What Is the J-Find（Future Creation Individual Visa 未来創造人材）
What Is the J-Find “Future Creation Talent” Scheme?
J-Find (the “ Future Creation Individual Visa 未来創造人材” scheme) is a special immigration framework that allows graduates of designated top-ranked overseas universities to come to Japan for full-time job searching and business start-up preparation, even if they do not yet have an employer or a Japanese company of their own. It is implemented through the residence status “Designated Activities (Future Creation Talent)”.
※This framework is based on the Ministry of Justice’s Designated Activities Notifications Nos. 51 and 52（令和七年九月一日法務省告示第百十三号）.
In practice, J-Find functions as a highly educated alternative to a working holiday: eligible graduates may base themselves in Japan, explore career opportunities, build a local network, and prepare the legal and practical groundwork for incorporation—while maintaining lawful stay.
Below we outline who qualifies, how long you may stay, what you are allowed to do in Japan under this status, and how J-Find can be used together with other work-related statuses such as the Business Manager visa.
Who Can Use J-Find? (All of the following must be satisfied)
- You have graduated from, or obtained a degree/professional degree from, a university that is listed among the designated institutions, i.e. a school ranked within the top 100 in at least two of the three major global university rankings (QS, THE and ARWU) for the relevant year.
- It has been five years or less since the date on which your degree from the designated university (or its graduate school) was conferred.
- At the time of application you hold at least the equivalent of JPY 200,000 in savings to cover your initial living expenses in Japan.
Length of Stay and Permitted Activities
Length of Stay
- J-Find status is granted for up to two years in total, usually in segments of six months or one year at a time.
- Your residence status will be “Designated Activities (Future Creation Talent)”. Extensions are subject to proof that you have in fact been engaging in job search or business preparation activities.
- The maximum two-year period includes similar “job-search” designations such as Specified Activities for continued job hunting.
Permitted Activities in Japan
- Job search in Japan, including interviews, networking, and internships.
- Preparation for starting a business, such as securing office space, establishing a company, opening bank accounts, and preparing a compliant business plan.
- Employment to support your living and preparation costs, to the extent reasonably necessary for those purposes (with the usual prohibition on work in adult-entertainment and other restricted industries).
Once a stable position or viable business has been established, many J-Find holders will transition to another status such as Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa, Highly Skilled Professional visa, or Business Manager visa.
Family Members (Spouse and Children) Eligible dependents may accompany the principal J-Find holder under the status “Designated Activities (Spouse, etc. of Future Creation Talent)”. Spouses and children may work in Japan with the appropriate Permission to Engage in Activity Other Than That Permitted under the Status of Residence Previously Granted.
Designated Universities under J-Find (as of January 2025)
The following universities are designated for J-Find purposes based on the three global rankings as of January 2025. The list is subject to regular revision; always confirm the latest list on the Immigration Services Agency website before relying on it for an application.
| No. | University | Region |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brown University | U.S.A. |
| 2 | California Institute of Technology | U.S.A. |
| 3 | Carnegie Mellon University | U.S.A. |
| 4 | Columbia University | U.S.A. |
| 5 | Cornell University | U.S.A. |
| 6 | Duke University | U.S.A. |
| 7 | Harvard University | U.S.A. |
| 8 | Johns Hopkins University | U.S.A. |
| 9 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | U.S.A. |
| 10 | New York University | U.S.A. |
| 11 | Northwestern University | U.S.A. |
| 12 | Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) | U.S.A. |
| 13 | Princeton University | U.S.A. |
| 14 | Purdue University – West Lafayette | U.S.A. |
| 15 | Stanford University | U.S.A. |
| 16 | The University of Texas at Austin | U.S.A. |
| 17 | University of California, Berkeley | U.S.A. |
| 18 | University of California, Irvine | U.S.A. |
| 19 | University of California, Los Angeles | U.S.A. |
| 20 | University of California, San Diego | U.S.A. |
| 21 | University of California, Santa Barbara | U.S.A. |
| 22 | University of Chicago | U.S.A. |
| 23 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | U.S.A. |
| 24 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | U.S.A. |
| 25 | University of Minnesota, Twin Cities | U.S.A. |
| 26 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | U.S.A. |
| 27 | University of Pennsylvania | U.S.A. |
| 28 | University of Southern California | U.S.A. |
| 29 | University of Washington | U.S.A. |
| 30 | University of Wisconsin – Madison | U.S.A. |
| 31 | Vanderbilt University | U.S.A. |
| 32 | Washington University in St. Louis | U.S.A. |
| 33 | Yale University | U.S.A. |
| 34 | Imperial College London | U.K. |
| 35 | King’s College London | U.K. |
| 36 | London School of Economics and Political Science | U.K. |
| 37 | The University of Birmingham | U.K. |
| 38 | The University of Edinburgh | U.K. |
| 39 | The University of Glasgow | U.K. |
| 40 | The University of Manchester | U.K. |
| 41 | The University of Oxford | U.K. |
| 42 | University College London (UCL) | U.K. |
| 43 | University of Bristol | U.K. |
| 44 | University of Cambridge | U.K. |
| 45 | University of Southampton | U.K. |
| 46 | McGill University | Canada |
| 47 | University of British Columbia | Canada |
| 48 | University of Toronto | Canada |
| 49 | City University of Hong Kong | China / Hong Kong |
| 50 | Fudan University | China / Hong Kong |
| 51 | Nanjing University | China / Hong Kong |
| 52 | Peking University | China / Hong Kong |
| 53 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | China / Hong Kong |
| 54 | The Chinese University of Hong Kong | China / Hong Kong |
| 55 | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University | China / Hong Kong |
| 56 | The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) | China / Hong Kong |
| 57 | The University of Hong Kong | China / Hong Kong |
| 58 | Tsinghua University | China / Hong Kong |
| 59 | University of Science and Technology of China | China / Hong Kong |
| 60 | Zhejiang University | China / Hong Kong |
| 61 | Monash University | Australia |
| 62 | The Australian National University | Australia |
| 63 | The University of Melbourne | Australia |
| 64 | The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) | Australia |
| 65 | The University of Queensland | Australia |
| 66 | The University of Sydney | Australia |
| 67 | Heidelberg University | Germany |
| 68 | LMU München (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) | Germany |
| 69 | RWTH Aachen University | Germany |
| 70 | Technical University of Munich | Germany |
| 71 | University of Bonn | Germany |
| 72 | Delft University of Technology | Netherlands |
| 73 | Erasmus University Rotterdam | Netherlands |
| 74 | University of Amsterdam | Netherlands |
| 75 | University of Groningen | Netherlands |
| 76 | KU Leuven | Belgium |
| 77 | National University of Singapore | Singapore |
| 78 | Nanyang Technological University | Singapore |
| 79 | Institut Polytechnique de Paris | France |
| 80 | Paris-Saclay University | France |
| 81 | PSL Research University Paris | France |
| 82 | Sorbonne University | France |
| 83 | Karolinska Institute | Sweden |
| 84 | KTH Royal Institute of Technology | Sweden |
| 85 | Lund University | Sweden |
| 86 | ETH Zurich | Switzerland |
| 87 | EPFL | Switzerland |
| 88 | University of Zurich | Switzerland |
| 89 | Kyoto University | Japan |
| 90 | The University of Tokyo | Japan |
| 91 | Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) | South Korea |
| 92 | Seoul National University | South Korea |
| 93 | University of Copenhagen | Denmark |
How J-Find Can Be Used in Practice
Example 1 – Using J-Find to Incorporate a Company in Japan Where it has become difficult to obtain seal certificates or similar documents in your home jurisdiction, J-Find may offer a practical alternative. If you are a graduate of a designated university within the last five years, you may first obtain J-Find status, complete resident registration in Japan, and then obtain a personal seal registration and bank account under your Japanese address. This, in turn, allows you to incorporate a Japanese company and to spend up to two years on structured start-up preparation.
Example 2 – Exploring Career Options Before Committing to a Long-Term Move In recent years, we have seen many prospective migrants from Hong Kong and other regions who are keen to relocate to Japan but cannot secure a suitable position before entry. J-Find enables eligible graduates to stay in Japan for up to two years while actively searching for employment, building language skills, and identifying an employer or business model that genuinely fits their long-term plans. The status can be used even after obtaining an additional graduate degree such as an MBA from a designated school, provided all timing requirements are met. Spouses and children can in principle relocate at the same time under the dependent J-Find status.
Professional
Masakazu Murai Founder, Continental Immigration Administrative Scrivener Corporation (Tokyo) Before establishing Continental, Mr. Murai spent many years in the Investment Banking Division of Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, advising listed companies on equity and debt offerings, M&A transactions and capital policy. He has worked closely with executives in the automotive, financial and other industries, building deep experience in financial analysis, valuation and risk management. Today, he combines this finance background with a focus on Japanese immigration and corporate procedures, assisting foreign entrepreneurs, highly skilled professionals and internationally-married couples with:
- Business Manager visas and foreign-owned company incorporation
- Highly Skilled Professional and Permanent Residence applications
- Spouse / family-related visas and complex residence issues
- English-language structuring of business plans and supporting documentation
Qualifications: Gyoseishoshi (Immigration Lawyer, Japan) CMA (Certified Member of the Securities Analysts Association of Japan) CFP (Certified Financial Planner) MBA in Entrepreneurship
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