How to Find Full Remote Jobs You Can Do While Living Abroad

“I want to live abroad and work for a Japanese company’s full remote job. But are there even jobs I can apply for while living overseas, and how do I find them?” For anyone with that question, this article practically explains how to find full remote jobs you can do while living abroad—covering the search steps, roles that are easy to work in, and cautions to check before applying (taxes, residence status, time difference, and more).

Can you do Japanese work full remote while living abroad?

To put the conclusion first, it is possible to work for a Japanese company’s full remote job while living abroad. Centered on jobs completed online, more companies are hiring regardless of where you live. However, note that even when a listing says “full remote,” most assume you live in Japan. To work while living abroad, you must always check whether the job allows “overseas residents” or “overseas residents OK.”

For what full remote is in the first place, see What Is Full Remote? A Thorough Guide to Jobs, Roles, and Benefits.

Why “overseas residents OK” full remote jobs are limited

Full remote jobs that allow overseas residents are few because companies face handling that domestic residents do not require. Knowing the background makes it easier to choose jobs and explain in interviews.

• Tax and social insurance procedures become complex: The tax and social insurance treatment of the country of residence and Japan get intertwined, increasing the procedural burden for both the company and you.
• Labor management and contract issues: Cross-border employment makes applying labor law difficult, and there are cases of switching to a contract (gyomu-itaku) agreement.
• Working-hour gaps from time differences: In regions far off from Japanese business hours, coordinating meetings and communication becomes a challenge.
• Security and connectivity: Many companies are cautious about overseas access and information management, and may exclude such applicants.

For these reasons, if you work while living abroad, the most reliable approach is to target jobs explicitly stating “overseas residents OK.”

How to find full remote jobs you can do while living abroad

Searching blindly for “full remote” buries you among domestic-only jobs. Combine the following methods to efficiently find overseas-resident-OK jobs.

Search by conditions such as “overseas residents OK”

On job sites, search not only for “full remote” but with multiple expressions such as “overseas residents OK,” “overseas applicants welcome,” and “OK from overseas.” Use free-word search and refined conditions to narrow down to jobs that do not care where you live. Because the wording differs by job, searching with multiple terms is the key.