JFT-Basic is usually discussed as an overseas exam, taken before moving to Japan. It is also held in Japan, and for a significant group of candidates that is where it makes sense to sit it.
Schedules, centres and eligibility rules change - confirm everything with the Japan Foundation and Prometric before you book.
Who sits it in Japan
People already in Japan on another status who want to move onto Specified Skilled Worker: students finishing a language school or vocational course, dependants, and holders of other statuses who qualify to change.
Technical Intern Trainees whose route to SSW requires evidence of language ability, depending on their circumstances and field - SSW versus technical intern training.
Candidates retaking after arriving.
If you are outside Japan, sit it at home. Travelling to Japan to take an exam that is held in your own country is an expensive way to do the same thing: test centres by country.
What is the same
Everything about the exam. Same format, same four sections, same 10-250 scale, same 200-point threshold, same computer-based delivery at a Prometric centre.
Your certificate does not record where you sat it and no employer asks. What 200 points means.
What differs
More centres and more dates. Japan has a dense network of Prometric test centres, which means more available slots than in most source countries.
Registration details. You register through the Prometric system as elsewhere, with identification appropriate to your status in Japan - typically your residence card. Check the current requirements when you book: how to register.
The fee is charged in yen and differs from the local price elsewhere: the exam fee.
Changing status while in Japan
Passing the language test is one requirement of several. Changing from a student or trainee status to SSW also requires the sector skills test, an employer, a contract and a status change application.
The relevant reading:
- The SSW visa explained
- The skills test explained
- Which exam to sit first
- What happens after you pass
Immigration procedures for a status change from inside Japan differ from an overseas application, and timing matters if your current status is expiring. Start early.
One advantage of sitting it in Japan
You are surrounded by the language the test is about. The listening section is built from workplace and daily-life Japanese, and living here is continuous exposure to exactly that.
Candidates in Japan who nonetheless struggle usually have the opposite problem: fluent daily conversation and no exam practice. Fix that with a full-length mock under exam conditions - our free exam demo is 48 questions on a 60-minute clock.