How to become a Narcotics Control Agent
Works as a special judicial police officer, cracking down on illegal drug dealing, dealing with drug addiction and running campaigns to prevent drug misuse.
Main tasks
- Guiding and supervising medical institutions on the use of medically useful narcotics and psychotropic drugs
- Supervising and enforcing the law to stop medical narcotics and psychotropic drugs being diverted during manufacture and distribution
- Cracking down on illegally traded narcotics, stimulants and other drugs
- Investigating crimes committed by people addicted to narcotics, stimulants and other drugs, as a judicial police officer
- Exchanging information and cooperating with investigators in other countries to break up international drug trafficking groups
- Guiding and advising people who misuse drugs to help them return to society
Workers in this job say university 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
Narcotics control agents are national public servants working in the narcotics control departments of the regional health and welfare bureaus, which are regional branches of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. To be hired you must pass the narcotics control department's own exam and be either someone who has passed the national public service general track exam (university graduate level) in the administration or digital, electrical and electronic category, or a pharmacist or someone who has passed the national pharmacist exam and is aged 29 or under. After being hired and gaining set work experience, you are appointed as a narcotics control agent once you complete narcotics control agent training. (*) Under the head of each narcotics control department are sections such as investigation and general affairs, investigations, anti-smuggling, cyber investigations, international intelligence, forensic analysis and intelligence management and analysis, along with intelligence officers, anti-smuggling officers and forensic analysts. After appointment, agents are posted to one of these sections. Because investigations can be dangerous, agents also train in arrest techniques and pistol shooting. (*) The requirements for becoming a narcotics control agent are set by Cabinet Order. You must meet one of the following: (1) two or more years in narcotics control work, (2) three or more years in pharmaceutical administration, or (3) one or more years in narcotics control work after graduating from university. The number of positions is 300 (as of May 2024).
Ways in
- National licence or qualification: Listed by job tag as a qualification related to this job (関連資格): 薬剤師. English name and classification by Peernovo.
Pay · Job openings · AI and this job
- 6.55 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 a Narcotics Control Agent?
Narcotics control agents are national public servants working in the narcotics control departments of the regional health and welfare bureaus, which are regional branches of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. To be hired you must pass the narcotics control department's own exam and be either someone who has passed the national public service general track exam (university graduate level) in the administration or digital, electrical and electronic category, or a pharmacist or someone who has passed the national pharmacist exam and is aged 29 or under. After being hired and gaining set work experience, you are appointed as a narcotics control agent once you complete narcotics control agent training. (*) Under the head of each narcotics control department are sections such as investigation and general affairs, investigations, anti-smuggling, cyber investigations, international intelligence, forensic analysis and intelligence management and analysis, along with intelligence officers, anti-smuggling officers and forensic analysts. After appointment, agents are posted to one of these sections. Because investigations can be dangerous, agents also train in arrest techniques and pistol shooting. (*) The requirements for becoming a narcotics control agent are set by Cabinet Order. You must meet one of the following: (1) two or more years in narcotics control work, (2) three or more years in pharmaceutical administration, or (3) one or more years in narcotics control work after graduating from university. The number of positions is 300 (as of May 2024).
Do you need a degree to become a Narcotics Control Agent?
Not always. In this job's census occupation group, 50% of workers are university graduates.
Will AI change the work of a Narcotics Control Agent?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- 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