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Certified orthoptists, speech therapists

How to become a Speech-Language-Hearing Therapist

Also called: Speech Therapist, Speech Pathologist

Assesses how severe and what is causing difficulties with spoken communication or swallowing, and gives training and guidance based on the results.

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

To become a speech-language-hearing therapist you must pass a national exam. High school graduates must enter a university designated by the Minister of Education (a three- or four-year university or tanki daigaku, a junior college) or a speech-language-hearing therapist training school designated by the prefectural governor (a three- or four-year senmon gakko, or vocational college), gain the necessary knowledge and skills and graduate. Graduates of a regular four-year university must gain the necessary knowledge and skills on a designated postgraduate or graduate school course or at a two-year vocational college and graduate. People who have already studied certain subjects related to speech-language-hearing therapy can sit the exam after one year of study at a designated school. People who studied speech, language and hearing at a university or similar overseas can become eligible by submitting documents to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare and being approved. About 1,600 to 2,000 people pass the national exam each year, and the total number of qualified therapists passed 40,000 in March 2024 (as of 2025*). In training, students learn the basic and specialist subjects behind human language and communication, then do clinical placements in hospitals, rehabilitation centres, children's therapy facilities and elsewhere, gaining the knowledge, skills and ethics needed to support people with speech, language and hearing difficulties. Beyond knowledge and skills, therapists need the ability to understand the feelings of people who want to express themselves in words but find it hard, and to draw them out well. *Website of the Japanese Association of Speech-Language-Hearing Therapists

Ways in

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Speech-Language-Hearing Therapist?

To become a speech-language-hearing therapist you must pass a national exam. High school graduates must enter a university designated by the Minister of Education (a three- or four-year university or tanki daigaku, a junior college) or a speech-language-hearing therapist training school designated by the prefectural governor (a three- or four-year senmon gakko, or vocational college), gain the necessary knowledge and skills and graduate. Graduates of a regular four-year university must gain the necessary knowledge and skills on a designated postgraduate or graduate school course or at a two-year vocational college and graduate. People who have already studied certain subjects related to speech-language-hearing therapy can sit the exam after one year of study at a designated school. People who studied speech, language and hearing at a university or similar overseas can become eligible by submitting documents to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare and being approved. About 1,600 to 2,000 people pass the national exam each year, and the total number of qualified therapists passed 40,000 in March 2024 (as of 2025*). In training, students learn the basic and specialist subjects behind human language and communication, then do clinical placements in hospitals, rehabilitation centres, children's therapy facilities and elsewhere, gaining the knowledge, skills and ethics needed to support people with speech, language and hearing difficulties. Beyond knowledge and skills, therapists need the ability to understand the feelings of people who want to express themselves in words but find it hard, and to draw them out well. *Website of the Japanese Association of Speech-Language-Hearing Therapists

How much does a Speech-Language-Hearing 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 a Speech-Language-Hearing Therapist?

Usually. In this job's census occupation group, 62% of workers are university graduates.

Will AI change the work of a Speech-Language-Hearing 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