CURRICULUM
Curriculum by level
Split by level and hours, conversation class alongside
FIELDS
Four fields
IT, manufacturing, nursing & care, food service
BASES
Japan and India
Hiroshima and Bangalore
EDUCATION
The school is ours
Teaching and placement sit in one company, so nobody guesses at a level
FOUNDER
20+ years in Japan
The representative majored in Japanese and built a career inside Japanese firms
Four fields we recruit and train for
Every candidate has been through Japanese study with us in India and our own first interview. The bracket shows the status of residence we would normally expect — which one actually applies depends on the job description, so bring us in while you are still writing it.
A placement company that runs its own Japanese school
The biggest thing about us is the school in Bangalore. We do not find someone who already speaks Japanese and hope it holds up — we start people from zero and teach them ourselves. So when we put a candidate in front of you, the level is not a self-report on a CV: it is what their own teacher and our first interview can account for.
JLPT-based curriculum by level (N5, N4, N3 — weekday and weekend batches)
A conversation class with a native Japanese teacher running alongside it
Batches timed backwards from the exam dates (July and December JLPT)
Pre-departure training shaped around your company — industry vocabulary and workplace manners before they fly
At N4–N3 they follow instructions and handle routine reporting and records. Involved phone calls and negotiating in technical terms are still beyond that, and we will say so
You get the record: which class, how many hours, and how far they got in our first interview
COURSE / N5
80hours
About 5 months. From zero to the scripts, basic grammar and everyday conversation.
COURSE / N4·N3
110hours
About 5.5 months. Lifts your conversation and reading to a level you can actually work in.
COURSE / Conversation
2months
A small-group conversation class with a native teacher, twice a week.
Length and content can be adjusted to what you need. The JLPT runs twice a year (July and December), so the start date moves the arrival date.
Why hire from India, right now
Choose on which country will still be sending workers in 10 years, not which is easiest to hire from today, and the ranking changes.
01
Don't bet on a single country
41.5% of Type 1 Specified Skilled Worker residents are Vietnamese, with the top 5 nationalities making up about 90% (Immigration Services Agency, Dec 2025). Job-hopping opens up in April 2027, turning that concentration into attrition risk.
India isn't even in this top 5 (656 workers, Oct 2025)
Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, residents under Specified Skilled Worker (i), Dec 2025
02
A wage gap yen weakness hasn't closed
Japan's GNI per capita is 14.6x India's (World Bank, 2024), versus roughly 8x for Vietnam and Indonesia. From India's side, the incentive to earn in Japan is still fully intact.
Source: World Bank Open Data, 2024 (multiple of Japan's GNI per capita)
03
Still enough people, ten years out
Vietnam's demographic dividend is projected to end in 2036 (Vietnam GSO / UN estimates). India's population of 1.45 billion keeps its young workforce deep for the next 15-20 years.
Source: UN World Population Prospects 2024 (median age)
How this differs from the other routes into Japan.
If we are not the right route for you, we will say so. Each row describes a general tendency of that route, not any particular provider.
| Aspect | A local agent in India | A Japanese recruitment agency | Hanamaru |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where the Japanese comes from | Whatever the candidate arrives with | Whatever the candidate arrives with | Taught in house, N5 through N3 |
| How the level is evidenced | Self-reported on a CV | A certificate and a short interview | The teacher who taught them, plus our first interview |
| Who you contract with | An entity outside Japan | A Japanese agency | A Japanese company (Hiroshima) |
| What it suits | Volume, when language is not the constraint | Someone who can already work in Japanese, now | Growing the language with the hire, for the long term |
A directional comparison of routes, not a guarantee about any particular provider. Japan's Technical Intern Training programme is scheduled to be replaced by the Employment for Skill Development system on 1 April 2027.
What we won't take on — and who to go to instead
- Intake under the Technical Intern Training (Employment for Skill Development) programme — we are not a supervising organisation, and that route needs a licensed one
- Worker dispatch or contracted labour — you are the employer, and we do not lend out staff
- The ten mandatory support items for Specified Skilled Worker status — we are not a registered support organisation, and will introduce one
- Filing your residence applications as your agent — we prepare the documents and introduce a certified administrative scrivener where a filing agent is required
- Guarantees on retention or outcomes — and however urgent it is, we do not put forward a candidate who has not been through our own first interview
Six reasons companies work with us
01
We teach them ourselves
The school and the placement desk are one company. Nobody is handed off halfway, and nobody has to guess what a candidate actually studied.
02
They reach you only when they are ready
Every candidate sits our own first interview first. If they are not there yet we tell them what to fix, instead of sending them into your interview to fail.
03
A Japanese entity, in your time zone
Our Japan office is in Hiroshima, led by a director with over twenty years in the country. Contracts and day-to-day contact are with a Japanese company.
04
Support after arrival
Document preparation, orientation and the practical business of setting up a life. We agree who does what up front, so the load does not land on your team unannounced.
05
We know the food-service floor first-hand
Our group runs Indian restaurants in Japan. On that route we can tell you what the kitchen actually asks of a hire before you commit.
06
We supply through other agencies too
We also supply candidates to partner agencies. Terms are agreed case by case.
Four things to settle before the interview
01
Housing, and the first month
Company housing or a private lease, and who guarantees it. Who walks them through the bank account, the phone and the ward office. The first month after arrival is where the hours go — we agree the split when we scope the role.
02
Pay at or above the Japanese equivalent
Pay at or above what you would pay a Japanese employee in the same job is assumed both by immigration and by anyone who stays. Settle the target salary and how raises and reviews work before you interview.
03
How much Japanese your workplace runs on
How much of your instructions, manuals and safety training stays in Japanese, what gets rewritten in plain Japanese, and who owns training. Deciding this changes how the first months go.
04
Food, prayer and festivals
Vegetarian and halal options (canteen, or cooking in company housing), prayer time, and festivals such as Diwali. These come up with Indian hires more than with others, and almost all of it is solved by deciding in advance.
From first enquiry to their first day, in five steps
Usually 3 to 6 months once the role is defined. If we are starting the Japanese from zero, plan on roughly 5 to 11 months depending on the level you need — the JLPT dates move it.
Enquiry and scoping
Tell us the role, the field and the Japanese level the work actually needs. We come back on which of the four fields fits and what is realistic.
Training against your role
Candidates join the N5 or N4–N3 batch, with the conversation class where the route calls for it, and pre-departure training shaped around your workplace.
Our first interview
We assess Japanese, aptitude and how serious they are about moving. Only the ones who clear it are put in front of you.
Your interview and offer
We set up the online interview, prepare both sides for it, and carry the back-and-forth on conditions and start date.
Residence status, arrival and follow-up
You are the applicant for the status of residence as the employer. We prepare the documents and introduce a certified administrative scrivener where a filing agent is required, then handle orientation and follow-up after they start.
What companies ask before they contact us
If it isn't here, just ask. Where we don't know, we'll say we don't know.
Can we talk before the job description is finished?
Yes — earlier is better. The status of residence available to you depends on the actual duties, so we would rather help you write the description than review it afterwards.
How is the status of residence decided?
By the duties. Design, development and quality control usually sit under Engineer/Specialist in Humanities; care and food-service floor work under Specified Skilled Worker (i). Simple or production-line work is not permitted under the former, so we go through the scope with you first.
Who files the residence application?
You do, as the employer — you are the applicant. We prepare the documents and introduce a certified administrative scrivener where a filing agent is required. We do not act as your filing agent ourselves.
How far can we trust the Japanese level?
It isn't a self-report on a CV. You get the record: which class at our school, how many hours, and how far the candidate got in our own first interview. At N4–N3 expect instructions understood and routine reporting handled; involved phone calls and negotiating in technical terms are still beyond that.
How do the interviews run?
Online. We arrange the schedule, run the day, and carry the back-and-forth on conditions and start date. We never put forward a candidate who has not cleared our own first interview.
How long does it take?
Usually 3 to 6 months from a settled requirement to their first day. Starting the Japanese from zero, plan on roughly 5 to 11 months depending on the level you need — the JLPT runs in July and December, so the start date moves it.
Hiring from India?
Start with the requirements
The job description does not have to be finished. Tell us the work and we will come back on which status of residence fits, how the cost is built up and a realistic timeline. Agencies are welcome to get in touch too.
Hanamaru Solutions Co., Ltd.
We teach the language and the working mindset together
“I studied Japanese at university and then spent more than twenty years in Japan and inside Japanese companies. India has no shortage of young people with both the drive and the ability. Bringing them up in the language and in the working mindset alike, and building relationships with workplaces in Japan that last, is what I believe this company is here to do.”
Ashok Kumar GuptaRepresentative Director
At Softbridge Solutions Japan he handled travel, visa paperwork, CV translation and client introductions for Indian engineers heading to Japan. Combined with his years inside Japanese manufacturers, that is the experience behind how candidates are prepared for a Japanese workplace.
Ascend Partner
Working with Ascend
Hanamaru Solutions is an Ascend partner company. We train and introduce Indian talent; Ascend's consultants work on the Japan side with the companies hiring them, building the systems and teams to bring people in properly. Ascend takes the first enquiry and brings us in.
Ascend Consultant
Kartik “Kal” Malhotra
India cross-border × AI × engineering