employment office, and all of its services are free. Many people skip it because the job listings are in Japanese, but its special centers for foreigners offer interpreters, job counseling and interview help that no private site provides.

The main Employment Service Centers for Foreigners are in big cities:

Outside these cities, many local Hello Work offices have interpreter hours on set days. Check your prefecture’s labour bureau website before you go.

Two things to know before visiting: staff will check your residence card to confirm you can legally work, and most jobs still require basic conversational Japanese. Hello Work is best used alongside an English job site, not instead of one.

Check your visa before you apply

What you are allowed to do depends on your status of residence, not on the job site. Breaking the rules can lead to deportation for you and penalties for your employer, so check this first.

A few rules catch people out:

• The 28 hours is a total. If you have two part-time jobs, your hours at both are added together.
• No adult-entertainment work. Students and dependents cannot work at places such as pachinko parlors or hostess bars, even with permission.
• No work while on leave from school. Students on a leave of absence cannot work, even if they hold the permission.
• Check your residence card. Permission to work part-time is noted on the back of your card. Employers must check it when they hire you.
• Students can apply at the airport. New students can usually apply for work permission at the port of entry when they first arrive.

Rules can change, so confirm the details on the Immigration Services Agency website before you start work.

Tips for applying successfully

A few simple habits make a big difference to how quickly you get hired.

1. Filter by Japanese level first. Applying only to jobs that match your real Japanese ability saves time and avoids awkward interviews.
2. Apply to several sites at once. No single site has every job. Using one part-time site, one career site and Hello Work together gives you the widest choice.
3. Prepare a Japanese-style résumé (履歴書, rirekisho). Many employers expect the standard Japanese format, often with a photo. For career roles, also prepare a work-history document (職務経歴書, shokumu keirekisho).
4. Check the commute and shifts carefully. Look at the nearest station, walking time and the minimum days per week before you apply. Late-night shifts may end after the last train.
5. Understand how you will be paid. “Hand cash”, daily, weekly and advance-pay jobs pay faster, but some are placed through staffing agencies. Read who your actual employer is.
6. Learn basic interview manners. Arrive early, bow, and prepare a short self-introduction (自己紹介, jiko shōkai) in Japanese, even if the job is in English.
7. Reply quickly. Popular part-time jobs fill fast, so answer messages from employers within a day.

Conclusion: which site should you start with?

Start with the site that matches the job you want now, then add others as your goals and Japanese grow.

• Want a part-time job near you? Start with Nihon Arubaito or YOLO JAPAN.
• International student? Try WeXpats Jobs, and get your work permission first.
• English speaker or applying from abroad? Start with GaijinPot Jobs.
• Bilingual professional? Use Daijob and CareerCross.
• Need free, face-to-face help? Visit an Employment Service Center for Foreigners at Hello Work.

Whichever you choose, check your visa rules before you apply, and use more than one site to see the full range of jobs open to you.

Sources

• Nihon Arubaito
• YOLO JAPAN
• JW Web Magazine: 5 Best Job Hunting Websites in Japan
• Japan Living Life: Job search websites for foreigners
• Coto Academy: Trusted job hunting websites in Japan
• Nordot / Matcha: Job listing websites and tips for starting work in Japan
• apts.jp: The seven best places to find a job in Japan as a foreigner
• Tokyo Employment Service Center for Foreigners
• Nagoya Employment Service Center for Foreigners
• Hello Work Fukuoka-Chuo: Employment Service Center for Foreigners (PDF)
• Osaka Regional Immigration Bureau: Conditional Work Permit Information (PDF, via Osaka University)
• Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Work rules by status of residence
• University of Tokyo: Work permit under student visa
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan: Permission to engage in other activities