Japan Job Search — Portals, Agencies, Salary

Japan Job Search

The two tracks (this is the whole picture)

Track A — English-first tech          Track B — traditional Japanese
Mercari, Rakuten, SmartNews,          SoftBank, NTT, Hitachi, Sony,
LINE/Yahoo, DeNA, GREE, CyberAgent,   Fujitsu, NEC, domestic SMEs
Google/Amazon/Microsoft Japan,
Stripe, Indeed, HENNGE, Flatt
──────────────────────────────        ──────────────────────────────
No Japanese required                  N2+ required (hiring AND visa)
Visa sponsorship from overseas        Mostly in-country hiring
N2 rule does NOT apply                N2 rule DOES apply

Aim at Track A. It is also the growing segment — 60%+ of new foreign-targeted listings are IT, and METI projects the IT shortfall reaching 790,000 by 2030.

The April 2026 N2 visa rule (correction)

Previously stated here: “技人国 has no language requirement.” That changed.

From 2026-04-15:
  Applicants for 技人国 whose ROLE requires Japanese communication
  must prove JLPT N2 (or CEFR B2)
  → applies to overseas applicants at smaller (Category 3/4) companies

Exempt:

Situation	N2 required?
Role requires Japanese communication	✓ Yes
Role is English-only at an international company	✗ No
Graduate transitioning from a Student visa	✗ No
Highly Skilled Professional (HSP) applicants	✗ No (separate track)
Large-company hires	✗ No

The employer documents “English-only” in the visa application. So language is now partly a visa gate, not just a hiring filter — on the Japanese-communication track only.

Salary bands

Security / dev at English-first companies

Company	Role	Salary
Flatt Security (GMO)	Software Engineer	¥5.5M–9M
HENNGE	Frontend SwE (Vue)	¥8.5M–10.5M (+ English allowance ¥10k–130k/mo)

Entry level (未経験, foreigner-friendly)

Company	Salary
iHOLON 新卒 (overseas, visa COE support)	¥3.0M–5.0M
Lightyear Japan (no experience)	¥4.0M–5.2M
バイリンガルゲート (未経験)	¥3.0M–4.0M
Lightyear venture (no experience)	¥2.0M–4.0M

Realistic progression

Now (entry, foreign, JP-limited)          ¥3M–5M     ≈ Rp320–530M/yr
After 1–2 yrs + N2                        ¥5M–7M
Mid security engineer (Flatt-level)       ¥5.5M–9M
Senior / 外資 / SC-certified              ¥8M–12M+

Deductions to plan for

Income + residence tax     ~10–20% progressive
Social insurance           ~15%
Net take-home              ≈ 75–78% of gross

→ ¥5M gross ≈ ¥3.8M net ≈ Rp40M/month

Cost of living (Tokyo)

Rent 1K central      ¥80k–120k/mo
Rent 1K outer        ¥50k–70k/mo
Food                 ¥40k–60k/mo
Utilities + phone    ¥15k–20k/mo
Total                ¥150k–200k/mo

On ¥3M gross (~¥190k/mo net): tight, workable with 社宅 (company housing). On ¥5M+ (>¥310k/mo net): comfortable.

Notes

• Foreigners are paid the same as Japanese for the same role — no legal discount.
• 賞与 (bonus) typically 2×/year, 2–4 months’ salary total; ranges above include it.
• 残業代 legally payable; iHOLON lists avg 11.1 hrs/month.
• English allowance at HENNGE is real money — up to ¥130k/mo = ¥1.56M/yr on top.
• Relocation/flights often covered (HENNGE explicitly, Flatt supports).
• Threshold for the move being worthwhile: ~¥5M. Reachable within 2–3 years.

Portals — English-first (start here)

Japan Dev — https://japan-dev.com/jobs Japan Dev (visa + relocation pre-filtered) — https://japan-dev.com/japan-jobs-relocation TokyoDev — https://www.tokyodev.com/jobs LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/ (set location = Japan)

Portals — bilingual / general

Daijob — https://www.daijob.com/en/jobs/ CareerCross — https://www.careercross.com/en/ GaijinPot Jobs — https://jobs.gaijinpot.com/ JETRO Open for Professionals — https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/hr/ (283 JP companies, English-friendly)

Agencies — the four types

Type	Example	N-level	Overseas	Best for
Foreigner-specialist	WORKPORT, NINJA, Nomad Tech, ミツカルテ	N3–N4 tolerated	WORKPORT: inquiry. Nomad Tech: yes	You. Visa + Japanese lessons
General major	Recruit Agent, doda, Mynavi	N2 typical	✗ usually	Domestic job-hunters
Foreign-capital / high-class	Robert Walters, JAC, RGF	N2+, business	rare	¥8M+, 外資
Bilingual-specialist	ARIGATO WORK, iHOLON	N2–N1	ARIGATO: rejects	Already-in-Japan bilinguals

Business models:

分業モデル (Recruit, doda)   CA for candidates ≠ RA for companies
                            → volume, but your CA knows less about the company
360-style (JAC)             ONE consultant handles both
                            → deeper intel on culture and the real hiring situation

Firm criteria → either works. Fuzzy criteria or mid-career → 360-style helps more.

Recommended trio

Agency	Link	Why
Nomad Tech NCS	https://nomadtech-jp.com/ · https://nomadtech.jp/service/	Accepts overseas, low JP bar, ex-engineer consultants, free Japanese lessons until arrival
WORKPORT GLOBAL PARTNERS	https://www.workport.co.jp/globalpartners/	N3-tolerant, 150k postings, placement split N1 38% / N2 45% / N3 17%, visa support
NINJA	https://www.ninja-jp.com/	134 countries, 43k registered

Others: ミツカルテ — https://mitsukarute.com/ · ARIGATO WORK — https://arigato-work.com/ (rejects overseas, skip)

After N2: JAC — https://www.jac-recruitment.jp/en/ · Robert Walters — https://www.robertwalters.co.jp/en/ · RGF — https://www.rgf-professional.jp/en/

Agencies beat boards on

✓ 60–80% of listings are 非公開求人 (not public)
✓ COE/visa paperwork with a 行政書士 partner
✓ 履歴書 / 職務経歴書 translation and formatting
✓ Mock interviews, salary negotiation
✓ Housing, flights, Japanese lessons pre-arrival
✓ Know which companies ACTUALLY sponsor vs claim to

The four traps

1. Their incentive is PLACEMENT, not your fit — they're paid per hire.
   A bad-fit offer still pays them. You can decline.
2. 重複応募 (double booking) — same company via 2 routes damages your
   reputation and stalls the process. Keep a spreadsheet:
   company / job URL / applied date / route / contact name / status.
3. Overseas applicants get filtered silently — ask upfront:
   「海外在住でも応募可能ですか？」
4. Verify the licence — 有料職業紹介事業許可番号. Nomad Tech: 13－ユー316577.

Three questions before investing time

1. 海外在住の外国籍エンジニアを紹介できますか？        (place me from Indonesia?)
2. JLPT N3レベルの求人はどのくらいありますか？         (how many N3 postings?)
3. 在留資格（技術・人文知識・国際業務）の申請サポートはありますか？  (技人国 COE?)

If #1 is “no” or #2 is “few” — close the tab.

Register with 2–3, not ten. More causes double-booking risk and conversation overload.

Target companies (direct)

Flatt Security (GMO) — https://recruit.flatt.tech/job Flatt Software Engineer role — https://recruit.flatt.tech/job/software_engineer HENNGE — https://hrmos.co/pages/hennge/jobs Mercari — https://careers.mercari.com/ Rakuten — https://global.rakuten.com/corp/careers/ SmartNews — https://www.smartnews.com/en/careers/ LY Corporation (LINE/Yahoo) — https://www.lycorp.co.jp/en/recruit/

Flatt Security — gap analysis

Two role families with different language rules:

Role	Japanese	Apply?
Software Engineer (Product Eng)	不問 — not required	✓ YES
Security Engineer (career-change from dev)	REQUIRED — reports and customer docs in Japanese	✗ not yet

Stack: Go + Rust (GraphQL + Protobuf, schema-first) · Next.js/Tailwind · GCP/AWS, Kubernetes, Istio, skaffold, Firecracker · GitHub Actions, Tekton

Products: Takumi byGMO (AI security assessment) · Shisho Cloud (CSPM, Policy-as-Code with Rego + Rust/WASM) · KENRO (e-learning) · Sunaba (AI agent sandbox, hypervisor layer, Firecracker)

Match:

Requirement	Status
CS degree or equivalent	✓ UGM CS
Go experience	✓ pitura-dashboard
Deep OS/network/middleware/security	✓ selfhosting fleet
Kubernetes + Istio	✗ gap
IaC (Terraform/CloudFormation)	✗ gap
Cloud-native (AWS/GCP/Azure)	~ partial — CCP, S3/R2/Workers
CI/CD	✓ GitHub Actions
Rust (歓迎 — nice-to-have)	✓✓ obscura
2+ yrs server-side, distributed-systems leadership	✗ thin

Rust is 歓迎; Go, K8s and IaC are must-haves. Rust is a differentiator, not a qualifier.

Coincidence worth noting: Sunaba runs Firecracker microVMs; obscura is a Rust browser engine with V8 and CDP; pitura-dashboard is Go. Same domain: security tooling in Go/Rust, run by the people who build it — and “You built, you run it” is their stated principle.

Sequencing

Now        → CAPIJ ✓ done. CAPIE material (€24). Close K8s + Terraform.
             Keep shipping obscura (Rust) and Go work publicly.
             Rewrite CV: English + 履歴書/職務経歴書.
             LinkedIn → location Japan, security keywords, open-to-work.
Register   → Japan Dev (3 filters) + TokyoDev + LinkedIn
             then Nomad Tech NCS + WORKPORT (2 agencies max to start)
Apply      → "Visa sponsorship available" / "Apply from abroad" listings only
             Target security roles at English-first companies
Side door  → HENNGE / Flatt internships — much lower experience bar
Parallel   → Japanese continues; N2 unlocks Track B and Flatt's security role
Fallback   → 企業内転勤 (Japanese firm's Indonesian subsidiary → transfer),
             no JLPT requirement

The key insight: you don’t need to be in Japan and you don’t need N2 if you target Track A security companies. Flatt (¥5.5M) and HENNGE (¥8.5M) prove the path exists.

Job-hunt checklist

☐ Kubernetes — deploy the fleet on k3s. Biggest single gap. ~1 month
☐ Terraform — convert ONE deployment. ~1 week
☐ One more public Go or Rust project (obscura already strong)
☐ CV in both formats (English + 履歴書/職務経歴書)
☐ Interview answers memorized: 自己紹介, 強み/弱み, 志望動機
☐ Register: Japan Dev + TokyoDev + LinkedIn + Nomad Tech + WORKPORT
☐ Check HENNGE/Flatt internship openings
☐ Message JCSP alumni (5 questions, see below)

JCSP — the asset only you have

Japan Career Scholarship Program: Yayasan Kebun Akademi Nusantara × ANC Japan, with Xseeds Sun*, TOKAICOM Mitra Indonesia. Posted through UGM DCSE.

Japanese:  Minna no Nihongo, 16 weeks × 2 phases/year, N5 → N4 → N3
Cloud/AWS: 141 modules, 162 hours — core AWS, security, serverless,
           containers, architecting
Career:    CV prep, interview prep, native conversation class
Network:   ANC Japan — real Japanese business connections

Highest-value move: the 「Tanya Alumni」 channel. Warm intros beat cold applications in Japan by a wide margin.

Ask:
1. Which company did you join? Which visa (技人国 or other)?
2. What role — dev, infra, cloud, security?
3. Did you need N2? Was the role English-first?
4. Did ANC introduce you, or did you apply yourself?
5. What would you do differently?

If any alumnus landed a cloud/infra role on 技人国, that company becomes a named target with an internal referral path.

JCSP does not provide: N2, a job guarantee, security specialisation, or any exemption from the April 2026 N2 visa rule.

Not to be confused with LPK Kebun — the LPK arm runs 技能実習 (technical intern / pemagangan), a different visa with no PR path and manual-labour placements. Not a route into security work.

Kebun Academy — https://academy.kebun.tech/ JCSP alumni webinar — https://academy.kebun.tech/events/67d26855e1e9cbae63501a45

Reference

Japan Immigration (ISA) — https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/ JETRO — https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/ IPA SG exam — https://www.ipa.go.jp/shiken/kubun/sg.html BJT (Kanken) — https://www.kanken.or.jp/bjt/ BJT (Pearson VUE) — https://home.pearsonvue.com/bjt

Sources

• Japan Dev, TokyoDev listings (2026)
• Daijob listings — iHOLON, Lightyear Japan (2026)
• Flatt Security / GMO Flatt Security careers (recruit.flatt.tech)
• HENNGE careers (hrmos.co/pages/hennge)
• Immigration Services Agency N2 rule (effective 2026-04-15)
• JETRO Open for Professionals
• WORKPORT GLOBAL PARTNERS, Nomad Tech Japan, NINJA, ARIGATO WORK
• Tio Daily — “Tips yang perlu dipersiapkan kalo mau Kerja IT Di jepang”