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Other social welfare specialist professionals

How to become a Care Facility Manager

Also called: Nursing home manager, Aged care home manager, Short-stay care manager, Dementia group home manager, Day care centre manager

Manages and runs an aged care or disability care facility as the person in charge.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say high school, university, or vocational college (senmon gakko) is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

The requirements for this job differ depending on the type of facility. There are two main routes. In one, people graduate from a health or care school, become care workers, move through roles such as care team leader and residential support officer, gain qualifications and step up to facility manager. In the other, people join a care facility from another industry, build experience and gain the qualifications needed to become a manager. People who take the second route often studied something other than care. To manage a special nursing home for older people (tokubetsu yogo rojin home), you must meet one of these requirements: meet the requirements for a social welfare officer, have worked in social welfare for at least two years, or complete the training course for social welfare facility managers. To manage a dementia group home, you need at least two years of dementia care experience and must complete the management training for dementia care service providers. To manage a long-term care health facility, you must be a doctor approved by the prefectural governor. There are no formal requirements to manage a private fee-charging aged care home, but in practice people are often hired as future managers, gain hands-on experience and then take related qualifications. Managers need to keep learning to keep up with changes to the care system. Large operators run training for their facility managers, some managers join local study groups on their own, and some take the service management training for social welfare facility managers run by the Japan National Council of Social Welfare. After gaining experience, some managers are promoted to area manager, overseeing several facilities. A facility manager is a management role, so experience in hands-on care is not essential. You need communication skills to work smoothly with owners, staff, government and other outside organisations, residents and families; leadership to lead staff as head of the facility; and business skills to attract more residents, build up the staff, keep accurate accounts and run the facility smoothly.

Ways in

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Care Facility Manager?

The requirements for this job differ depending on the type of facility. There are two main routes. In one, people graduate from a health or care school, become care workers, move through roles such as care team leader and residential support officer, gain qualifications and step up to facility manager. In the other, people join a care facility from another industry, build experience and gain the qualifications needed to become a manager. People who take the second route often studied something other than care. To manage a special nursing home for older people (tokubetsu yogo rojin home), you must meet one of these requirements: meet the requirements for a social welfare officer, have worked in social welfare for at least two years, or complete the training course for social welfare facility managers. To manage a dementia group home, you need at least two years of dementia care experience and must complete the management training for dementia care service providers. To manage a long-term care health facility, you must be a doctor approved by the prefectural governor. There are no formal requirements to manage a private fee-charging aged care home, but in practice people are often hired as future managers, gain hands-on experience and then take related qualifications. Managers need to keep learning to keep up with changes to the care system. Large operators run training for their facility managers, some managers join local study groups on their own, and some take the service management training for social welfare facility managers run by the Japan National Council of Social Welfare. After gaining experience, some managers are promoted to area manager, overseeing several facilities. A facility manager is a management role, so experience in hands-on care is not essential. You need communication skills to work smoothly with owners, staff, government and other outside organisations, residents and families; leadership to lead staff as head of the facility; and business skills to attract more residents, build up the staff, keep accurate accounts and run the facility smoothly.

How much does a Care Facility Manager earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥4,416,600 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Other social welfare specialist professionals, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Care Facility Manager?

Not always. In this job's census occupation group, 42% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: Social Work & Community degrees; Junior college (短期大学) programme.

Will AI change the work of a Care Facility Manager?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026