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Police officers and maritime safety officials

How to become a Coast Guard Officer

Watches over the seas and ports using patrol boats and aircraft to keep them safe and secure, and works to protect the marine environment.

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

To become a coast guard officer you must pass the student entrance exam for the Japan Coast Guard Academy or the Japan Coast Guard School and graduate. Graduates of the Japan Coast Guard Academy (a four-year main course followed by a six-month advanced course) do a further three months of training (the international affairs training course) and are then posted to patrol boats around the country. They serve two to three years on board as officers such as chief navigation officer, then build careers as senior staff, moving between posts on land and at sea. Graduates of the Japan Coast Guard School (one or two years) work as experts in areas such as security and rescue, marine information and maritime traffic. Students also gain qualifications to operate ships at the Academy and the School. There are also recruitment exams for people who already hold a mariner's licence, a radio operator's licence, an aviation licence or an aircraft maintenance licence. After passing, they can become coast guard officers after the necessary training at the Moji branch of the Japan Coast Guard School.

Ways in

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Coast Guard Officer?

To become a coast guard officer you must pass the student entrance exam for the Japan Coast Guard Academy or the Japan Coast Guard School and graduate. Graduates of the Japan Coast Guard Academy (a four-year main course followed by a six-month advanced course) do a further three months of training (the international affairs training course) and are then posted to patrol boats around the country. They serve two to three years on board as officers such as chief navigation officer, then build careers as senior staff, moving between posts on land and at sea. Graduates of the Japan Coast Guard School (one or two years) work as experts in areas such as security and rescue, marine information and maritime traffic. Students also gain qualifications to operate ships at the Academy and the School. There are also recruitment exams for people who already hold a mariner's licence, a radio operator's licence, an aviation licence or an aircraft maintenance licence. After passing, they can become coast guard officers after the necessary training at the Moji branch of the Japan Coast Guard School.

Do you need a degree to become a Coast Guard Officer?

Not always. In this job's census occupation group, 57% of workers are university graduates.

Will AI change the work of a Coast Guard Officer?

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