SSW Visa Sectors: The Industries and What Each One Actually Involves

The Specified Skilled Worker visa is defined by its sector list: if your job is not in one of the designated labour-shortage fields, SSW is simply not the route. The pillar overview gives you the sector list; the requirements article tells you how the four gates work; the tests article names each sector's exam body. This article goes one layer deeper — into what each sector actually is, what work you do in it, what its test checks, how much demand there is, and whether it can lead to Type 2.

That last point — what each sector offers long-term — is the strategic reason to read this before you choose. The Type 1 vs Type 2 split means your sector choice on day one silently determines whether family accompaniment, an unlimited stay, and a path to permanent residency are even available to you. Not every field offers Type 2, and the demand and competition differ sharply between a mature sector like caregiving and a brand-new one like railways.

1. How the sectors are organised

Japan’s Specified Skilled Worker policy covers 19 fields after the January 23, 2026 Cabinet decision. The official SSW overview lists the existing 16 plus linen supply, logistics warehousing and resource recycling. Being listed in the policy does not by itself mean that applications are currently accepted: the operating-policy notice says that newly added fields and work categories require implementing measures before acceptance can begin.

The lists and examples below describe the 16-field scope introduced in 2024. They are not a complete current eligibility list. Check the official field policy, permitted work, tests, Type 2 availability and application notices for your actual job.

The four fields added in March 2024 — automobile transportation, railways, forestry, and timber — sit inside the existing ministries but are still in their early operational phase, with tests and intake ramping up through 2025 and 2026. The pillar list is your authoritative checklist of which sectors qualify; the sections below explain what each one involves.

2. The care and services family: caregiving and accommodation

Nursing care (介護) — the largest field

Nursing care is the single biggest SSW sector and the one most foreign workers enter. It covers hands-on caregiving in residential care facilities, day services, and home-visit care (訪問介護) — helping elderly or disabled residents with bathing, eating, mobility, and daily living, not medical nursing. Demand is structural: Japan's population is ageing fast, and the care workforce shortage is chronic, so caregiving recruiters actively recruit across Southeast Asia, South Asia, and increasingly Latin America.

The caregiving test gate is the heaviest of any sector. On top of the standard JFT-Basic or JLPT N4 language requirement, you must pass the Nursing Care Japanese Language Evaluation Test (介護日本語評価試験) — a sector-specific vocabulary exam — and the caregiving skills test (介護技能評価試験) run through Prometric. A cold-start caregiving applicant effectively clears three exams. The MHLW publishes monthly pass-rate data for the caregiving skills test, historically around 60–70%.

The critical long-term caveat: nursing care has no Type 2 track. Instead, the route to settling as a care worker is to qualify as a certified care worker (介護福祉士) and move to the separate 「介護」 status of residence, which sits outside the SSW framework entirely. So caregiving is the field with the most demand and the most open doors — but its long-term ladder climbs out of SSW rather than up to Type 2. The Type 1 vs Type 2 article covers this exit route in detail.

Building cleaning

Building cleaning covers professional janitorial and facility maintenance work — office buildings, commercial premises, and public facilities. Supervised by MHLW, its skills test is run by the Japan Building Maintenance Association (JBMA) via Pearson VUE, and it checks cleaning procedures, chemical handling, equipment use, and workplace safety. It is a smaller, quieter field than caregiving but offers a Type 2 track — one of the less obvious fields that does.

Accommodation (宿泊)

Accommodation covers front-desk, housekeeping, and guest-service roles in hotels and ryokan — a sector under sustained pressure from Japan's tourism boom. Supervised by MLIT (through the Tourism Agency), it is one of the fields where Type 2 is available, so hotel work is one of the more strategically attractive SSW choices if you want a long-term path. The work is customer-facing, so functional Japanese matters in practice even though the formal bar is the standard JFT-Basic / N4.

3. The construction and manufacturing family

Construction (建設)

Construction covers on-site building and civil engineering work — scaffolding, formwork, reinforcement, concrete, finishing, and site support roles. It is supervised by MLIT, and its skills test is run by JAC (建設技能人材機構), which sets a Type 1 pass mark of 75% and reports a roughly 39% pass rate in recent years — meaning a large share of first-time candidates do not pass, so preparation matters. Construction was one of the original two fields to offer Type 2, and its Type 2 track is well-established, routed through JAC's supervisory-level exam. This makes construction one of the strongest fields for workers who want a clear, mature path from Type 1 toward settlement.

Shipbuilding and ship machinery (造船・船用工業)

Shipbuilding covers hull fabrication, welding, pipefitting, electrical fitting, and machinery installation in shipyards. Supervised by MLIT, its test is run by ClassNK (Nippon Kaiji Kyokai). Like construction, it was one of the original Type 2 fields, so the supervisory-level track is long-established — relevant for workers with welding or heavy-fabrication backgrounds.

Industrial product manufacturing (製造業)

Manufacturing is a merger of the former materials, industrial-machinery, and electrical-electronics fields — so it spans metal casting, machining, machinery assembly, electrical and electronic component production, and related factory work. Supervised by METI, its test is run by JAIM (Japan Association for Human Resources in Industrial Product Manufacturing). It is one of the high-volume SSW fields and one of the best-documented for Type 2: to convert, you generally need roughly three or more years of relevant experience plus a passed supervisory exam and an ancillary certificate. See the Type 2 field-exams section for the specifics.

Automobile repair and maintenance (自動車整備)

Note that this is the repair and maintenance field — vehicle servicing, inspection, and parts — which is distinct from the 2024-added automobile transportation field that covers driving (see §5). Supervised by MLIT, it suits workers with a mechanic background. Confirm the current test administrator on the official exam page.

4. The food, farming, and forestry family

Food service / restaurants (外食業)

Food service needs a separate application check. The September 10, 2026 ISA notice distinguishes COE issuance, specified changes of status and job changes within food-service SSW1. Other changes of status received from April 13, 2026 are in principle refused; specified transition cases and same-field job changes are treated separately. Earlier COE applications are processed only when issuance is possible within the acceptance situation. Do not interpret the suspension as a ban on every food-service application, or assume that a field’s presence in this table guarantees acceptance.

Food and beverage manufacturing (飲食料品製造)

This is the factory side of food — processing and manufacturing of food and non-alcoholic beverages (think prepared-food plants, bakeries, seafood and meat processing). The current framework comes from the January 23, 2026 integrated field policies, replacing the older separate policies. Check the latest field policy for its acceptance ceiling and implementation conditions. Work examples below help identify a field; confirm the current work category and principal duties for the actual job in the official operating materials.

Agriculture (農業) and fishery (漁業)

Agriculture covers crop cultivation, livestock, and greenhouse work; fishery covers fishing and aquaculture. Both are supervised by MAFF and were among the original SSW fields, so both are mature and both offer a Type 2 track. They suit workers from rural or coastal backgrounds; the work is seasonal and physically demanding, and it is often based outside the major cities, which affects housing and cost of living.

5. The four fields added in 2024

The March 2024 cabinet decision added four sectors to address specific, acute shortages. All four are Type 1 only for now, and all four are still in their early operational phase — tests and intake schedules have been rolling out through 2024–2026, so confirm the current status for your country before committing.

Automobile transportation (自動車運送業)

This is the driving field — distinct from automobile repair. It splits into three roles, each with a different Japanese bar (official field page):

• Truck drivers need the standard level — JFT-Basic (A2) or JLPT N4.
• Taxi drivers must hold JLPT N3 (one level up), because the role is passenger-facing.
• Bus drivers must also hold JLPT N3, and complete a new-driver training program alongside the skills test.

This N4-for-trucks / N3-for-taxis-and-buses split is the clearest example of why you should never assume a flat language rule across sectors — see the tests article. The skills test began in March 2025, and Japan has already issued its first SSW visa for a bus driver, marking the field as live but still small. The Japan Trucking Association publishes an English guide for aspiring SSW truck drivers. Because the sector is new and Type-1-only, workers here plan against the five-year cap with no in-programme conversion route unless future reforms open Type 2.

Railways (鉄道)

Railways covers track maintenance (軌道整備), electrical facility maintenance, rolling-stock maintenance, and some transport-staff roles — not train driving in the main. Supervised by MLIT, its test is run by JRCEA (日本鉄道施設協会). Uptake has been minimal so far — the field is genuinely new, and the worker count is still in the low hundreds. It is Type 1 only at present.

Forestry (林業) and timber (木材産業)

Forestry covers planting, tending, and felling trees; timber covers sawmill and wood-processing work. Both are supervised by MAFF (through the Forestry Agency), and the forestry skills test is run by the Forestry Skills Improvement Center (林業技能向上センター). These are among the newest and least-populated SSW fields, targeting severe rural labour shortages. Both are Type 1 only.

6. Type 2 availability by sector — the decisive split

Type 2 is available in 11 fields according to the official SSW overview. The list below gives examples, not the complete current list. Confirm that your actual field and work category qualify before planning a conversion.

• Construction (建設)
• Shipbuilding and ship machinery (造船・船用工業)
• Building cleaning
• Industrial product manufacturing (製造業)
• Agriculture (農業)
• Fishery (漁業)
• Food and beverage manufacturing (飲食料品製造)
• Accommodation (宿泊)
• Food service / restaurants (外食業)

The exclusions are nursing care (which routes to the separate 介護 status instead) and the four 2024-added fields (automobile transportation, railways, forestry, timber), which are Type 1 only. Because the field list evolves with each cabinet decision, treat the official SSW field directory as the authoritative current source, and read the Type 1 vs Type 2 article for the full conversion mechanics.

7. How big each sector is, and how to read the demand

Official statistics give a sense of relative scale even when they do not break down every field. As of the end of June 2025, the Immigration Services Agency reported roughly 336,000 SSW holders in total — a figure that has grown fast since the programme began and that the Agency publishes as a preliminary count every six months. The same data put Type 2 holders at about 3,073, up sharply from 832 at the end of 2024 — confirming that Type 2 uptake is real but still tiny relative to Type 1.

The Agency does publish some field-level breakdowns in its periodic statistics, but the figures move quickly and the granular per-sector counts are best read directly from the official SSW statistics page rather than from any third-party summary. What the public data consistently shows is that nursing care, manufacturing, food service, food and beverage manufacturing, and agriculture account for the large majority of SSW workers, while the four 2024-added fields are still measured in the low hundreds each. Treat any per-field headcount you see outside the official source as indicative, not authoritative.

8. Salaries: what to expect, and the honesty caveat

SSW pay varies widely by sector, region, employer, shift pattern, and whether you hold a certification. For the most-documented sector — nursing care — recruiter and training-industry sources cite monthly base pay in the region of roughly ¥175,000–¥250,000 before deductions, with night-shift, overtime, and weekend allowances pushing the higher end, and the SSW minimum guideline sitting around ¥176,000/month. Certified care workers (介護福祉士) earn more.

For other sectors, no single official per-sector salary table exists, and figures vary too much by employer to quote reliably. The honest approach is to treat individual job postings from registered SSW employers as your source of truth for pay, and to use the broad ¥170,000–¥250,000/month band as a rough expectation for entry-level frontline SSW work across most fields. Construction and manufacturing often sit toward the higher end with overtime and allowances; rural agriculture and fishery can sit lower on base pay but offset by lower cost of living. Do not anchor on any single number a recruiter quotes — compare several real postings for your target sector and region before you decide.

9. The policy fields and implementation

Japan’s Specified Skilled Worker policy covers 19 fields after the January 23, 2026 Cabinet decision. The official SSW overview lists the existing 16 plus linen supply, logistics warehousing and resource recycling. Being listed in the policy does not by itself mean that applications are currently accepted: the operating-policy notice says that newly added fields and work categories require implementing measures before acceptance can begin.

How to choose your sector

Bringing it together, choosing an SSW sector is a decision about both short-term fit and long-term ceiling:

1. Match your background to the sector's actual work. Each field tests and performs a specific set of tasks — the skills tests are practical, not academic, so pick a field whose day-to-day work you can already do or credibly learn.
2. Check the current work category. Use the latest official field guidance, including effective dates for added work categories. Do not rely on an older count of categories.
3. Decide whether Type 2 matters to you. If bringing family and an unlimited stay are priorities, choose a Type 2 field — and remember nursing care's long-term route runs through the separate 介護 status, not Type 2.
4. Line up your test and language preparation early. Some sectors layer on extra exams (nursing care's Japanese evaluation test; taxi/bus N3), and overseas test dates rotate and fill up.

If your target work is office, technical, or professional rather than frontline labour, the regular work visa is the correct status instead — SSW is built for skilled manual and service work in shortage sectors, not for desk roles. Pick the route that matches what you actually do, and the sector choice inside SSW becomes much clearer.

This is general information only and not legal advice.

Common questions