How to become a Textile Machinery Maintenance Technician
Also called: Textile machinery repairer, Textile equipment maintenance worker, Spinning machinery maintenance worker
Services and repairs the machinery in spinning mills and weaving factories.
How to become one
No particular education or qualification is required to start. Almost all new school leavers find jobs through their school or Hello Work (public employment service). Many have graduated from technical high schools. People changing jobs may join through Hello Work or job magazines. People usually join a spinning company or weaving factory and build their career as a trainee. Training methods and length depend on the machines and duties and are run by each factory, but you learn the skills for the machines step by step, from basic to advanced. A related qualification is the machine maintenance technician grade of the ginou kentei (national trade skills test) set by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, which is valued as proof of skill. The job involves inspecting, adjusting and repairing machines, so an interest in machines is desirable. There is also a lot of grinding and sharpening damaged parts and assembling parts, so a good sense of shape and good hand skills are needed. You sometimes advise the spinning and weaving operators who run the machines in the same workplace, so explaining skills are also needed. Checking safety equipment and fire protection is also an important part of the job, and you need to stay calm in emergencies.
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: 特級機械保全技能士、１級機械保全技能士、２級機械保全技能士. 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: ¥5,711,800 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 ¥306,000, and the middle half earn ¥251,700 to ¥375,300 a month.
- Pay measured for the wage survey group: Machinery and electrical equipment maintenance and repair workers
- 4.09 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 Textile Machinery Maintenance Technician?
No particular education or qualification is required to start. Almost all new school leavers find jobs through their school or Hello Work (public employment service). Many have graduated from technical high schools. People changing jobs may join through Hello Work or job magazines. People usually join a spinning company or weaving factory and build their career as a trainee. Training methods and length depend on the machines and duties and are run by each factory, but you learn the skills for the machines step by step, from basic to advanced. A related qualification is the machine maintenance technician grade of the ginou kentei (national trade skills test) set by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, which is valued as proof of skill. The job involves inspecting, adjusting and repairing machines, so an interest in machines is desirable. There is also a lot of grinding and sharpening damaged parts and assembling parts, so a good sense of shape and good hand skills are needed. You sometimes advise the spinning and weaving operators who run the machines in the same workplace, so explaining skills are also needed. Checking safety equipment and fire protection is also an important part of the job, and you need to stay calm in emergencies.
How much does a Textile Machinery Maintenance Technician earn in Japan?
Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥5,711,800 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Machinery and electrical equipment maintenance and repair workers, which covers several jobs.
Do you need a degree to become a Textile Machinery Maintenance Technician?
Usually not. In this job's census occupation group, only 21% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: National trade skills test (技能検定).
Will AI change the work of a Textile Machinery Maintenance Technician?
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