Advice tuned to your city and your career track.
Place-specific and role-specific guides, each with deep links into the job board so you can browse the roles a guide describes the moment you finish reading.
Pick your path
Six routes foreigners take into the Japanese market.
Where you'll work
Tokyo, the foreign professional's guide
Where the foreigner-friendly jobs are, which wards to live in, real 2025 rent numbers, transit network, and the practical stuff (banks, phones, hanko) that you'll deal with in week one.
ReadOsaka, Japan's second city for foreign professionals
Osaka pays roughly 85% of Tokyo for the same role but costs 60–70% as much. Where the jobs are, which wards to live in, and what the post-Expo 2025 hiring market looks like.
ReadWhat you'll do
Software engineering in Japan, the deep dive
The highest-paying foreigner-friendly track in Japan. Who's hiring, what stacks pay best, real 2026 comp bands from the TokyoDev survey, and the practical realities of the engineering scene.
ReadTeaching English in Japan, the honest breakdown
JET vs. eikaiwa vs. dispatch ALT, what each actually pays, what working conditions look like, why most people leave within 3 years, and the paths from teaching into other careers.
ReadProduct management in Japan, the foreigner's guide
PM jobs in Japan are scarcer than engineering, but bilingual PMs are heavily oversubscribed on the demand side. Who's actually hiring, what the comp looks like, and how to get in if you weren't already on the inside.
ReadMarketing & growth in Japan, the foreigner's guide
Foreigners can build strong marketing careers in Japan, but the playbook is different from the US/EU. Performance marketing, brand marketing, content, and growth, what's hiring, what pays, and what bilingual capacity unlocks.
ReadFinance & accounting in Japan, the foreigner's guide
Tokyo's foreign finance scene runs deep: investment banking, asset management, private equity, hedge funds, structured finance, corporate finance. The roles, the firms, the pay, and the unglamorous parts no one warns you about.
ReadSales & business development in Japan, the foreigner's guide
Tech sales, enterprise SaaS sales, partnerships, and BD in Japan, the highest-leverage path for bilingual foreigners outside engineering. Who pays the most, what the OTE structures look like, and how to break in.
ReadData & AI in Japan, the foreigner's guide
Data science, ML engineering, analytics and the AI boom in Japan, who hires foreigners, the language reality, compensation that rivals software, and how to break in from abroad.
ReadDesign in Japan, the foreigner's guide
Product design, UX/UI, and the foreign designer's place in Japan, where English-first design teams exist, the bilingual research challenge, compensation, and how to break in.
ReadEngineering management in Japan, the foreigner's guide
Leading engineering teams in Japan as a foreigner, where EM roles open up, the language and cultural leadership challenge, compensation above the IC track, and the IC-vs-manager decision.
ReadMost useful next steps
Browse matching jobs
Every guide links into the board. Jump straight to roles.
Prep your application
Resume documents and interview etiquette before you apply.