Walk past almost any road repair in Japan and you will see them: guards in reflective vests and white gloves, waving a red baton to guide cars around the work zone, often late at night and often well past retirement age. Security guarding, called keibi in Japanese, employs close to 600,000 people across the country, and companies say they cannot find enough new staff to replace those who are ageing out.
For foreign readers, the honest starting point matters more than the pay. Security work is not one of the fields under the Specified Skilled Worker system, and it is not a job category for Technical Intern Training, so there is currently no work-specific residence route built for guards. This guide explains who can legally do the job, the training the law requires, the four types of keibi work, the national certificates, typical yen pay, working conditions and how the rules may change.
Can a Foreigner Work as a Security Guard in Japan?
Yes, but usually only if you already hold the right kind of residence status. The Security Services Act has no nationality requirement, so the law itself does not stop a foreign resident from being hired. The barrier is immigration. Your residence status decides what work you may do, and none of the work-specific statuses was designed with guarding in mind.
Statuses That Generally Allow Guard Work
- Permanent resident. No limit on the type of job.
- Spouse or child of a Japanese national. No limit on the type of job while the status is valid.
- Spouse or child of a permanent resident. Also free of job-type limits.
- Long-term resident (teijusha). Commonly held by people of Japanese descent and certain others, and it carries no work restriction.
People in these groups are the foreigners you are most likely to see working in keibi today, especially in regions with established communities from South America and Southeast Asia.
What About Students and Other Visa Holders?
International students may work up to 28 hours a week once they receive permission to engage in activity outside their status. In principle, that part-time work could include a security shift. In practice, many security firms appear reluctant to hire students because the mandatory training takes time, schedules at events and road works are irregular, and the 28-hour ceiling is easy to break during busy weeks. Ask any firm directly before you apply. Holders of professional statuses such as Engineer/Specialist in Humanities generally cannot take guard jobs, and ordinary tourists and short-term visitors cannot work at all.
Why Keibi Sits Outside SSW and Technical Intern Training
The Specified Skilled Worker list grew from 12 to 16 fields in 2024, and further fields such as logistics warehousing, resource recycling and linen supply were approved in January 2026 with hiring expected from around 2027. Security is not among them. The Technical Intern Training programme also has no guarding category.
That may change. In September 2026 the National Police Agency announced it would set up an expert panel to study whether security work should be added to the new Employment for Skill Development system, known as Ikusei Shuro, and to the Specified Skilled Worker system. The panel is expected to discuss how many workers the sector could take, which duties they could perform and what Japanese level they would need, with its report expected as early as January 2027. Ikusei Shuro itself is expected to replace Technical Intern Training around April 2027. Until any rule is formally changed, treat agents who promise a “security worker visa” with deep suspicion.
The Four Types of Keibi Work
The Security Services Act divides guarding into four numbered classes. Job adverts in Japanese often use these numbers, so they are worth learning.
Class 1 (1-go): Facility Security
Guards protect offices, shopping centres, hospitals, factories, schools, apartment buildings and airports. Duties include reception desks, patrols, monitoring cameras, opening and locking doors, and responding to alarms. Many posts are resident-style shifts lasting 24 hours with sleeping breaks.
Class 2 (2-go): Traffic and Crowd Control
This is the largest source of entry-level jobs. Guards direct cars and pedestrians around road works, construction gates and car parks, and manage crowds at festivals, fireworks, concerts and sports events.
Class 3 (3-go): Cash and Valuables Transport
Crews move cash, precious metals, artworks and important documents in armoured vehicles, servicing banks, ATMs and shops. Employers tend to want experience, a clean background and a Japanese driving licence.
Class 4 (4-go): Personal Protection
Close protection of individuals, usually executives, celebrities or visiting guests. This is a small, specialised segment that relies heavily on trust, Japanese fluency and experience.
Training Every New Guard Must Complete
Under the Security Services Act, a company cannot send a newly hired guard to work until that person finishes legal new-employee education, called shinnin kyoiku. Revisions that took effect on 30 August 2019 cut the standard requirement for a general new guard from 30 hours to 20 hours or more, combining basic education and job-specific education. Former police officers, experienced guards and certificate holders may qualify for shorter hours.
Typical topics include the basics of the law, the limits of a guard’s authority, first aid, fire response, reporting incidents and the techniques of the job, such as baton signals for traffic work. After that, guards must also receive regular in-service education every year. Training time is work time, so a reputable firm should pay you for it, though rates for training days are sometimes set lower than for shifts. Confirm the arrangement in writing.
Who Cannot Be a Guard
The law also lists disqualification grounds. These generally cover anyone under 18, people sentenced to imprisonment or who broke the Security Services Act within a recent set period, members of organised crime groups, and people dependent on alcohol or drugs. Employers usually ask applicants to submit documents and a signed declaration, so be ready for background questions.
Keibi Kentei: National Security Certificates
Japan runs a national certification system for guards known as keibi gyomu kentei. Certificates come in a 1st grade and a 2nd grade for six categories: airport security, facility security, crowd control, traffic guidance, nuclear-material transport and valuables transport.
The certificates are more than decoration. Some posts, such as certain highway and major-road traffic control and airport screening, must be staffed by a certified guard, so holders are in steady demand and often receive a certificate allowance on top of their base pay. According to National Police Agency figures for the end of 2025, about 194,000 2nd-grade and 35,000 1st-grade certificates were held, with traffic guidance the most common category by far.
You can earn a certificate by passing a direct examination held by the prefectural public safety commissions, or by completing a registered training course and passing its final test. Both are in Japanese and include a practical skills portion, so solid reading and listening ability are essential.
Keibi Pay in Japan: Typical Yen Ranges
Traffic guards are often paid by the day (nikkyu), while facility guards are more likely to receive a monthly salary. The figures below are rough amounts before tax and insurance deductions.
| Guard Role | Typical Pay (Yen) | Status or Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic guard, day shift | ¥9,000 to ¥13,000 a day | Open status; 20-hour new-guard training |
| Traffic guard, night shift | ¥11,000 to ¥16,000 a night | Open status; night premium usually included |
| Event crowd staff | ¥1,200 to ¥1,600 an hour | Open status; student permission rarely accepted |
| Facility guard, full-time | ¥200,000 to ¥260,000 a month | Open status; basic Japanese reading |
| Certified traffic guard | ¥230,000 to ¥300,000 a month | Traffic guidance kentei, grade 2 or 1 |
| Airport security screener | ¥210,000 to ¥290,000 a month | Airport security kentei often required |
| Cash transport crew | ¥230,000 to ¥320,000 a month | Driving licence; valuables kentei preferred |
| Site supervisor / instructor | ¥280,000 to ¥400,000 a month | Grade 1 kentei or training-officer certificate |
All yen figures here are estimates that change with the prefecture, the company, the number of night shifts and your certificates. We publish this as career information only. It is not an advertisement for any vacancy, and we are not a recruitment agency or an immigration service. Before accepting work, please verify the details with the employer, check your residence status with the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, and confirm labour conditions through Hello Work or the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
Life on a Traffic-Control Crew
Traffic guarding is the classic entry job in keibi, and it works differently from most office or factory employment. Guards are usually registered with a security company and dispatched to a different site each day according to which contractors need help. Some days you might stand at a gas pipe repair in a quiet suburb; on others you might work a lane closure on a busy national road.
Because pay is commonly calculated per day, rain cancellations and slow seasons directly affect income. Some firms pay a small cancellation fee when a job is called off at short notice; many do not. Ask before you sign.
Night Work Is Common
Many road works are scheduled at night to avoid daytime traffic, so night shifts are routine. Under the Labour Standards Act, work between 10pm and 5am generally carries a late-night premium of at least 25 percent. Check whether a daily rate already includes that premium or whether it is added separately.
Physical Demands
Expect eight or more hours mostly on your feet, in summer heat or winter wind. Heatstroke prevention, water breaks and proper rain gear are basic necessities. Traffic guards are also exposed to passing vehicles, so reflective clothing, lighting and careful positioning are not optional.
Hours, Overtime and Insurance for Guards
Guards are employees and are covered by the same labour law as other workers. The Labour Standards Act sets standard hours of 8 per day and 40 per week, and time beyond that is overtime, usually paid at a premium of at least 25 percent. Facility posts that run 24-hour shifts often use a variable working-hour arrangement, so the overtime calculation may look different; ask for a written explanation.
Every prefecture also sets a minimum wage. The national weighted average for fiscal 2025 was ¥1,121 an hour, and fiscal 2026 rates took effect between October and early December 2026, with Tokyo around ¥1,280 and the lowest prefecture a little above ¥1,080. Daily rates should still work out above the local minimum once you divide by the hours actually worked. Full-time staff are normally enrolled in health insurance, the employees’ pension and employment insurance, and all employees are covered by workers’ accident insurance.
An Ageing Workforce and a Persistent Shortage
National Police Agency figures show about 597,000 guards working for nearly 11,000 security companies at the end of 2025. Around 47 percent of those guards were aged 60 or older, and more than one in five was 70 or older. Few industries in Japan rely so heavily on older workers.
Demand, meanwhile, keeps coming from ageing roads, bridges and water pipes that need repair, from large events and tourism, and from new commercial facilities. Job-opening ratios for security work are commonly reported as among the highest of any occupation. For a foreign resident with an unrestricted status and decent Japanese, that means employers are often willing to train from zero.
Japanese Ability and How to Find a Post
Guarding is a communication job. You need to understand radio instructions, explain detours to drivers, read site plans and write short incident reports. Many firms do not set a formal JLPT requirement, but in practice something around N3 or above makes training and daily work much smoother, and certificate exams need stronger reading skills.
Hello Work, the public employment service, lists many security vacancies and can help residents with consultations in some languages at larger offices. Before signing, check that the company holds a valid security business approval from the prefectural public safety commission; legitimate firms display it and will tell you the approval number when asked.
Red Flags to Watch For
- Anyone selling a “guard visa” or charging a placement fee to bring you to Japan for security work.
- A firm that skips the 20-hour new-guard training or asks you to sign that you attended without doing it.
- Unpaid training days that are not explained in your contract.
- Pressure to work extra shifts that would push a student beyond 28 hours a week.
- Requests to hand over your passport or residence card for safekeeping.
Standing Guard Over Your Own Career
Keibi can be a solid source of income for foreign residents whose status allows any kind of work, and it offers a clear ladder: new-guard training, a 2nd-grade kentei, a 1st-grade kentei and then supervisor or instructor roles. For people abroad hoping to come specifically as guards, the door is not open yet. Watch for official announcements about the expert panel and Ikusei Shuro, rely on government sources rather than agents, and build your Japanese in the meantime.
Security Guard Questions Readers Often Ask
Can I come to Japan on a work visa just to be a security guard?
Not at present. Guarding is not an SSW field or a Technical Intern category. Foreign guards are generally people who already live in Japan with a status that has no work restriction. Officials are studying a change, but nothing had been formally adopted as of late 2026.
How long is the training before my first shift?
For a general new guard, the law requires at least 20 hours of new-employee education. Experienced guards, certificate holders and former police officers may have shorter requirements.
Do I need a kentei certificate to start?
No. Most people start without one and take the 2nd-grade exam after gaining experience. Some posts must be staffed by certified guards, though, so earning a certificate usually brings better shifts and an allowance.
