Japan Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) Requirements

Specified Skilled Worker (SSW, 特定技能) has a different logic from the regular work visa. It does not care about your degree, your profession's prestige, or an office job offer. What it asks is whether you can do a specific job in a labour-shortage sector and function in Japanese well enough to work safely. The requirements break down into four gates, all of which must be met.

1. Your job must be in one of the 16 designated sectors

SSW is only open to specific industries facing labour shortages. As of the 2024 cabinet decision, there are 16 fields — originally 12, with four added in 2024:

• Caregiving (介護)
• Building cleaning
• Industrial product manufacturing
• Construction
• Shipbuilding and ship machinery
• Automobile repair and maintenance
• Aviation
• Accommodation
• Agriculture
• Fishery
• Food and beverage manufacturing
• Food service (restaurants)
• Automobile transportation (added 2024)
• Railways (added 2024)
• Forestry (added 2024)
• Timber industry (added 2024)

If your work is not on this list, SSW is not the route — an office, technical, or professional role belongs on the regular work visa instead. Each field has its own supervising ministry and its own skills test, so the exact tasks that count vary sector by sector. The four fields added in 2024 had their operational rules and tests rolled out through 2024 and 2025, so if you are targeting road transport, railways, forestry, or timber, confirm the current test schedule for your country before committing.

2. You must pass a sector-specific skills test

For each of the 16 sectors there is a dedicated skills test set by the ministry that supervises that field. The test is practical, not academic: caregiving applicants demonstrate care procedures, construction applicants show knowledge of site safety and tasks, food service applicants prove they can run kitchen and service operations. You are being assessed on whether you can actually do the job, not whether you studied it.

The tests are held both inside Japan and in a growing number of sending countries, with schedules published on the official SSW support site. Passing the test for your chosen sector is non-negotiable for a cold-start applicant — there is no degree or experience substitute the way the regular work visa allows.

3. You must pass a Japanese-language test

Alongside the skills test, you must show functional Japanese. The standard for Type 1 is JFT-Basic (Japanese Foundation Test, an A2 level comparable to JLPT N4), which proves you can:

• Handle everyday conversation
• Follow workplace instructions
• Understand basic safety guidance
• Manage daily life in Japan

The language requirement exists because SSW Type 1 workers are expected to function in real workplaces and communities, not in a sheltered training programme. A JLPT N4 certificate is accepted in place of JFT-Basic across sectors. Two sector-specific nuances matter: nursing care adds a 介護日本語評価試験 (Nursing Care Japanese Language Evaluation Test) on top of the standard test, and automobile transport splits by role — truck drivers need N4, while taxi and bus drivers need N3.

4. You must have a job offer from a registered employer

SSW is employer-sponsored. You need a concrete job offer from a company in a qualifying sector before the application can proceed. The employer must also be enrolled in the registered support system — they must provide (or contract a registered support organisation to provide) a defined package of help: pre-arrival orientation, assistance opening a bank account and finding housing, interpreting, guidance on public procedures, and a route for consultations and complaints.

For the worker, this support obligation is a genuine protection. It means Type 1 comes with a legal expectation that someone is responsible for helping you settle — a meaningful difference from arriving cold on a general work visa. When you compare job offers, ask who provides the support and how, because the quality of that support shapes your first year more than almost anything else.

The Technical Intern shortcut

There is one major exception to the test requirement. Workers who have completed Technical Intern Training (技能実習) in a matching field can transition into SSW Type 1 without retaking the skills and language tests — the intern experience is treated as evidence of the same skill. This is the main pipeline into SSW today. From April 2027, the Technical Intern system is replaced by Ikusei Shūrō, but the destination (SSW) and its test gate stay the same.

Type 1 vs Type 2: a requirement that shapes everything

Which tier you qualify for changes what "meeting the requirements" means. The four gates above are the Type 1 entry bar — the standard route for almost everyone. Type 2 asks for more: a higher, supervisory skill level verified by a harder test, and in most cases a track record on Type 1 first. The payoff is that Type 2 lifts the five-year cap, allows family, and counts toward permanent residency (Type 1 years do not). The full Type 1 vs Type 2 comparison is on the SSW overview; for requirements, the key point is that you enter at Type 1 and the four gates above are your starting bar.

Summary: the four gates

To qualify for SSW Type 1, you must satisfy all four:

1. Your job is in one of the 16 designated sectors.
2. You pass the sector-specific skills test (or waive it via Technical Intern experience).
3. You pass the Japanese-language test at JFT-Basic / N4 level (or waive it via Technical Intern experience).
4. You have a job offer from an employer enrolled in the registered support system.

No degree is required. No office or professional background is needed. The gate is practical competence in a specific sector and enough Japanese to work and live safely. That is the whole point of SSW — it opens Japan to skilled labour that the regular work visa was never designed to reach.

This is general information only and not legal advice.

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