Japan Resume Template

Japan's hiring market is unique in requiring two parallel documents — the 履歴書 (rirekisho) and the 職務経歴書 (shokumukeirekisho). The rirekisho is a form, not a narrative résumé: a standardised template with fixed fields for name (with furigana), date of birth, address, education, work history, qualifications, and a photo (3×4 cm, formal, head-and-shoulders). The shokumukeirekisho is the longer, narrative document explaining what you actually did in each role.

This guide explains the format Japanese employers expect; for full localised rendering with furigana, era-based dates (Reiwa/Heisei), and the canonical rirekisho form layout, see our roadmap for a dedicated Japan-format renderer.

• Length: rirekisho is a fixed-size form (typically two A4 pages folded into a single B5 form). Shokumukeirekisho is 2–3 pages.
• Photo: required on the rirekisho — formal, 3×4 cm, head-and-shoulders, plain background.
• Dates: traditionally in Japanese era format (令和6年 — Reiwa year 6 — for 2024). Western format is increasingly accepted at international firms.
• Layout: rirekisho follows a standardised grid; shokumukeirekisho follows narrative paragraphs.
• Order: education and work history are listed oldest first, opposite the Western convention.

The rirekisho includes a small 志望動機 (motivation) box and a 本人希望記入欄 (applicant's preferences) box. The shokumukeirekisho can open with a 3–4 line summary (要約) for senior or mid-career applicants.

The shokumukeirekisho is where work substance lives.

• List roles in chronological order, oldest first.
• Each role gets a paragraph naming the company, your title, the team size, and your scope.
• Below, a bulleted list of accomplishments — Japanese hiring leans more on responsibility and tenure than on quantified "impact", but for international firms in Tokyo, US-style quantification helps.
• Include retirement/resignation reason for each role on the rirekisho.

• List education chronologically (oldest first), starting from high school for new graduates.
• Use the official Japanese era year alongside the Western year if traditional format is required.
• List qualifications (資格) and licences (免許) separately on the rirekisho, with the date acquired.
• Top Japanese universities (Tokyo, Kyoto, Waseda, Keio) are read as strong signals; name them in the form's standardised grid.

Language proficiency is critical. List the JLPT level (N1 best, N5 entry) for Japanese; TOEIC or IELTS for English; any business-level proficiency in other languages. For technical roles, list software and engineering tools.

• Submitting only a Western-style résumé. Japanese employers — including domestic offices of multinationals — typically require the rirekisho + shokumukeirekisho pair.
• Listing education and experience in reverse-chronological order. Japan uses chronological (oldest first).
• Casual photo or no photo. The rirekisho photo is formal and required.
• Mixing era and Western date formats inconsistently.