Guideline: Work From Home Jobs in Japan | Guidable - Your Guide to a Sustainable, Wellbeing-centred Life in Japan

Guideline: Work From Home Jobs in Japan

By Tony Tao Sep 17, 2020

Work From Home Jobs in Japan

Finding jobs you can work from home can seem like a nightmare in Japan if you have no idea where to look. But the fact is that Japan’s online job market has been increasing. And almost every industries are in high demand for remote employees, especially since the CoronaVirus pandemic occurred. 

Below is the list of these typical online jobs you can apply for in Japan.

Online English Teacher

Since the pandemic began, a lot of schools and academies have offered online courses to their students. The online job market in Japan is not only limited to adults. Many kids have recently spent time at home and are beginning to learn English online due to the pandemic.

Teaching Adults

It’s wise to look at eikaiwas (conversational English schools) to look for online teaching jobs for adults in Japan. Much of the time, the eikaiwa class sizes will be limited, ranging from one on one private tutoring to small groups of 6 – 8 people at most.

Wage: 1500 – 2500 yen / hour 

Teaching Children

It is one of the most common jobs for foreigners in Japan to be an online English teacher for children now. The pay for teaching children appears to be on Japan’s higher end of online jobs, averaging around two to three times more per hour than teaching adults can earn.

However, it is wise to remember that kids can often be quite a handful, and the difficulty of keeping them engaged in the lesson are magnified by the fact that you will not teach them face-to-face.

Wage: 2000 – 4000 yen / hour

Freelancing: Graphic design/Digital marketing/Programming/Video & Animation Jobs

There are freelance job offer websites where you can upload your resume, profile, and other information for Japanese companies and global companies worldwide to access your portfolio to offer to have your services.

One of the most significant benefits of using these freelance websites is that you can do remote tasks for companies around the world, even if you don’t speak the native language.

Wage: Negotiate

Websites:

Fiverr

Zehitomo

Freelancer.com

Websites for IT

WeXpats

Hays

Freelance Writer

Japan is gradually becoming a destination for people to travel to, and more foreigners are becoming interested in living in Japan recently. Thus, the demands of digital content in English and other languages are significantly rising.

Freelance writing job offers are now provided by many magazines, newspapers, journals, and blogs. From day-to-day life in Japan to hidden culture, you can find yourself writing about everything. For the creative people who love to write and dig deeper into subjects while being creative with them, this is the ideal opportunity for you to make some extra money.

Wage: Varies, paid per article or depending on article length (usually around 5000 yen per 500 to 800-word article)

Translator (Japanese)

Translating work is typically very plentiful at any time, but most will be freelancing rather than working for a company. The language level of competence depends on the job’s language requirement. On the other hand, Japanese level JLPT N2 is enough to start working as a translator in Japan to translate Japanese content into any different language. 

Some translation agencies, such as Joho translation, may also employ freelancers directly from their website, so keep checking out and apply to these companies in order to improve your probability of getting job translations. One drawback to performing for a translating company is that they may have set hourly or task pay that is not available for negotiation. 

Typical salary: 1500 – 3000 yen / hour

Websites: 

Gendo

UpWork

JohoTranslation

Online Surveys

Taking surveys is one of the most straightforward online jobs you can do in Japan if you want to make a little extra on the side. All it needs is a bit of effort by doing some mouse clicks.

In Japan, survey agencies have gathered data for firms trying to get more insights about their market or customer demand. Companies are now looking for particular individuals to take surveys via advertisements based on ethnicity, gender, health status, job, or school status. The pay can go from 500 yen to 10,000 yen per survey, depending on the type of survey you take, the uniqueness, and the number of questions. Typically medical surveys tend to pay at the top end of this pay scale, and some may even require you to physically go to a location. 

The two firms listed below are the most popular and aim to cater primarily to foreigners. Each company does both online and offline surveys.

Wage: 500 – 10000 yen per survey 

Websites:

YOLOJapan

GaikokuJin

Virtual Assistant

Many employers, especially smaller companies and startups, usually do not have enough backup to offer a full-time job, but they still need extra support. Virtual assistants have become a much more popular online job in Japan, with most companies making a complete or partial move online since the virus’s pandemic occurred! If you don’t speak Japanese, not worry, people look for virtual assistants of all languages. 

People are searching for virtual assistants in all languages. Moreover, these positions typically don’t need any prior experience. Almost all of the virtual assistant positions typically involve helping out with very particular tasks. The duties you will do are likely to depend on the type of project you are working on. Not to worry, training is expected to be offered. Often, these assignments would be allocated because either the company owner lacks the time or the resources to perform them.

You will need to research job sites and other online classifieds to find these positions. Sites like Upwork have loads of listings open, and they will keep you pretty busy. Check it out!

Wage: Around 1500 yen per hour depending on skill requirements

Websites:

UpWork

Freelacer.com

Working From Home Jobs in Japan

In the end, there are tons of online Jobs that you can choose to work from home in Japan. You have to know where to look. Regardless of your skillset and interests, there is a job for anyone that wants to work virtually. 

Thus, the Guidable team does hope that you found this article as a helpful piece of information! After all, all of our activities are aiming for a better life for foreigners in Japan! So, stay tuned and follow us!