Technical Intern Training (ginō jisshū) is Japan's legacy trainee system — up to 5 years, tied tightly to one employer, and now being replaced by a new system ("Employment for Skill Development") after a 2024 legal reform. If you are planning a new application, compare it carefully against the SSW route first.
Key facts
- Paid before departure
- ¥521,065 average (Vietnam ¥656,014); 55% borrowed
- Structure
- Stages (i)–(iii), up to 5 years
- Job change
- Heavily restricted
- Family
- Not permitted
- System status
- Being replaced (2024 reform)
- Bridge to SSW
- Yes, after stage (ii)
What trainees paid to get to Japan — by nationality
During inspections between 2021-12 → 2022-04 the Immigration Services Agency questioned 2,184 trainees in their own languages and published, for the first time, what each nationality had paid before leaving home. Yen figures are the agency's own conversions at the January 2022 rate; the home-currency column is what a family actually handed over.
| Nationality | Paid a sending organisation | Average paid | In home currency | Months of promised pay | Borrowed to come | Average debt | Also paid a broker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam ベトナム | 97.8% | ¥656,014 | 130,006,700 VND | 4.4 | 80% | ¥674,480 | 17.2% |
| China 中国 | 96.9% | ¥578,326 | 31,872 CNY | 3.9 | 13.4% | ¥528,847 | 12% |
| Cambodia カンボジア | 97.2% | ¥571,560 | 20,196,464 KHR | 3.8 | 83.5% | ¥566,889 | 9.7% |
| Myanmar ミャンマー | 91.9% | ¥287,405 | 4,432,520 MMK | 1.9 | 47.9% | ¥315,561 | 1.6% |
| Indonesia インドネシア | 87.7% | ¥231,412 | 28,661,357 IDR | 1.6 | 45.9% | ¥282,417 | 6.3% |
| Philippines フィリピン | 16.4% | ¥94,191 | 41,696 PHP | 0.6 | 34.5% | ¥153,908 | 3.3% |
| All nationalities | 85.3% | ¥521,065 | — | 3.5 | 54.7% | ¥547,788 | — |
Trainees said they had been promised ¥149,146 a month on average. 20.6% found the real amount lower — mostly because there was less overtime than promised, or because nobody had explained that tax and insurance come off the top.
Where the money went (those who could itemise it)
| Nationality | Dispatch fee | Pre-departure training | Deposit or penalty bond |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam | ¥320,272 | ¥94,302 | ¥29,339 |
| China | ¥371,629 | ¥58,831 | ¥5,952 |
| Cambodia | ¥429,788 | ¥109,144 | ¥14,051 |
| Myanmar | ¥206,627 | ¥44,736 | ¥3,124 |
| Indonesia | ¥100,767 | ¥60,299 | ¥25,479 |
| Philippines | ¥10,870 | ¥37,905 | ¥5,783 |
What Vietnamese law allows a sending company to charge
- Service fee: at most one month of contract salary per 12 months, and no more than three months in total for a three-year contract — about ¥447,438 at the promised pay. Luật 69/2020/QH14, Điều 23 ↗
- Brokerage fee for Japan: 0 đồng, in every sector. A broker's commission may not be passed on to the worker. Thông tư 21/2021/TT-BLĐTBXH, Phụ lục X (sửa đổi bởi Thông tư 09/2026/TT-BNV) ↗
- Moving to Technical Intern No.3 with the same company, or to Specified Skilled Worker after training: 0 đồng. Thông tư 21/2021/TT-BLĐTBXH, Phụ lục XI (sửa đổi bởi Thông tư 09/2026/TT-BNV) ↗
- Deposit: only into a blocked bank account in your own name, returned with interest when the contract ends. Luật 69/2020/QH14, Điều 25 ↗
Against that: Vietnamese trainees paid their sending organisation ¥656,014 on average — 4.4 months of the promised pay — and 17.2% also paid an outside broker, averaging ¥446,963, a fee the law says cannot be charged at all.
This survey is the baseline the 2027 reform was written against: under the replacement 育成就労 status the Japanese employer must share these pre-departure costs.
Immigration Services Agency survey of trainee payments · 2022-07-26 · 出入国在留管理庁 ↗
What TITP is — and what it was criticized for
Created to “transfer skills to developing countries”, the program in practice became a labor pipeline for small manufacturers, farms and construction firms. Its defining feature is also its defect: the intern is bound to one employer, with job changes allowed only in exceptional cases. Combined with home-country broker debts, this produced the abuse cases that pushed Japan to reform the system in 2024.
The transition to the new system
The 2024 reform law replaces TITP with a program whose working name translates as Employment for Skill Development (育成就労). Key announced differences: job changes become possible after a minimum period in the same field, and the program is explicitly designed to feed into SSW (i). The start date is now fixed: the new system takes effect April 1, 2027, with plan-certification applications accepted from September 2026. Training plans certified before that date continue under TITP rules — so intakes during 2026–2027 may fall under either regime; verify your case on the Immigration Services Agency site before committing.
If you are already an intern in Japan
Three things protect you: your employment contract (wages must meet minimum wage like any worker), the supervising organization’s complaint window, and the bridge to SSW after stage (ii). Keep your own copies of your contract, payslips and passport — an employer holding your passport is illegal.
Japanese you will use on this page (tap ▶)
| 必要な書類を教えてください。 Hitsuyō na shorui o oshiete kudasai. Please tell me which documents I need. | |
| 結果はいつ頃わかりますか。 Kekka wa itsu goro wakarimasu ka. When will I know the result? | |
| はがきが届きました。 Hagaki ga todokimashita. I received the notification postcard. | |
| すみません、もう一度お願いします。 Sumimasen, mō ichido onegai shimasu. Sorry, could you say that once more? | |
| 体調が悪いので、今日は休ませてください。 Taichō ga warui node, kyō wa yasumasete kudasai. I am not feeling well; please let me take today off. |
Audio synthesized with VOICEVOX:Meimei Himari at standard pace for shadowing; real conversations run faster and carry accents.
Common mistakes & warnings
- The system is in transition. A 2024 law replaces TITP with a new program that allows limited job changes; confirm which regime applies to your intake year via official sources before signing anything.
- Excessive broker fees in the home country remain the program's biggest documented abuse. Fee rules exist — get every payment receipted and check it against your sending organization's official fee table.
- Leaving your employer without going through official procedures ("disappearing") makes your status illegal and closes future visa routes. If conditions are abusive, use the OTIT/supervising-organization complaint channels instead.
Frequently asked questions
Should I choose TITP or SSW today?
If you can pass the SSW exams, SSW is almost always the better deal — freer job changes, clearer wage rules and a direct path to longer-term status. TITP mainly makes sense where an established sending route exists and SSW exam access is limited in your country.
Can I switch from technical intern to SSW?
Yes — completing Technical Intern Training (ii) satisfactorily exempts you from both the SSW skills exam and the Japanese test in the corresponding field. This bridge is the most common route into SSW (i).
Does intern time count toward permanent residency?
TITP years count as residence years but not as work-status years, so intern time alone cannot satisfy the work-year requirement for PR.
How much does it cost to become a technical intern trainee in Japan?
Japan's Immigration Services Agency asked 2,184 trainees. The average paid to a home-country sending organisation was ¥521,065; Vietnamese trainees paid the most at ¥656,014 (about 130 million đồng), Filipinos the least at ¥94,191. 55% borrowed to come, and 17% of Vietnamese trainees also paid an outside broker — a fee Vietnamese law sets at zero for Japan.
Official sources
- Immigration Services Agency — Technical Intern Training (2026-07-16)
- MHLW — foreign worker programs (2026-07-16)
- Immigration Services Agency — survey of fees paid by technical intern trainees (2022) (2026-09-14) — fee table by nationality
This page provides general information only and is not legal advice. Immigration rules change; always confirm details with the official sources listed above before making decisions.