Get paid for what you already know about living in Japan

Your time here is the skill

On most freelance sites you sell a craft: code, design, writing. Here the qualification is different. It's having already done the thing: registered at that ward office, signed that lease, argued with that guarantor company, sat in that clinic's waiting room.

To you, it's ordinary. To someone two weeks off the plane, stressed, with a deadline and no Japanese, it's the difference between a lost week and a solved afternoon. That's what people pay for: not information (the internet has plenty) but someone who'll actually do it with them.

What people actually pay for

These are typical ranges, not rules. You set your own price, and it goes up as reviews come in.

Who makes a good Pro

• You've been here long enough to have done the things you offer, yourself. A year or two is plenty for many tasks.
• You already help people for free: in group chats, on Reddit, for friends of friends. That's the best sign there is.
• Your Japanese is enough for the task. Counter-level Japanese covers most errands. Phone calls and leases need more. Be honest about your level; clients trust that.
• You speak a language newcomers need. English is the default, but a Pro who can explain the ward office in Vietnamese, Portuguese, Nepali or Spanish is rare and valuable.
• You're patient. The client is often anxious. Calm is half of the service.

Living outside Japan, or outside a big city? Plenty of the work is online: reading letters, making calls, explaining forms, being on a video call during an appointment.

What you can realistically earn

Honestly: this is side income, not a salary, at least at first. A Pro doing three or four $50 jobs a week earns around $600–800 a month before fees. Pros with good reviews, a second language and a busy area (Tokyo, Osaka) do more, and bigger jobs like apartment hunts add up fast.

The work also comes in waves: spring (March–April) and autumn (September–October) are when people arrive and move.

How to get your first jobs

1. 1Write a specific profile. "Registered my address in Meguro twice, opened accounts at Yucho and SMBC, read about 40 leases for friends" beats "I know Japan well". How to write a profile that gets hired.
2. 2Use a real photo of your face. Clients are about to meet a stranger.
3. 3Price your first jobs to win reviews, then raise your rate. The first three reviews matter most.
4. 4Apply fast and personally. A short note that shows you read the job ("I did exactly this at the Setagaya office last spring") wins over a long generic one.
5. 5Do one thing extra. A one-paragraph summary after the job of what was done and what's next. Clients remember it and leave reviews.

The rules you need to know

• Your residence status must allow paid side work. Permanent residents and spouses can take any work; most other statuses need permission first. Side work on your visa.
• Some work needs a licence. Helping someone fill in their own forms is fine; preparing official applications for them for a fee, filing their taxes or giving legal advice isn't, unless you're licensed. What Pros can't do.
• Side income is taxable. Usually simple, but there are thresholds to know. Tax on side income in Japan.

How it works on Pro Gaijin

• Applying to jobs and having a profile are free. Pro Gaijin takes 15% of completed jobs only. Clients pay no fee, so your price is what they see.
• The client pays when they hire you. The money is held, and released to you when the job's done.
• You choose your jobs, your area, in person or online, and your price.
• Your experience shows as counts of real completed jobs ("Ward office registration 14"), so the work you do builds your profile.