How to Write a Japanese Resume: Rirekisho and Shokumu Keirekisho Explained

Rirekisho and shokumu keirekisho: two documents, two jobs

The rirekisho is a standardized form. Every applicant fills in the same boxes in the same order: personal details and a photo, education and work history in dated lines, licenses and qualifications, motivation, and personal requests. It is a factual record, and recruiters use it to check the basics quickly: who you are, what you studied, where you have worked and whether anything is missing. Many applicants now use the sample format published by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, which makes gender optional and leaves out questions about family and commuting time that older commercial forms included.

The shokumu keirekisho is a free-format document, usually one or two A4 pages, that explains what you actually did in each job: your responsibilities, projects, results and skills. For mid-career applicants it is often the document the hiring manager reads most closely, because the rirekisho only shows company names and dates.

New graduates and people applying for part-time work often need only a rirekisho, and some large companies ask graduates to fill in their own entry sheet (エントリーシート) instead. Mid-career applicants are usually expected to submit both. If an ad asks for 「履歴書・職務経歴書」, send both even if your experience is short; a brief but clear shokumu keirekisho is far better than none.

Personal details and photo

Date: write the date you submit or mail the document, not the day you started filling it in. Name: write your name exactly as it appears on your residence card (在留カード), in the same order, and add the reading in katakana if the form says フリガナ, or in hiragana if it says ふりがな. HR will later match your resume against your residence card and payroll records, so avoid nicknames or alternative spellings.

Date of birth and age: give your age as of the submission date. Gender is optional on the ministry's sample format; you can leave it blank or fill it in as you wish. Address: write the full address including the building name and room number, with its reading. Phone and email: use a mobile number you actually answer and a plain email address based on your name. Fill in the separate contact box (連絡先) only if you want mail sent somewhere other than your home address.

Photo: the standard size is 4 cm tall by 3 cm wide. Use a photo taken within the last three months, facing forward against a plain, light background, in business clothing such as a dark jacket and a collared shirt, with hair tidy and no hat. A photo booth or studio photo is fine; a cropped selfie or holiday snapshot is not. If you attach a printed photo, write your name on the back in case it comes loose. For a digital resume, insert a sharp image at the correct proportions rather than a stretched one.

Dates, education and work history

You can write dates in the Japanese era system (和暦), such as Reiwa (令和, from May 2019) and Heisei (平成, from 1989 to April 2019), or in the Western calendar (西暦). Both are acceptable. What matters is consistency: the submission date, your birth date, every education and work line and every license should use the same system. Many foreign applicants choose the Western calendar, because converting school years from another country into Japanese eras is a common source of errors.

The history section usually starts with 学歴 written in the center of the first line, followed by your education, then 職歴 centered on its own line, followed by your jobs. Write the year and month of each entry and graduation, using the actual months even if your home country's school year starts in September. Education is normally listed from high school entry or junior high school graduation onward. Use each school's official name with your faculty or major, and add the country for schools outside Japan. A Japanese language school is commonly listed in the education section, because it explains how you came to Japan. If you are still studying, write your expected graduation date followed by 卒業見込み.

For work history, write each company's full name (株式会社 rather than the abbreviation (株)), your department and role, and a few words about what you did. When you left for personal reasons, the standard phrase is 「一身上の都合により退社」; for company-side reasons such as restructuring, 「会社都合により退社」; and when a fixed-term contract ended, 「契約期間満了により退社」. If you are currently employed, finish with 「現在に至る」, and close the whole section with 「以上」 aligned to the right.

Students and new graduates without full-time experience can mention relevant long-term part-time work, or cover it in the self-promotion box instead. Former technical intern trainees can list the company where they trained and note that it was technical intern training. Do not hide gaps. If there is a long period with no entry, be ready to explain it, or add a short line describing what you were doing, such as studying Japanese.

Licenses, JLPT and your residence status

List licenses and qualifications in date order, using official names and the year and month you obtained them. Typical examples are 「日本語能力試験 N2 合格」, 「BJTビジネス日本語能力テスト J2 取得」, 「普通自動車第一種運転免許 取得」, or a TOEIC score written with the test's official name. For licenses and certificates issued outside Japan, add the country so the recruiter knows what they are looking at.

For the JLPT, write only the level you have actually passed and the month of the result. If you are preparing for a higher level, you can add a line such as 「日本語能力試験N1 取得に向けて学習中」, meaning you are studying for N1. Never write a level you have not passed, even as ‘N2 level’. Employers can ask to see your certificate, and a mismatch will damage your credibility far more than an honest N3.

The rirekisho has no dedicated box for residence status, but Japanese employers need to know it, because it affects whether they can hire you and who must prepare immigration documents. A clear approach is to add lines such as 「国籍：〇〇」 and 「在留資格：留学（在留期限：〇年〇月〇日）」 in the personal requests box, or at the end of the licenses section. If the job will require a change of status, for example from Student to Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services, say so plainly. Write your current status exactly as it appears on your residence card.

If you are a student applying for part-time work, also note that you hold permission to engage in activity other than that permitted (資格外活動許可) and that you can work up to 28 hours a week during the school term. That one line answers the first question most part-time employers have.

Motivation and personal requests

The motivation box (志望動機) is the part of the rirekisho that gets read most carefully. A strong answer covers three points in a few sentences: why this industry, why this company in particular, and what you can contribute based on your experience. Refer to something specific, such as the company's services, its customers or the role described in the ad, and connect it to something you have actually done.

Avoid lines that could be sent to any company, such as loving Japanese culture or wanting to improve your Japanese. Employers hire people to do the job, not to study, so present your Japanese as a tool you will use, for example to serve customers from your home country or to coordinate with teams overseas. Some forms also include boxes for special skills, hobbies or self-promotion; keep these concrete and short.

The personal requests box (本人希望記入欄) is not the place for a wish list. The safe default is 「貴社の規定に従います。」, which means you will follow the company's rules. Only add conditions that are truly essential: the position you want if the company is hiring for several, a work location, your earliest start date, or legal constraints such as the student work-hour limit. It is also a practical place for your nationality and residence status line, as described above.

Writing the shokumu keirekisho

There is no official template, but most follow a similar structure, shown below. One or two A4 pages is ideal; a long career may need three. Put the title at the top, and the date and your name at the top right.

For each job, give the period, the company name with a line about its business and size, your department and title, your responsibilities, and results you can verify. Numbers help if they are real: team size, the number of customers or projects you handled, or an improvement you made. If you worked outside Japan, add a sentence of context about each company, because the recruiter may never have heard of it.

Choose a layout that fits your history. Reverse chronological order (逆編年体), with your most recent job first, works for most people. Chronological order (編年体) suits a short, steady career. A skills-based layout (キャリア式), grouped by type of work, can suit people whose experience spans several different fields. Whatever you choose, list your languages clearly: your native language, Japanese with your JLPT level and how you have used it at work, and English with any test score.

• 職務要約: a three to five line summary of your career
• 職務経歴: each company, period, role, responsibilities and results
• 活かせる経験・知識・スキル: experience and skills relevant to this role
• 語学・PCスキル: languages with levels, software and tools
• 資格: licenses and certificates
• 自己PR: a short paragraph showing how you work, with one real example

Typed or handwritten, and sending as PDF

Typed resumes are now widely accepted, and for most foreign applicants they are the better choice: easier to read and easier to correct. A small number of traditional employers still prefer handwriting, so follow the instructions in the ad. If you do handwrite, use a black ballpoint or gel pen, not an erasable pen, and do not use correction fluid or tape. If you make a mistake, start the page again.

To send your documents by email or upload them, prepare them in a word processor or spreadsheet template, check the layout on A4, and export them to PDF. Use clear file names such as 「履歴書_氏名.pdf」 and 「職務経歴書_氏名.pdf」, then open each PDF once to check the photo, line breaks and fonts. Add a password only if the employer asks for one. In the email, use a clear subject line such as 「応募書類の送付（氏名）」 and write a short, polite message naming the position you are applying for.

If you want a head start, OlaJob's AI Resume tool can turn your experience, written in your own language, into a draft rirekisho and shokumu keirekisho in Japanese. Treat the result as a draft: read every line, correct anything that is not exactly true, and make sure you can explain each sentence in your own words at the interview.

Common mistakes foreign applicants make

Most resumes that fail at the first screening are not rejected for lack of experience. They are rejected for small, avoidable errors that suggest carelessness, or because the employer cannot tell whether hiring you is possible. Check your documents against this list before you send anything.

Two of these deserve special attention. An unclear residence status often gets an application set aside, not because the employer cannot hire you, but because nobody has time to find out. And anything you cannot explain in Japanese will surface at the interview, where it costs far more than an honest, modest resume would have. If you are unsure, ask someone who reads Japanese business documents every day to check your draft before you send it.

• Mixing Japanese era and Western calendar dates in the same document
• Getting your age wrong, or leaving the submission date blank
• Writing your name with a different spelling or order from your residence card
• Using a casual or old photo, or one with the wrong proportions
• Abbreviating company names, or using 同上 or 〃 instead of writing entries out
• Forgetting 「現在に至る」 and 「以上」 at the end of the history section
• Claiming a JLPT level you have not passed
• Leaving your residence status unclear, so the employer cannot tell whether a change of status is needed
• Copying the same motivation text for every company
• Filling the personal requests box with salary and schedule demands
• Sending a resume you cannot explain in Japanese at the interview