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Physiotherapists, occupational therapists

How to become an Occupational Therapist

Uses occupational therapy to train people with physical or mental disability so they can recover their abilities and return to daily life and society.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say 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

You need to pass the national occupational therapist exam and get a licence. To be eligible, after high school you must study for at least three years at a university, tanki daigaku (junior college) or training institution with a government-designated occupational therapy course, gain the necessary knowledge and skills and graduate. After starting work, professional bodies and societies run training sessions and courses so you can gain a high level of specialist knowledge and skills. You need the ability to make good use of the activities, play, toys, tools and equipment used in occupational therapy, and to link and apply them to training and guidance. You also need understanding, persuasiveness, creativity in designing programmes and knowledge of support schemes to communicate with people with disability and their families and help them become socially independent. People often find jobs through referrals from their training school or job listings in professional journals. The Japanese Association of Occupational Therapists also offers the certified occupational therapist and specialist occupational therapist qualifications.

Ways in

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Questions people ask

How do I become an Occupational Therapist?

You need to pass the national occupational therapist exam and get a licence. To be eligible, after high school you must study for at least three years at a university, tanki daigaku (junior college) or training institution with a government-designated occupational therapy course, gain the necessary knowledge and skills and graduate. After starting work, professional bodies and societies run training sessions and courses so you can gain a high level of specialist knowledge and skills. You need the ability to make good use of the activities, play, toys, tools and equipment used in occupational therapy, and to link and apply them to training and guidance. You also need understanding, persuasiveness, creativity in designing programmes and knowledge of support schemes to communicate with people with disability and their families and help them become socially independent. People often find jobs through referrals from their training school or job listings in professional journals. The Japanese Association of Occupational Therapists also offers the certified occupational therapist and specialist occupational therapist qualifications.

How much does an Occupational Therapist earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥4,436,000 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Physical, occupational and speech therapists and orthoptists, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become an Occupational Therapist?

Not always. In this job's census occupation group, 51% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: Allied Health degrees; Vocational college (専門学校) course: Physical and occupational therapy.

Will AI change the work of an Occupational Therapist?

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