How to Get a Software Developer Job in Japan From Overseas

The short answer is yes: you can get a software developer job in Japan while living overseas. There are employers that accept applications from abroad, interview online, and help successful candidates relocate. However, the answer becomes more complicated when you consider your experience, Japanese ability, the particular role, and immigration eligibility. TokyoDev overseas-applicant jobs · Mercari recruitment guidance · Mercari relocation support

If you are a recent graduate or have limited IT experience, start by checking which graduate, internship, or junior routes accept someone with your background and graduation date. A senior vacancy that accepts overseas applicants does not tell you whether the same employer has a suitable opening for you.

This guide focuses on software-development roles. University projects, personal projects, research, and internships can give you material to discuss, but you still need to check the technical requirements of each opening. An English job description does not, by itself, tell you whether a company accepts overseas applicants or provides relocation support.

Here are some resources to look over when working out your route. I will give my own take at the end. The sources and hiring examples below were checked on September 8, 2026.

Skip to my summary ↓

Mercari and JASSO on graduate routes

New-graduate hiring, or 新卒採用, and mid-career hiring, or 中途採用, are different routes. Before building a shortlist, check whether the employer’s category fits your current situation rather than assuming that every role labeled junior uses the same process.

Mercari’s students and new-graduates page says it recruits interns both inside and outside Japan. It also describes a graduate-hiring route and notes that many graduate hires have completed one of its internships.

The company still expects graduates to contribute early, and individual positions have their own requirements. Its graduate page also specifies student and joining-date conditions. Check the current conditions for the position, especially if you have already graduated. An internship is a route to investigate, not a guaranteed conversion to a permanent job.

JASSO’s Job Hunting Guide for International Students 2027 describes a broader graduate system in which employers often assess potential, learning, and communication. Mercari’s expectations are therefore one employer’s model, not a rule for every graduate job. JASSO also explains application documents, written tests, and interviews.

JASSO’s guide is written for international students in Japan. Its school-year schedule, local support, and residence-status procedures should not be applied unchanged to someone graduating overseas. Use it to understand the process, then confirm the application window, graduation requirements, interview arrangements, and joining date with each employer.

I would separate the search into three starting points:

Still studying: check internship and graduate openings against your enrollment, expected graduation, availability, and application location.
Already graduated, with little or no full-time experience: check whether a graduate opening accepts past graduates, and investigate junior positions whose requirements match your projects and other experience.
Some professional experience: compare suitable junior or early-career vacancies with what you have actually done. Do not assume a company treats a year of work, an internship, and a university project as interchangeable.

These are questions for organizing your search, not guarantees that an employer will accept a particular background. If you already live in Japan, you can use the same checks while confirming the residence and work arrangements that apply to you.

TokyoDev’s jobs accepting overseas applicants

TokyoDev’s overseas-applicant filter shows a real segment of the market where candidates can apply before moving to Japan.

The listings include different specialties and Japanese requirements. Some roles require no Japanese, while others ask for conversational, business, or fluent Japanese. Overseas hiring and language requirements are separate questions.

This makes the filter a useful starting point, but not a complete shortlist. Each role still needs to match your experience, technical background, and preferred working arrangements.

The board focuses on international developers, so its listings cannot tell us what proportion of all Japanese employers recruit overseas. An open advertisement also does not tell us how many applicants are being hired or how competitive your application would be.

The useful conclusion is narrower: there are specific jobs you can investigate from where you are now. You do not need to assume that every employer requires you to be in Japan before it will consider you.

Japan Dev’s sponsorship and remote-work labels

Japan Dev’s visa-sponsorship listings help clarify several terms that can otherwise be easy to mix up.

Its application-location labels distinguish employers accepting candidates from anywhere from those requiring applicants to already live in Japan. Its remote-work labels separately distinguish work from overseas, work from anywhere in Japan, and arrangements that require commuting distance to an office.

That distinction matters. Being able to apply from overseas is not the same as being allowed to keep living overseas after you join. Similarly, a role described as remote may still require residence in Japan.

When reviewing a listing, keep these questions separate:

Can I apply while living outside Japan?
Will the employer support the immigration process for this role?
Where must I live after joining?
How often must I attend the office?

These are the board’s own categories, not legal definitions. Use them to find possible matches, then confirm the actual arrangement with the employer.

Money Forward’s language and relocation support

Money Forward’s international careers page explains some of the support behind that hiring process.

Its engineering FAQ says that Japanese is not an issue when the job description does not state a Japanese requirement. The company also describes interpretation and translation support, Japanese study opportunities, visa-application assistance, flights, and a furnished apartment for the first month.

This is stronger evidence of an established relocation process than simply finding an application form in English. It identifies practical arrangements an overseas candidate can ask about.

However, this is one employer’s description of its own support. Confirm which provisions apply to the specific position, employing company, and family circumstances. It should not be assumed that every company offers the same package.

For a candidate comparing employers, the practical question is whether the company can explain who handles the move, which costs it covers, and what you will need to arrange yourself.

Mercari’s document screening and interviews

Mercari’s recruitment guidance shows what preparing an application can look like at another international employer.

It accepts application documents in English or Japanese, subject to role-specific language requirements, and asks applicants to make their work history, responsibilities, and results clear. Its interviews use the STAR approach: Situation, Task, Action, and Result.

The company says its selection process generally takes place online, although some positions require an in-person interview. It also describes technical assessments for some roles, multiple interviews, and possible reference checks.

For preparation, choose a few examples you can explain properly: the problem, what you personally did, why you chose that approach, and what happened. If you have not worked as a developer, use a university assignment, personal project, research project, or internship and clearly identify it as such. Mercari’s graduate application guidance explicitly invites supporting work such as GitHub links, research summaries, and internship details.

Mercari’s process is not a template every Japanese company follows. Check each employer’s instructions before assuming you need a particular résumé format, interview language, or technical assignment.

Mercari’s relocation package

Mercari’s Work in Japan page separates relocation support from the selection process.

It describes visa support, a one-way flight, shipping assistance, temporary accommodation for the first month, and help with initial housing and settling-in arrangements. It also describes support for eligible partners and dependents.

The company explicitly says that the package may change depending on the situation and should be confirmed after an offer.

This illustrates why “visa sponsorship” should not be your only relocation question. Ask which costs are paid directly, which are reimbursed, what limits apply, and when you will need your own money available.

The existence of a relocation package is useful evidence that an employer has thought about overseas hires. It is not a promise that every applicant will receive an offer or that every expense will be covered.

An experienced-hire comparison: Money Forward

Money Forward’s Senior Backend Engineer vacancy in its Communication Platform Department provides a concrete example of an overseas-accessible role.

On September 8, 2026, it accepted overseas applicants and did not require Japanese. However, it asked for at least six years of experience developing and operating web services, strong Go expertise, and the ability to make architectural decisions and support other engineers.

This is a useful reminder that removing a language requirement does not remove the technical or experience requirements. An applicant still needs to demonstrate a good match for the work.

The company’s Principal Engineer vacancy in Developer Experience also accepted overseas applicants, but required strong English and Japanese communication for work across multiple teams.

These two positions are examples, not a universal experience threshold. Their value is in showing why the actual job description matters more than a broad statement that a company hires foreigners.

JETRO and the Immigration Services Agency’s eligibility guidance

JETRO’s guidance for foreign IT professionals explains that software-related work commonly falls under Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services, or 技術・人文知識・国際業務. This is a status of residence: the basis on which a person may carry out specified activities while living in Japan.

The Immigration Services Agency’s summary of the criteria includes relevant university-level education, qualifying Japanese vocational education, or at least ten years of relevant practical experience. Certain related periods of study can count toward that experience route. Designated IT examinations or qualifications provide a specific exception to the education/experience requirement for qualifying IT work.

The rules also require remuneration at least equal to that of a Japanese person doing comparable work.

These are alternative eligibility provisions, not a checklist everyone must satisfy in the same way. A generic online certificate should not be assumed to be a designated qualification.

For anyone with an unrelated degree, an unusual employment history, or uncertainty about the proposed duties, the useful question is: Which eligibility provision applies to my background and this exact job, and what documents demonstrate it? Confirm that through the employer’s immigration specialist or the relevant authority.

An employer wanting to hire you and the immigration authorities accepting the application are separate decisions.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ visa process

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ working-visa guidance explains the role of the Certificate of Eligibility, usually shortened to COE.

A proxy in Japan can apply for the COE. In a common overseas-hire process, the employer or its representative helps arrange this, and the candidate then uses the certificate as part of the visa application at the relevant Japanese embassy or consulate.

The ministry states that a COE does not guarantee a visa. It also notes that additional documents can depend on nationality and the embassy or consulate handling the application. Applying without a COE is possible, but can require considerably more documentation and time.

For planning purposes, keep the offer, COE, visa application, and entry arrangements as distinct stages. Ask who is responsible for each stage and how the intended start date will be handled if processing takes longer than expected.

Avoid building a relocation budget around an assumed approval date. Use the actual instructions for your application location.

MHLW’s guidance on confirming an offer

Getting an offer is an important step, but it is also the point to check exactly what you will be accepting.

MHLW’s guidance on employment conditions explains employers’ obligations to state working conditions, including important matters in writing. The information includes pay, working hours, contract duration, workplace, and duties.

For an overseas move, use the written conditions alongside the employer’s relocation explanation. Clarify the employing entity, role, location, regular salary, overtime arrangements, and any probation or fixed-term provisions.

The guide to software engineer salaries in Japan explains how to compare the pay structure. A package that makes the move possible still needs to make sense once the initial relocation support ends.

If a condition is unclear or differs from what you were told, get it clarified before making commitments based on it.

Putting the sources into a job-search plan

Based on the sources above, I would organize the search in this order:

Choose your role and hiring route. Check graduate, internship, or junior openings against your education, graduation date, application location, and experience.
Check your likely immigration route. Identify any uncertainty about your education or work history early.
Build a shortlist of suitable overseas-accessible jobs. Record the application deadline, eligible graduation dates, technical requirements, interview language, joining date, location, and relocation support separately. Mark unclear requirements as questions to resolve.
Prepare your application around relevant evidence. Use coursework, projects, research, internships, or employment as appropriate. Explain your own contribution, decisions, testing, and what you learned rather than only listing technologies.
Prepare for the employer’s actual selection process. Check the language, technical assessment, interview arrangements, and possible reference requirements.
Compare the written offer and relocation terms. Then coordinate the paperwork and move with the employer.

This is a suggested order, not a fixed timetable. The amount of preparation needed depends on the gaps you find.

Preparing a project explanation for a Japanese interview

Start with one project you know well. Write down what it was for, who worked on it, which part you handled, one difficult problem, how you checked your solution, and what you would improve. Be clear about what came from a tutorial, teammate, or AI tool and what you did yourself. A small, honestly explained project gives you something concrete to discuss.

For example, you might explain a university web app: “Our group built a room-booking app. I implemented the booking form and checked for overlapping reservations. At first, I only checked in the browser; after testing, I added a server-side check too.” This is an illustrative practice answer, not an experience claim about you or me.

Then prepare short Japanese answers to follow-ups such as “Which part did you do?”, “Why did you choose that approach?”, and “What was difficult?” Practice asking the interviewer to repeat or clarify a question as well. The goal is to have a conversation about your actual work, not memorize an impressive story you cannot explain.

Overall summary of the sources

Taken together, these sources show that finding a software developer job in Japan from overseas is a real and identifiable route.

The job boards help locate employers accepting overseas applications. Individual vacancies show why the next step is to check experience, language, responsibilities, and residence requirements. The employer pages then provide evidence about interviews and practical relocation support.

The immigration sources establish another part of the process. A suitable role and a willing employer do not remove the need to demonstrate eligibility and complete the required procedures.

Graduate and internship routes also exist, but should be evaluated on their own terms. They are not the same process as applying for a senior engineering role.

The most defensible overall conclusion is:

Start with roles that explicitly accept overseas applicants, then check your technical fit, the team’s language requirements, and your immigration route. Prepare evidence of the work you can do, and confirm the full employment and relocation terms before arranging the move.

My ending summary

In my opinion, the best place to start is with a clear picture of what you can offer an employer. Wanting to live in Japan is a good reason to begin the process, but I would not make it the main argument in your application. I would focus on why you are suited to the job and what you would be able to contribute.

If moving to Japan is a serious goal, I would highly recommend making Japanese a regular part of your preparation. Having a good grasp of the language can open up more roles and help you show that you can communicate with Japanese-speaking interviewers and future colleagues. Being able to explain your experience, ask questions, and work through a conversation is a huge advantage. I would put particular effort into speaking and listening so that you can use what you learn in real situations.

You can still apply to suitable English-speaking roles while you learn. However, I would give Japanese a high priority even if your eventual job does not require it. Building relationships and handling daily life more comfortably are a big part of making the move work for you. The Japanese-requirements guide goes into that in more detail.

I would also be selective about where you apply. It can be easy to feel productive when you are sending out a lot of applications, but I would rather put proper effort into roles that match your background and clearly accept candidates from overseas. If the location or language requirements are unclear, I would try to resolve that early.

If you are early in your career, I would start with your university projects, personal work, research, or internships and find openings where that background is relevant. You do not need to describe yourself as an experienced engineer. You do need to explain what you contributed, what you understand, and what you are still learning.

I would begin that search from where you are and check the actual graduate, internship, and junior routes available to your background. If the openings you find consistently require something you do not yet have, make that your next preparation target. Building experience where you live can be one option, alongside improving your projects and Japanese. I would want a concrete reason to move first, rather than hoping that being in Japan will resolve those gaps.

Finally, I would take the offer and relocation details seriously, even when you are excited about the opportunity. I would want to know what will be paid, what I need to arrange, and how much money I should have available. Getting to Japan is one part of the decision. Having a workable job and a stable start once you arrive matters just as much.

Overall, I would approach this as a series of practical steps: become a good match for a particular kind of role, find employers able to hire you, and prepare well for their process. That gives you something concrete to work on, even if the move takes longer than you initially hoped.

If you can already hold a simple conversation in Japanese, you can request a Japanese interview practice session with me. Bring a university project, personal project, or internship experience. In 45 minutes, we can work on explaining your contribution and answering follow-up questions, with personalized corrections and notes to keep practicing afterward. You can join from overseas or use the session while applying within Japan.