Job Duties Permitted under Designated Activities (No. 46)/Japan Immigration Support for HR

1. The applicant has graduated from a Japanese university (excluding junior colleges) or completed a graduate school program in Japan and been conferred a degree.
2. The remuneration must be equivalent to or higher than that received by Japanese nationals engaged in the same work.
3. The applicant’s Japanese-language ability is certified—by testing or other methods—to understand not only everyday Japanese but also a broad range of contexts including somewhat complex and logical Japanese.
4. The work is recognized as utilizing the broad knowledge and applied abilities acquired at a Japanese university or graduate school.

Requirement 4 (“utilizing the broad knowledge and applied abilities acquired at a Japanese university or graduate school”) means that the planned duties should include work at a certain level that draws on academic knowledge applicable to statuses like “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services,” or that such duties are expected to be performed in the near future.

“Work at a certain level that draws on academic knowledge” generally refers to duties that typically require university-level knowledge, such as product planning, technology development, sales, administrative/management roles, planning (including public relations), education, etc.

Accordingly, if the employee is hired by a restaurant and the main duties consist of store/operations management and customer service with interpreting (they may also serve Japanese customers), with some kitchen assistance on the side, eligibility for “Designated Activities” (No. 46) is possible.

However, if the duties are only kitchen assistance, the position does not fall under “Designated Activities” (No. 46), so caution is required.