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Clinical laboratory technicians

How to become a Clinical Laboratory Technologist

Also called: Medical Laboratory Technician, ECG Technician, Sonographer

Carries out clinical tests, mainly in medical institutions, under the direction of a doctor or dentist.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say 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

You need to pass the national clinical laboratory technologist exam and get a licence. The exam is held once a year. It is open to graduates of clinical laboratory technologist training schools (universities, tanki daigaku (junior colleges) and senmon gakko (vocational colleges)), to people who completed subjects set by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in a university veterinary or pharmacy faculty, and to graduates of university medical or dental faculties. After getting their licence, new graduates often find work through their school. People changing jobs find new work through job websites, the job placement service run by the Japanese Association of Medical Technologists, referrals from their former school and job advertisements in professional journals. Clinical laboratory technologists deal directly with patients when taking blood and doing physiological tests, and do work where accuracy can affect a patient's life, so you need care, calm judgement, responsibility and patience. As medicine becomes more advanced, screening for lifestyle diseases spreads, the number and types of tests grow and the equipment becomes more advanced and varied, you must keep learning knowledge and skills. Knowledge of basic medical science, using equipment and statistics are all important.

Ways in

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Clinical Laboratory Technologist?

You need to pass the national clinical laboratory technologist exam and get a licence. The exam is held once a year. It is open to graduates of clinical laboratory technologist training schools (universities, tanki daigaku (junior colleges) and senmon gakko (vocational colleges)), to people who completed subjects set by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in a university veterinary or pharmacy faculty, and to graduates of university medical or dental faculties. After getting their licence, new graduates often find work through their school. People changing jobs find new work through job websites, the job placement service run by the Japanese Association of Medical Technologists, referrals from their former school and job advertisements in professional journals. Clinical laboratory technologists deal directly with patients when taking blood and doing physiological tests, and do work where accuracy can affect a patient's life, so you need care, calm judgement, responsibility and patience. As medicine becomes more advanced, screening for lifestyle diseases spreads, the number and types of tests grow and the equipment becomes more advanced and varied, you must keep learning knowledge and skills. Knowledge of basic medical science, using equipment and statistics are all important.

How much does a Clinical Laboratory Technologist earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥4,819,900 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare).

Do you need a degree to become a Clinical Laboratory Technologist?

Not always. In this job's census occupation group, 38% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: Allied Health degrees; Junior college (短期大学) programme; Vocational college (専門学校) course: Clinical laboratory science.

Will AI change the work of a Clinical Laboratory Technologist?

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