How to become an Interior Finisher
Also called: Wallpaper hanger, Rubber floor layer, Interior decorator, Carpet layer, Vinyl floor layer, Wallcovering installer, Linoleum floor layer
Finishes the floors, ceilings and walls inside buildings to make them comfortable places to live.
Main tasks
- Writing quotes for jobs
- Choosing the product numbers of the materials to use
- Putting up scaffolding to work from
- Removing old wallpaper with water, steamers, chemical strippers and scrapers
- Filling holes and cracks in walls and ceilings with plaster and sanding uneven spots smooth
- Removing paint, varnish and oil with paint stripper and soda solution to prepare surfaces
- Trimming excess material from ceilings and skirting boards with a knife to leave them flat
- Marking vertical lines on walls with a plumb line and chalk line
- Measuring walls and ceilings to work out how many lengths of fabric or wallpaper are needed
- Measuring and cutting wallpaper or fabric from the roll with shears or a razor
- Laying out fabric or wallpaper so the edges of neighbouring pieces match
- Diluting and stirring wallpaper paste concentrate with water to make adhesive for walls and ceilings
- Applying a thin coat of adhesive to walls and ceilings with brushes, rollers or pasting machines
- Pasting wallcovering by machine, hanging it and trimming the excess with a spatula and cutter
- Smoothing joins with brushes or rollers to remove wrinkles and bubbles
- Marking reference lines on floors finished by plasterers and carpenters, then laying tiles, sheet flooring or carpet
- Using special tools such as a knee kicker to stretch and fit carpet
- Spreading adhesive on floors with a notched trowel and laying cushion flooring
- Leaving flooring adhesive to stand for the right open time after applying it
- Fixing plasterboard with a power screwdriver
- Choosing and buying the right adhesive for each flooring material
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 qualifications are needed to start. Most people join an interior finishing company, start as an apprentice and gradually master specialist work. Some first train at a vocational training school in different kinds of interior finishing to build a foundation, which makes learning skills more efficient once they start work. Gaining the interior finishing or paper hanging exams in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's ginou kentei (national trade skills test) serves as proof of skill and widens the range of work you can do. It takes some time to become fully skilled, but once you have the skills you can set up on your own while still young. All interior finishing trades are mainly physical work, and wall and ceiling work includes work on scaffolding, so physical fitness is needed. The work affects how good the finish looks, so an eye for design and spatial judgement are an advantage. Needs are becoming more varied to suit different lifestyles, so there is demand for planning and installing complete interiors.
Ways in
- Vocational college, junior college, kosen and trade skills tests: National trade skills test (技能検定). Certified skilled worker (技能士) grades that job tag lists for this job: １級表装技能士、２級表装技能士、１級内装仕上げ施工技能士、２級内装仕上げ施工技能士、３級内装仕上げ施工技能士、1級シャッター施工技能士、2級シャッター施工技能士、3級シャッター施工技能士. The trade skills tests are national tests set under the Human Resources Development Promotion Act.
Pay · Job openings · AI and this job
- Average annual income: ¥4,668,700 Private sector only: employers with 10 or more staff. Public servants, such as public school teachers and police officers, are not in these figures.
- Monthly base pay (before overtime and bonus): median ¥307,700, and the middle half earn ¥253,600 to ¥380,500 a month.
- Pay measured for the wage survey group: Other construction workers
- 4.46 job openings per applicant at Hello Work (2025). A current demand signal, not a projection. It counts only the jobs and job seekers registered at Hello Work, Japan's public employment offices, and many graduate and professional hires never pass through it.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
How do I become an Interior Finisher?
No particular education or qualifications are needed to start. Most people join an interior finishing company, start as an apprentice and gradually master specialist work. Some first train at a vocational training school in different kinds of interior finishing to build a foundation, which makes learning skills more efficient once they start work. Gaining the interior finishing or paper hanging exams in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's ginou kentei (national trade skills test) serves as proof of skill and widens the range of work you can do. It takes some time to become fully skilled, but once you have the skills you can set up on your own while still young. All interior finishing trades are mainly physical work, and wall and ceiling work includes work on scaffolding, so physical fitness is needed. The work affects how good the finish looks, so an eye for design and spatial judgement are an advantage. Needs are becoming more varied to suit different lifestyles, so there is demand for planning and installing complete interiors.
How much does an Interior Finisher earn in Japan?
Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥4,668,700 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Other construction workers, which covers several jobs.
Do you need a degree to become an Interior Finisher?
Usually not. In this job's census occupation group, only 20% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: National trade skills test (技能検定).
Will AI change the work of an Interior Finisher?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Basic Survey on Wage Structure (賃金構造基本統計調査) 2025: earnings by occupation (2025 survey (June 2025 pay, 2024 bonus), published 2026-03-24), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Employment Referrals for General Workers (一般職業紹介状況): Hello Work job-openings-to-applicants ratio by occupation (2025 annual (release of 2026-10-02)), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Statistics Bureau of Japan (MIC): 2020 Population Census (令和2年国勢調査) detailed sample tabulation: employed by occupation, sex, age and education (2020 Census (tables 9-1 and 15-1, published 2022-12-27)), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- JILPT (職業情報データベース) via MHLW job tag: job tag download data: 解説系 (descriptions, how to become, related qualifications) and 簡易版数値系 (interests, tasks, education) (解説系 ver.7.01 (2026-06-04); 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00 (2026-03-17)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
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