Japanese resume formats, rirekisho and shokumu keirekisho explained

Why Japan uses two documents

Japanese job applications routinely require two resumes, not one. The split is deliberate: the rirekisho is a standardised personal-history form modelled after government identity documents and gives HR a fast, structured view of "who you are." The shokumu keirekisho is the flexible career-narrative document where you actually pitch yourself.

Most Japanese employers expect both. Submitting only one signals you don't understand the local hiring process, a meaningful demerit at traditional companies. International companies and most startups will accept just a Western CV in English; check the listing before assuming.

Rirekisho (履歴書), the standardised form

The format is largely fixed and follows the template published by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW). The MHLW version became the de facto national standard in 2021. Each section has its expected ordering:

1. Header bar: the date you wrote the document (西暦 or 令和), name in kanji (or katakana for foreigners), furigana reading in hiragana, date of birth, age, gender (optional since 2021), photo.
2. Address block: current address with postal code (郵便番号), phone, email. Optionally a separate contact address if different.
3. Education and work history (学歴・職歴): chronological from oldest to newest. Education first (start with high school entry, yes really), then jobs. Each entry on its own row with year, month, and event.
4. Licenses and certifications (免許・資格): JLPT, driver's license, professional licenses. Chronological by date acquired.
5. Motivation, special skills, self-PR (志望の動機・特技・自己PR): a free-text block, this is where you actually pitch.
6. Personal wishes (本人希望記入欄): commute time tolerance, start date constraints, etc. For most professionals just write 貴社規定に従います ("I will follow your company's standards").

Length

One A3 sheet folded in half, or two A4 sheets stapled together. Always fits on two A4 pages.

Shokumu keirekisho (職務経歴書), the career CV

The flexible document. No mandated template, but a strong convention exists, and deviating from it (without obvious reason) signals you haven't done your homework.

Standard structure

1. Title bar: document type, your name, date.
2. Career summary (職務要約): 3–5 lines summarising your trajectory. This is the only section a busy hiring manager will read in full.
3. Work history (職務経歴): reverse chronological, one section per employer. Each section: company name, dates, headcount and capital (yes, including capital, 資本金, Japanese employers want to know company size), your role, responsibilities, and concrete achievements with numbers.
4. Skills (活かせるスキル): bulleted list. Tech stacks for engineers, tools and methodologies for non-engineers.
5. Self-PR (自己PR): 2–4 short paragraphs. This is more substantive than the rirekisho self-PR, explain how your experience maps to the target role.

Length

Two A4 pages is standard for 5–10 years of experience. Three for 10–20 years. Four pages is the absolute ceiling and usually means too much detail.

The photo (証明写真), spec, sourcing, common errors

Where to get one in Japan

• ID photo booths (証明写真機): ¥800–¥1,500. Available at most major JR stations, convenience stores, and shopping centres. The standard option.
• Photo studios: ¥3,000–¥8,000 with retouching. Worth it for senior roles where presentation matters.
• Apps: shomeishashin app on iOS/Android lets you self-shoot, then print at convenience-store kiosks. Acceptable but quality varies.

Dates and the calendar, Western vs. imperial

Japan uses two parallel calendars on official documents:

• Western (西暦): 2026.
• Japanese imperial (和暦): Reiwa 8 (令和8年). The current era is Reiwa, which began on 1 May 2019 when Emperor Naruhito ascended.

Either is acceptable on a rirekisho, but you must be consistent throughout the entire document. Mixing Western years for some events and imperial years for others is one of the most common mistakes and is read as careless. Pick one and use it everywhere.

Specific mistakes that get applications screened

• Inconsistent dates between rirekisho and shokumu keirekisho. The two documents must agree exactly on every employer, every role, every date. HR specifically cross-checks.
• Generic self-PR. "I am hardworking and detail-oriented" is the strongest signal that you didn't research the company. Reference something specific, a product, a recent announcement, a value from their hiring page.
• Tasks listed instead of results. Japanese hiring is less number-driven than US hiring, but specific outcomes (revenue, scale, percentages, team size, deadlines hit) move the needle hard.
• Missing the company-size fields in shokumu keirekisho. Japanese hiring managers want to know whether you came from a 30-person startup or a 3,000-person corporate. Always include 従業員数 (employee count) and 資本金 (capital) per employer.
• Skipping high school in education history. The rirekisho convention is to start from junior high or high school entry (中学校卒業 / 高校入学). Starting from university looks like you're hiding something.
• Wrong photo aspect ratio. A square LinkedIn-style headshot looks out of place, use the 3×4 cm vertical proportion or your application looks lazy.
• English in the rirekisho. Unless the listing explicitly says English documents are acceptable, write in Japanese. The shokumu keirekisho can be bilingual for international companies.

Submission format and etiquette

• PDF unless the company specifies otherwise. Filename in romaji: RIREKISHO_LastName_FirstName.pdf and SHOKUMU_LastName_FirstName.pdf.
• Email body in plain Japanese (or English if applying via an English pipeline). Keep it short, three or four sentences identifying yourself, naming the position, listing attached files, and signing off with name + contact.
• Hardcopy submissions (rarer now, but still happens for senior roles) go in an unsealed A4 envelope, with 履歴書在中 written in red on the front.

Digital submission, PDF, photo files, naming

In 2025–26, the majority of Japanese employers, even traditional Japanese corporates, accept rirekisho and shokumu keirekisho as PDF email attachments or through application portals (Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, Yappli, HRMOS). The conventions:

• File format: PDF is universal. Word (.docx) is acceptable but less common; older companies may also accept Excel templates downloaded from MHLW or Hello Work.
• File naming: follow the format 履歴書_姓名_YYYYMMDD.pdf (e.g., 履歴書_山田太郎_20260615.pdf). For foreigners, 履歴書_FAMILYNAME_GIVENNAME_YYYYMMDD.pdf or Rirekisho_FAMILYNAME_GIVENNAME_YYYYMMDD.pdf is widely accepted.
• Two documents bundled: rirekisho + shokumu keirekisho should typically be submitted as two separate PDFs (not combined). Some companies explicitly state this; if unsure, follow this convention.
• Photo embedded in PDF: the photo should be embedded in the rirekisho PDF itself, don't send it as a separate attachment unless the company explicitly requests it.

Photo rules, 2025 specifics

Detailed photo conventions:

• Size: 30mm × 40mm (3 × 4 cm), portrait orientation. Digital files should be roughly 360 × 480 pixels at 300dpi, saved as JPG or PNG, file size under 2MB.
• Background: plain white or light blue. Light grey is borderline-acceptable; busy backgrounds are a hard no.
• Attire: business suit (recruit suit if entry-level), white shirt, conservative tie for men; women typically wear a dark jacket and light blouse.
• Expression: closed-mouth, slight smile is acceptable; many candidates choose neutral. Wide grins are off-message.
• Hair, accessories: hair off the face; no hats. Earrings should be small and conservative.
• Where to take it: photo booths (証明写真機, ~¥800) are everywhere in train stations. Professional photo studios (¥3,000–¥6,000) take 30 minutes and produce noticeably better results. Online services like xpassportphoto.com generate digital files from a phone selfie for ~¥500 if lighting allows, usable for digital submission but not for printed applications.
• How recent: photo must be within the last 3 months.

When you can skip the photo

Increasingly common, but not universal. Companies that explicitly state "photograph not required" (写真不要) in 2025–26 include:

• Mercari (most roles), SmartNews, Indeed Tokyo, most FAANG Tokyo offices, Stripe Tokyo, Notion Japan, Datadog Japan, Snowflake Japan, HubSpot Japan.
• Many international SaaS companies operating under their global ATS (Greenhouse, Lever) skip the photo entirely because the platform doesn't support it.

For traditional Japanese employers (banks, sōgō shōsha, large manufacturers), keep the photo unless instructed otherwise. Including it doesn't hurt; omitting it can read as not understanding norms.

English CV vs. rirekisho, when to send which

ATS / applicant tracking systems in Japan

Common Japan-side ATS platforms and how they behave:

• Greenhouse / Lever / Workday, used by most foreign-cap firms. Standard CV upload; usually skip rirekisho.
• HRMOS (BizReach), Japan's largest enterprise ATS. Custom-formatted application forms; sometimes accept PDF rirekisho upload.
• SmartHR / SmartHR Recruiting, used by Series-A/B startups. Generally accepts PDF rirekisho.
• Yappli HR / Talentio, Japan-specific. Sometimes asks for structured form-fill in addition to PDF upload.
• Wantedly, feed-style profile; the platform substitutes for rirekisho if you fill out the profile completely. Used heavily by Tokyo startups.
• LinkedIn Easy Apply, direct CV upload; commonly used by Indeed Tokyo, foreign-cap Tokyo offices, and a growing number of Japanese employers.

10 common rirekisho mistakes foreigners make

1. Writing the date as the application submission date instead of the day you'll mail/email it.
2. Using the wrong era, recent rirekisho can use either Western (2026) or Reiwa era (令和8); pick one and use it consistently throughout.
3. Leaving "Reasons for resignation" (退職理由) blank for past jobs, most companies want at least "自己都合により退職" (resigned for personal reasons) or "契約満了" (contract completion).
4. Mixing fonts within the document. MS Mincho or Yu Mincho for body, MS Gothic for headings, applied consistently.
5. Listing the wrong "Date of issue" (発行日) on certificates, should match what the issuing institution shows.
6. Skipping the "Hobbies and special skills" (趣味・特技) section. Japanese hiring managers read this carefully as a personality signal.
7. Adding negative justifications in self-PR ("I struggle with X but..."). Self-PR in Japanese context should be uniformly positive.
8. Misformatting phone numbers, should be 090-XXXX-XXXX, not international format.
9. Writing the family name first AND in lowercase. Should be UPPERCASE family name first when written in romaji.
10. Forgetting to handwrite (or carefully sign) the document if submitted on paper. Even with digital submission, signature-style fields are sometimes expected.

Which document for which employer

Rirekisho mistakes that get you screened out

• Wrong date format, Japanese resumes often use the Japanese era (令和, Reiwa) alongside or instead of the Western year; be consistent.
• Inconsistent name order / furigana, provide furigana (reading) for your name and addresses.
• Empty motivation field, the 志望動機 (reason for applying) is read closely; a generic line reads as low interest.
• No photo or a casual photo, see below.
• Typos / correction fluid on a handwritten form, traditionally you rewrite the whole thing rather than correct it; digital avoids this.

Shokumu keirekisho, making it actually sell

This is where you differentiate. Treat it like a Western achievement resume but in Japanese business register:

• Lead each role with scope (team size, budget, product), then quantified achievements (numbers, %, ¥).
• Mirror the keywords in the job description, many large firms screen for them.
• Add a short summary (職務要約) at the top, 3–4 lines framing your career.
• Keep it 2–3 pages; relevance over completeness.
• Have a native speaker proof the Japanese, especially keigo and business phrasing, small errors undercut a senior candidate.

The resume photo, rules & where to get it

• Spec: typically 4cm × 3cm, taken within 3 months, plain light background, business attire, neutral expression.
• Where: photo booths (証明写真機) at stations for ~¥800, or a photo studio for a noticeably better result (worth it for senior roles).
• Digital: for online applications, many booths give you a data version; resume builders let you upload it directly.

Digital vs paper & the hanko question

Increasingly, applications are digital (PDF upload or ATS), which sidesteps handwriting and lets you reuse a polished template. Some traditional firms still want a printed, even handwritten rirekisho. The hanko on a resume is now largely optional/abolished for many forms (the government has pushed de-hanko reforms), but a traditional employer may still expect one, keep a basic hanko available.

When an English CV is enough

If you're targeting foreign-capital, global tech, or English-first employers, a strong English CV (and LinkedIn) is usually all you need, the Japanese resume apparatus is a Japanese-company expectation. This is another reason the English-first job market is the path of least resistance for newcomers: it skips an entire document-format learning curve. Build your CV on the English CV builder and sharpen bullets with the bullet improver.