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Home visiting care workers

How to become a Home Care Worker

Also called: Certified Care Worker (Home Care), Home Care Aide, Home Care Service Worker

Visits the homes of older people assessed as needing care and people with disability assessed for support, and gives personal care and help with housework.

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

To become a home care worker you must complete the introductory care worker training course (kaigo shokuin shoninsha kenshu). It is run by local councils, social welfare councils, companies and others. (In April 2013 the care qualification system was revised, and the former Home Helper Level 2 was replaced by this introductory training course. Anyone holding Home Helper Level 2 is treated as having completed it.) With three or more years of work experience, completing the practitioner training (jitsumusha kenshu) and passing the national exam, you can qualify as a certified care worker (kaigo fukushishi). People who have completed practitioner training and certified care workers can become service coordinators. Most home care workers are employed by home care agencies designated under the long-term care insurance system or the Act on Comprehensive Support for Persons with Disabilities, in full-time or part-time roles. The work provides services in the local community and short shifts are possible, so it also offers work to people such as homemakers. As well as the skills and knowledge of care, housework and other help with daily living, you need the empathy to sense how people feel and how they are, the ability to listen and build trust, and the fitness for physical care work. It is quite common for home care workers to move to care jobs in residential or day care facilities, and the other way round.

Ways in

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Home Care Worker?

To become a home care worker you must complete the introductory care worker training course (kaigo shokuin shoninsha kenshu). It is run by local councils, social welfare councils, companies and others. (In April 2013 the care qualification system was revised, and the former Home Helper Level 2 was replaced by this introductory training course. Anyone holding Home Helper Level 2 is treated as having completed it.) With three or more years of work experience, completing the practitioner training (jitsumusha kenshu) and passing the national exam, you can qualify as a certified care worker (kaigo fukushishi). People who have completed practitioner training and certified care workers can become service coordinators. Most home care workers are employed by home care agencies designated under the long-term care insurance system or the Act on Comprehensive Support for Persons with Disabilities, in full-time or part-time roles. The work provides services in the local community and short shifts are possible, so it also offers work to people such as homemakers. As well as the skills and knowledge of care, housework and other help with daily living, you need the empathy to sense how people feel and how they are, the ability to listen and build trust, and the fitness for physical care work. It is quite common for home care workers to move to care jobs in residential or day care facilities, and the other way round.

How much does a Home Care Worker earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥3,818,900 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare).

Do you need a degree to become a Home Care Worker?

Usually not. In this job's census occupation group, only 12% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: Junior college (短期大学) programme; Vocational college (専門学校) course: Care work.

Will AI change the work of a Home Care Worker?

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