Many people travel to Japan in search of work. But why?
Because Japanese salaries and wages are usually higher than many wages and salaries in Western countries. Many are also fascinated by Japanese culture, language, food etc.
Contents
Working remotely from Japan, why do it?
However, why would someone go to Japan, yet work remotely for companies based in other countries?
Perhaps you want to go to Japan to study Japanese or take a gap year in the land of the rising sun, but you don’t want to run around teaching English.
Maybe your spouse or significant other has a new job based in Japan or is studying Japanese and you want to be with them, but you don’t want to run around teaching English….
Maybe both of the above situations are true, but you have valuable job skills that are in demand in your own country and can be done online from anywhere….and you don’t want to run around teaching English…
First, you need to figure out the type of visa you are allowed to get for Japan.
You can go to Japan as a tourist and work remotely the same you would in any other country.
However, your stay is limited by that tourist visa to 90 days. If you are going to Japan to study Japanese, that may be different.
You may be able to get a student visa or some kind of education visa that will allow you to stay there much longer. However, these visas usually do not include the right to work.
Therefore, you may still want to earn some extra income while studying Japanese in Japan. Japan can still be quite expensive even if you have the basics covered.
So your best bet would be to work remotely for a company or freelancing for several companies in your home country while living and studying in Japan.
Can you work remotely in Japan?
Americans can visit Japan only with a valid passport and that passport must be valid for the entire length of stay in Japan.
An American can visit Japan visa free for up to 90 days as a tourist or on business. During this time you cannot work in Japan.
However, as with most countries, it’s pretty difficult to prove that you are actually working and conducting business, if you are not working locally for a company in the country you are staying in. This holds true for Japan as well as anywhere else.
So technically who’s to stop you from simply opening up your laptop, connecting to the internet and conducting your work for a company based outside of Japan?
In addition, if you receive payments and do your billing, etc. while working remotely in Japan, these activities are normally done through your home country’s bank where you receive and send payments from.
Bottom line is if everything is done online and it’s all conducted technically outside of Japan, then you are not actually working in Japan. You are working remotely from Japan.
Again as with any type of remote work that you do from abroad or if you’re a digital nomad, this is not something I would advertise or information I would openly volunteer to immigration authorities when you enter the country.
By the way you also need an onward or return ticket when you arrive in Japan for the visa free 90 days stay.
For safe measure, it’s always a good idea to be able to prove that you can fund your stay in Japan for the entirety of your 90 day visit.
In most countries “proof of funds” is normally not asked for, sometimes though countries, like the UK for example, may ask this of a tourist if they are suspicious that the tourist is coming to their country in search of work.
However, in general if you present yourself as respectable, clean and professional you will normally not be asked for proof of funds.
Though you should always be prepared if you are asked by having either a bank statement ready, a credit card statement with access to available lines of credit or some kind of proof of your employment back in your home country or country of residence.
Can you work in Japan as a foreigner?
If you are on an appropriate visa, then you can work in Japan legally as a foreigner. Although most of these visas need to be sponsored by a company registered in Japan and is a legal entity in Japan who is allowed to hire foreign staff.
Many people who are not specialized in any specific sphere of work and whose skills are not in great demand do still manage to find work in Japan. Most will come to Japan and work teaching English.
Native English speakers are still in demand for teaching English in Japan. A school would have to sponsor your employment visa and arrange for accommodations etc. though. But that is beyond the scope of this article.
For more information on working as a foreigner in Japan and which visa would be most appropriate, visit the Japanese embassy online from your home country.
Here is the Embassy of Japan’s website in the United States.
What’s the Digital Nomad situation in Japan?
Although there are digital nomads in Japan as well as some coworking spaces, the digital nomad scene isn’t as strong as in many other Asian countries like Thailand or Vietnam.
However, there are still quite a few digital nomads in Japan.
But if you plan on having a social life though, then more than likely it will be with other English-speaking foreigners.
In particular, English teachers, which dominate the professional landscape as far as foreigners or “Gaijin” as they’re called in Japan. You’ll be socializing with them mostly, if you want to speak English.
Although you may meet Japanese people themselves, getting to know them on a deeper then superficial level does seem quite challenging from reports on the ground.
As I mentioned above, Japan is one of the most modern technologically advanced countries in the world.
So things like internet connections, Wi-Fi, internet speeds etc. are really a non-issue, even in rural areas of Japan.
As far as the expenses of living in Japan goes. Japan is not as expensive as many people are led to believe. The exception of course would be Tokyo.
However, living in Tokyo would be much like living in New York City as far as expenses are concerned.
Once you get outside of Tokyo, even outside of Tokyo proper, into more of the suburban areas, your expenses should drop comparably.
In fact, you’ll find that many of the costs of living in Japan are quite similar to the costs that you left behind.
As far as renting and long-term accommodations, you would have to find accommodations and agencies that specialize in foreign or “Gaijin” rentals.
However, you should not be discouraged as there are plenty of foreigner rentals out there unlike another popular myth that would lead you to believe.
Though you need to consider that if you want to live in Tokyo proper, these foreigner rentals will be much harder to come by than they are outside of Tokyo.
US employee working remotely in Japan.
If you are working remotely for a US company and you are a US employee. So theoretically if you’re working remotely in Japan, you are in a similar situation as a digital nomad, except most digital nomads have several clients that they work for and are not employees.
However, the benefit of being an employee is that you generally have a more stable income as well as other perks. Other than that your working remotely situation would be the same as a digital nomad.
Working remotely from Japan, summary.
Technically it’s illegal to work in Japan and in most countries on the traditional 90-day visa waiver policy that most foreigners from Western countries enjoy.
Though, there’s no need to advertise the fact that you are working remotely or being a digital nomad, freelancer or anything else that has to do with working, while in the country.
You’re better off just saying that you are there as a tourist if you’re going to be in Japan for the traditional 90-day visa waiver stay.
If you want to stay longer in Japan your options are of course leaving the country and returning after a few days. Unlike most countries in Europe, Japan doesn’t have the strict 90-day in 90 day out type of visa waiver policy.
However, there are certain situations where you might raise a red flag by leaving and coming back so quickly.
Furthermore, if you do it more than twice in the same year you will definitely raise some red flags and get some more strict questions from immigration officials at passport control.
You may even be turned away at the border. This is not uncommon by the way. If you were going to go about this route and just use the 90-day Visa waiver periods to stay in Japan, then you’re better off simply leaving the country for a week or so then return.
But when you return, you’ll need to have a change of address from the one you left on. This is not set in stone, nor is it an official policy for Japan.
People do this in order to not raise suspicion when returning to the country to show that they are not actually living there. This has been reported on some forums as one of the tips in order to be able to stay in Japan for longer than 90 days, so take it with a grain of salt.
You will need to do short-term rentals like Airbnb in order to lessen the suspicion of immigration officials that you’re actually living there. These changes of addresses are one technique that you can use.
The best policy though is never saying you’re working. If they ask for a source of income just say you have passive income investments from back home that provide you with an income, or that you are on holiday. Anything that avoids the term work should always be used.
Many who want to work remotely while living in Asia tend to use the 90-day visa waiver policies of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to their advantage.
Further out and less developed economies like Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines have different visa policies for westerners that you need to determine on a country to country basis.
The best way to do this of course is to start at their embassies represented in your country.
Most, if not all, embassies nowadays have websites in the countries that they are in. Visa policies tend to be published in both the native language of the country as well as the language of the host country and in many cases, English.
So do your homework and be well prepared before you head off to the land of the rising sun…