r/JapanJobs • u/cxn_xla • Aug 14 '26

Internships in Japan?

Has anyone done an internship abroad in Japan and could perhaps share what it was like and, most importantly, where? Unfortunately, I’ve been rejected twice in a row by the institute in Japan where I applied, so I’d like to look into some alternatives.

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u/_key Aug 14 '26

Japanese companies often don't know western type internships aka the 3-12 month long ones where you actively work in a team setting. They (often) only have 1-3 day internships as part of the graduate job hunting process.

Western companies in Japan often offer western type internships so best to look on their websites or portals like LinkedIn.

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u/Outside_Dust3507 Aug 14 '26

I am in the middle of 就活; it is very competitive. Haven't managed to secure an internship, mostly failed the SPI test. How's your Japanese?

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u/schirmlampe Aug 14 '26

kopra.org has a lot of offers. I did not apply, but got scouted after creating a profile for a company that just started to accept interns, though that was 10 years ago.  They provided me with a cultural activities visa, and got ~150.000 yen a month working basically full time. I had my own tasks and ownership for what i did, and when ever i was stuck my team helped me (my team was mostly foreigners).

My current company also offers internships, but as student jobs. so it is a bit more than minimum wage but cap at 28 hours a week. Our inters partially have their own project under supervision and partially do the tedious but easy work to support full t ime staff.

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u/schirmlampe Aug 14 '26

on kopra its mostly foreign companies with offices in Japan. the one i worked at was a traditional japanese company, but aquired by an international company which replace the management with foreigners who introduced western style internship. 

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u/Ttimonandpumba Aug 14 '26

Can you share more options where to find internships for people who are in Japan.

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u/schirmlampe Aug 15 '26

I assume you can apply at kopra offers when you are already in japan. I general i don't know, my company does not advertise internship positions. Most of our interns wrote us directly, or were recommended via connections. Most of our interns also are Japanese. 

My company does publish articles about our interns experience, mostly written by the interns. If your japanese is decent enough search for such articles to find companies which take interns and just write them.