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Veterinary surgeons

How to become a Veterinarian

Also called: Livestock Veterinarian, Small Animal Veterinarian, Animal Hospital Veterinarian

Treats illness and injury, helps with births and prevents infectious diseases in pets such as dogs and cats, livestock such as cattle and horses, and poultry such as chickens.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say a master's degree or 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

To become a veterinarian you first enter a university with a veterinary science department, complete six years of veterinary education and then pass the national veterinarian exam run by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. After passing, you apply to the ministry for a licence. Once you receive a veterinarian licence from the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and are entered on the register of veterinarians, you can work as a vet. To work as a vet in national or local government, you must pass both a public service exam and the national veterinarian exam. Agricultural mutual aid associations, private companies and others run their own recruitment exams. Clinical vets cannot work on their own straight after getting their licence and need to build clinical experience. For farm animals such as cattle, horses, pigs and poultry, vets usually work at a livestock clinic of an agricultural mutual aid association, building experience by treating animals alongside senior vets. For small animals, vets usually work as residents at an animal hospital or train at a veterinary university's teaching hospital.

Ways in

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Veterinarian?

To become a veterinarian you first enter a university with a veterinary science department, complete six years of veterinary education and then pass the national veterinarian exam run by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. After passing, you apply to the ministry for a licence. Once you receive a veterinarian licence from the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and are entered on the register of veterinarians, you can work as a vet. To work as a vet in national or local government, you must pass both a public service exam and the national veterinarian exam. Agricultural mutual aid associations, private companies and others run their own recruitment exams. Clinical vets cannot work on their own straight after getting their licence and need to build clinical experience. For farm animals such as cattle, horses, pigs and poultry, vets usually work at a livestock clinic of an agricultural mutual aid association, building experience by treating animals alongside senior vets. For small animals, vets usually work as residents at an animal hospital or train at a veterinary university's teaching hospital.

How much does a Veterinarian earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥6,805,100 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare).

Do you need a degree to become a Veterinarian?

Usually. In this job's census occupation group, 99% of workers are university graduates.

Will AI change the work of a Veterinarian?

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