How to become a Weather Forecaster
Works for a weather company or broadcaster, analysing all kinds of weather observations and computer forecast data to produce weather forecasts.
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
To become a weather forecaster, you must first pass the national certified weather forecaster exam. Anyone can sit it, but many people study meteorology at university or a senmon gakko (vocational college), or take a course for aspiring forecasters, before the exam. Once you pass and apply for registration with the Director-General of the Japan Meteorological Agency, you become a certified weather forecaster. The exam aims to certify basic knowledge of meteorology needed to keep up with future advances in technology, the knowledge and ability to handle many kinds of data properly and forecast scientifically, and the knowledge and ability to take proper account of disaster prevention, which is essential when providing forecasts. The Japan Meteorological Business Support Center runs the exam twice a year, and a total of 13,225 people of a wide range of ages have passed so far (as of August 2025*). *Japan Meteorological Business Support Center, list of weather forecaster exam results
Ways in
- University: Science degrees, Offered by 83 universities in Japan
- National licence or qualification: Listed by job tag as a qualification related to this job (関連資格): 気象予報士. Needed to do this job (Peernovo, from job tag's entry description). English name and classification by Peernovo.
Pay · Job openings · AI and this job
- Average annual income: ¥5,833,100 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 ¥307,800, and the middle half earn ¥251,700 to ¥414,600 a month.
- Pay measured for the wage survey group: Specialist professionals not classified elsewhere
- 0.80 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 could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
How do I become a Weather Forecaster?
To become a weather forecaster, you must first pass the national certified weather forecaster exam. Anyone can sit it, but many people study meteorology at university or a senmon gakko (vocational college), or take a course for aspiring forecasters, before the exam. Once you pass and apply for registration with the Director-General of the Japan Meteorological Agency, you become a certified weather forecaster. The exam aims to certify basic knowledge of meteorology needed to keep up with future advances in technology, the knowledge and ability to handle many kinds of data properly and forecast scientifically, and the knowledge and ability to take proper account of disaster prevention, which is essential when providing forecasts. The Japan Meteorological Business Support Center runs the exam twice a year, and a total of 13,225 people of a wide range of ages have passed so far (as of August 2025*). *Japan Meteorological Business Support Center, list of weather forecaster exam results
How much does a Weather Forecaster earn in Japan?
Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥5,833,100 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Specialist professionals not classified elsewhere, which covers several jobs.
Do you need a degree to become a Weather Forecaster?
Usually. In this job's census occupation group, 67% of workers are university graduates.
Will AI change the work of a Weather Forecaster?
Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, 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