Ikusei Shuro Manufacturing 2027: 319,200 Places, 1 or 2-Year Job Move

Heading to a Japanese factory — a press shop in Ota, a machining line in the Nagoya belt, a plating plant in Gifu? Manufacturing holds more foreign workers than any other industry in Japan, and under the new Ikusei Shuro (育成就労) status starting 1 April 2027 it will stay that way.

Here is what the official documents say: the quota, the job categories, the exams, the three-year ladder, the misreported transfer rule, the dispatch ban, night-shift law and where the jobs are. For the wider picture, start with our guide to Ikusei Shuro from April 2027.

What "manufacturing" means here, and the food-factory trap

The field is officially 工業製品製造業分野, industrial products manufacturing. It began in 2019 as three fields; in April 2022 the industrial machinery field exceeded its quota and certificates of eligibility were suspended, the three merged that May, and on 29 March 2024 the merged field was renamed and its job categories expanded from 10 to 17. That suspension shows a quota is a real ceiling: when a field fills, applications stop.

More important: a food factory is not in this field. Bento lines, bakeries, meat and fish processing and drinks plants belong to food and beverage manufacturing (飲食料品製造業分野), a separate field with its own quota, exams and ministry. If a recruiter calls a food plant "manufacturing", nothing on this page applies.

The biggest field in the system, and the only major one whose quota rose

The field-specific policies decided by the Cabinet on 23 January 2026 cover both statuses: 199,500 Specified Skilled Worker (i) places from FY2024 to end-FY2028, and 119,700 Ikusei Shuro places for the two years from April 2027 — 319,200 in total, the largest of the 19 fields. Against the quotas set in March 2024, the re-setting cut almost every large field:

Field	SSW (i), Mar 2024	SSW (i), Jan 2026	Ikusei Shuro	Total
Industrial products manufacturing	173,300	199,500 (up)	119,700	319,200
Construction	80,000	76,000 (down)	123,500	199,500
Food and beverage manufacturing	139,000	133,500 (down)	61,400	194,900
Care work	135,000	126,900 (down)	33,800	160,700

Source: Immigration Services Agency summary, 23 January 2026. Only two fields rose at all: this one, by 26,200 places, and aviation, by 500. A quota is what runs out, so headroom means employers keep hiring and a worker who loses a job has somewhere else to go. The increase was justified by a job openings-to-applicants ratio of 2.81 in FY2024 and a projected shortfall of 319,200 workers by FY2028. Weighing this field against construction or agriculture and fisheries? That is the strongest argument for it.

The 17 job categories and the double check your workplace must pass

Two things must line up: your job category must be one of the 17 categories for Specified Skilled Worker (i), or the 3 for (ii), and your workplace must sit inside the industrial classification list set by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) — 76 for (i) and 46 for (ii) as of June 2026. Fail either and you cannot be accepted, however well the work matches. Almost everyone sits in two categories. Of the 56,736 (i) holders in this field on 31 December 2025 (preliminary):

Job category	People	Share
Machining and metalworking (機械金属加工)	44,203	77.9%
Electrical and electronic equipment assembly (電気電子機器組立て)	10,322	18.2%
Metal surface treatment (金属表面処理)	1,498	2.6%
All other categories combined	713	1.3%

The rest cover cardboard boxes, concrete products, ceramics, printing, textiles and sewing, plus seven added in March 2024, among them furniture, rubber products and bags. Those seven had no residents at the end of 2025, because the METI notice switching them on took effect only on 1 June 2026, so do not assume every category has an exam scheduled today.

You can lawfully be asked to do what Japanese colleagues on the line do: the policy permits incidental related work such as moving parts, forklift operation and cleaning. Substantially different work is not, so if your job has drifted, raise it early — see your rights as a foreign worker in Japan.

The exams, and why most people in this field never sat one

Specified Skilled Worker (i) needs a skills qualification (the 製造分野特定技能1号評価試験 for your category, the 育成就労評価試験 specialist level, or 技能検定 grade 3) plus Japanese at A2.2 or above, in practice a JFT-Basic pass or JLPT N4. Tests are run by JAIM (一般社団法人 工業製品製造技能人材機構): computer-based, in Japanese, 80 minutes, pass marks of 65 and 60 per cent, fee 8,000 yen. As of the June 2026 METI material, overseas test venues are listed for five countries: India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar and Vietnam, so check the current list before you book.

Now the number that explains the field. Cumulatively 8,146 people had sat the (i) skills test for this field and 1,548 had passed, as of end-December 2025 — against 56,736 holding the status that day. These counts are cumulative and include repeat takers, so this is not a pass rate, and the Immigration Services Agency does not publish one. The gap shows most people here never sat the exam; they used the exemption. Anyone who has satisfactorily completed Technical Intern Training (ii) in a corresponding category is exempt from both tests. If you are already an intern, that is likely your route: see what happens to technical interns after April 2027.

Specified Skilled Worker (ii) is far harder: the field (ii) test plus ビジネス・キャリア検定 grade 3, or 技能検定 grade 1; three years of practical experience at a manufacturing site in Japan; and B1 Japanese (JLPT N3). Worth knowing now: on request your employer must issue written proof of your practical experience, including to people who have already left.

Ikusei Shuro from 1 April 2027: the three-year ladder

Ikusei Shuro replaces technical intern training as the entry route. It runs three years and uses the same 17 categories. The ladder, from the field-specific operational policy and the Immigration Services Agency outline (revised December 2025):

• Before you start work: a Japanese test at A1 or above (JLPT N5), or an A1-level course at a recognised institution.
• Within the first year: 技能検定 basic grade, or the Ikusei Shuro elementary-level test (育成就労評価試験・初級).
• To transfer employer at your own request: that year-one level plus Japanese at A2.1 or above.
• By the end of three years: 技能検定 grade 3 or the specialist-level test (専門級), plus A2.2 Japanese — the entry level for Specified Skilled Worker (i).

A rule specific to this field: you and your employer fix one "principal skill" (主たる技能) inside your category, and you must spend at least one third of your working time on its required tasks. That floor separates training from general labour, so ask at interview which principal skill, and what a normal day looks like.

There is also a transitional trap. Technical intern training had no classification restriction; Ikusei Shuro adopts the Specified Skilled Worker list, and METI states that a workplace outside the designated classifications cannot use Ikusei Shuro even if it has hosted technical interns. "We have always taken interns" is not proof a company can take you. Before signing, you can ask someone already doing this work on LO-PAL what their own contract looks like.

Changing employers: one year or two, and two must come with a raise

This is the most misreported rule here. The Cabinet policy does say the transfer restriction period shall be two years, reasoning that some production machinery needs particular care for safety and that higher mobility could leave employers unable to retain staff. It is explicitly framed as a cushioning measure "for the time being".

The operational manual is more precise, and it is the version that lands in your contract: the employer chooses whether the transfer restriction period is one year or two. An employer setting two years must raise your scheduled monthly wage from year one to year two by at least the rate published each year by the field council, based on the pay-rise rate across all companies in the field. One setting a single year carries no such obligation.

So the question is not "one year or two in manufacturing?" but "which did my company choose, and if two, what is the year-two raise?" Both belong in the employment conditions document you receive before you travel, so get the figure in writing. Our guide to Ikusei Shuro job transfer rights covers the procedure. Two-year fields include care, construction, shipbuilding and food service; agriculture, fishery, accommodation and building cleaning are set at one year.

Dispatch work is prohibited for both statuses

The Cabinet policy states the employment form in one line per status: direct employment only, for Specified Skilled Worker and Ikusei Shuro alike. For Specified Skilled Worker the manual adds that you may neither be dispatched nor accepted as a dispatched worker, and an employer breaking this cannot accept Specified Skilled Workers for five years. For Ikusei Shuro, manufacturing is not designated as a field where labour dispatch is permitted. The factory itself must be your employer; an agency offering to hire you and place you at a plant is proposing something unlawful.

Agency and subcontracting work is visibly common on factory floors, but those workers mostly hold a different status. Of the 635,075 foreign workers in manufacturing as of 31 October 2025, 76,752 (12.1 per cent) were at dispatch or subcontracting establishments, rising to 23.9 per cent in transport equipment. Across all industries the rate is 50.6 per cent for Brazilians and 38.3 per cent for Peruvians — overwhelmingly people on status-based residence such as permanent or long-term resident, who may work in any employment form. The ministry cautions that not all are dispatched workers, but the point holds: that route is closed to you.

Hours, night work and pay: what is guaranteed, what is only an average

One thing official data cannot tell you: there is no published national statistic on how many manufacturers run two-shift or three-shift systems. Working-hour systems are surveyed by company size, not shift patterns by industry, so "most factories are three-shift" is a guess. Ask about the pattern for your specific job, in writing.

Hours are measured. In 2025, at establishments with five or more staff, manufacturing averaged 155.5 hours a month, of which 13.4 were overtime, against 135.0 and 9.8 for all industries surveyed — about 1.37 times the national overtime average. The premiums are fixed by law and do not depend on your visa. Under Article 37 of the Labour Standards Act and Cabinet Order No. 5 of 1994:

• Overtime: at least 25 per cent extra.
• Overtime beyond 60 hours in a month: at least 50 per cent.
• Work on a statutory day off: at least 35 per cent.
• Night work between 22:00 and 05:00: at least 25 per cent.

Night and overtime premiums stack, so an overtime hour at 23:00 attracts both. The practical test: if you work nights, your payslip should carry a separate night premium line. If not, query it — see how to complain to the Labour Standards Inspection Office and Ikusei Shuro wages, deductions and equal pay.

Now the wage figures. Manufacturing averaged 430,622 yen a month in cash earnings in 2025, of which 31,727 yen was overtime pay, against 355,919 yen for all industries, and the field policy cites an average annual wage of about 5.35 million yen in 2024. Both are averages for all workers, Japanese nationals included, across every age and seniority level. They are not the pay of Specified Skilled Worker or Ikusei Shuro workers, and no official field-level figure for foreign workers alone is published, so do not use them to predict your own. The rules require pay equal to or above a Japanese national doing equivalent work; the number that matters is on your employment conditions document, after deductions.

Where the work actually is: Aichi, Gifu, Gunma and the factory prefectures

These jobs are not in city centres. On 31 December 2025, Aichi alone held 8,651 (i) workers in this field, 15.2 per cent of the national total, and the top five — Aichi, Osaka, Gifu, Ibaraki, Shizuoka — held 39.1 per cent. Tokyo had 424, 1.7 per cent of its own specified skilled workers.

The sharper measure is how much of a prefecture's specified skilled worker population sits in this one field: Ishikawa 38.7 per cent, Shiga 37.3, Gifu 36.6, Toyama 36.1, Mie 34.0. There, "specified skilled worker" and "factory worker" mean nearly the same thing. Across all residence statuses, manufacturing is 46.2 per cent of all foreign workers in Gifu, 43.4 per cent in Hiroshima and 36.0 per cent in Gunma, against 24.7 per cent nationally. Expect suburban industrial belts and thin trains. Our guides to Aichi, Gifu and Gunma cover housing, transport and consultation desks.

Who is on the line with you? Among (i) holders here at end-2025, 32,445 were Vietnamese (57.2 per cent), 10,910 Indonesian, 5,615 Filipino and 4,161 Chinese. Vietnamese readers should also see our country guide for Vietnamese workers.

Going long, and what we would check before you sign

Specified Skilled Worker (ii) exists here but in only three categories — machining and metalworking, electrical and electronic assembly, metal surface treatment — and the work is supervisory: instructing multiple skilled workers while managing the process. It remains small: 840 people held it here on 31 December 2025, out of 7,955 across all eleven (ii) fields, but it is the doorway to a long-term future here. See our guides to the Specified Skilled Worker system and the route from Ikusei Shuro to permanent residence. What we would check first, before signing:

• The field. Confirm in writing it is industrial products manufacturing, not food and beverage, and ask which of the 17 categories.
• The classification. Ask whether the workplace is inside the designated classification list. For Ikusei Shuro this requirement is new.
• The transfer period. One year or two? If two, what is the year-two wage increase, as a figure or rate, in writing?
• The employer. Is the contract with the factory itself? Labour dispatch is prohibited for both statuses, so you cannot be hired by an agency and placed at a plant.
• Shifts, premiums and deductions. Ask the shift pattern and expected overtime, confirm hours between 22:00 and 05:00 show as a separate premium line, and get dormitory, utility and meal deductions itemised with amounts.

None of this needs a lawyer. It needs the questions asked before you are on the plane. On LO-PAL you can ask about your own contract, job category and the factory you have been offered.

Frequently asked questions

Is a job in a food factory covered by the manufacturing field?

No. Bento lines, bakeries, meat and fish processing and drinks plants sit in a separate field, food and beverage manufacturing, with its own quota, exams and ministry. If a recruiter calls a food plant job "manufacturing", ask which field it is registered under.

Do I have to pass an exam to get Specified Skilled Worker (i) in manufacturing?

Not if you satisfactorily completed Technical Intern Training (ii) in a corresponding category, which exempts you from both tests. Otherwise you need the field skills evaluation test plus JFT-Basic or JLPT N4. Cumulatively 1,548 people had passed the (i) test for this field by end-December 2025, against 56,736 holding the status.

When can I change employers under Ikusei Shuro in manufacturing?

It depends on your employer, not only the field. The operational manual states the employer chooses a transfer restriction period of one year or two, and one setting two years must raise your scheduled monthly wage from year one to year two by at least the rate published annually by the field council. You also need the year-one skill level and Japanese at A2.1 or above.

Can I work in a factory through a staffing agency on a Specified Skilled Worker visa?

No. Both statuses here are direct employment only. The manual states you may neither be dispatched nor accepted as a dispatched worker, and an employer breaking this cannot accept Specified Skilled Workers for five years. Agency work is common in factories, but those workers hold status-based residence such as permanent or long-term resident, which allows any employment form.

How much will I earn in a Japanese factory?

Published averages will not tell you. Manufacturing averaged 430,622 yen a month in cash earnings in 2025 and the field policy cites about 5.35 million yen a year for 2024, but both are averages for all workers including Japanese nationals, not figures for Specified Skilled Worker or Ikusei Shuro workers. No official field-level figure for foreign workers alone is published. The rules require pay equal to or above a Japanese national doing equivalent work.

Do factories pay extra for night shifts?

Yes, by law. Article 37 of the Labour Standards Act requires at least 25 per cent extra for work between 22:00 and 05:00, 25 per cent for overtime, 50 per cent beyond 60 overtime hours a month and 35 per cent on a statutory day off, and night and overtime premiums stack. There is no official statistic on how many manufacturers run shift systems, so ask about the pattern for the specific job.

Rules below the Act are still being finalised. Check the Immigration Services Agency page for this field and the METI Ikusei Shuro materials before relying on this.