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Wooden and paper product manufacturing workers

How to become a Furniture Maker

Also called: Furniture woodworker, Wooden furniture assembler, Wooden furniture repairer, Wooden furniture manufacturing worker

Makes wooden furniture by cutting, shaping, assembling and finishing timber and fitting hardware.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say high school 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

No particular education or qualification is required to start. New school leavers often find jobs through their school or Hello Work (public employment service). Mid-career entrants include people who have finished furniture or woodworking courses at vocational training schools, people introduced by Hello Work, and people who respond to job advertisements. Furniture making needs knowledge of the properties of wood (the main material), blades, machines, tools, paints, adhesives, upholstery fabric, working methods and furniture construction. The skills needed include sharpening and adjusting blades, setting up jobs, operating machine tools and repairing damage, and you learn these through experience. A related qualification is the furniture making technician grade of the ginou kentei (national trade skills test) set by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, which is valued as proof of skill. Under the Industrial Safety and Health Act, a workplace with more than a certain number of woodworking machines must also appoint a woodworking machine work chief. Good finger and hand skills and a good sense of shape are desirable. In high-end furniture, strong design skills and originality are needed. Some work, such as fine assembly that machines cannot do, depends on human hands, so every task needs skill.

Ways in

Pay · Job openings · AI and this job

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Furniture Maker?

No particular education or qualification is required to start. New school leavers often find jobs through their school or Hello Work (public employment service). Mid-career entrants include people who have finished furniture or woodworking courses at vocational training schools, people introduced by Hello Work, and people who respond to job advertisements. Furniture making needs knowledge of the properties of wood (the main material), blades, machines, tools, paints, adhesives, upholstery fabric, working methods and furniture construction. The skills needed include sharpening and adjusting blades, setting up jobs, operating machine tools and repairing damage, and you learn these through experience. A related qualification is the furniture making technician grade of the ginou kentei (national trade skills test) set by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, which is valued as proof of skill. Under the Industrial Safety and Health Act, a workplace with more than a certain number of woodworking machines must also appoint a woodworking machine work chief. Good finger and hand skills and a good sense of shape are desirable. In high-end furniture, strong design skills and originality are needed. Some work, such as fine assembly that machines cannot do, depends on human hands, so every task needs skill.

How much does a Furniture Maker earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥4,341,900 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Wooden and paper product manufacturing workers, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Furniture Maker?

Usually not. In this job's census occupation group, only 12% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: National trade skills test (技能検定).

Will AI change the work of a Furniture Maker?

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