If you work with children in Japan, background checks are about to become a normal part of hiring.
Japan’s new system is often called the “Japan-version DBS” because it is loosely comparable to the UK’s Disclosure and Barring Service. The official law is the こども性暴力防止法. Its full legal name is 学校設置者等及び民間教育保育等事業者による児童対象性暴力等の防止等のための措置に関する法律, which is commonly translated as the Act on preventing child-targeted sexual violence by schools and private education/childcare providers.
The short version: from December 25, 2026, many schools, childcare facilities, and child-facing education providers in Japan will need to check whether certain workers have a history of specified sexual crimes. The law also requires staff training, reporting systems, rules around inappropriate conduct, and stricter handling of child safety concerns.
This article is general information for job seekers and employers. It is not legal advice. Rules and guidance can change, so check the Children and Families Agency, relevant ministries, and a qualified professional for your own case.
1. What is the Japan-version DBS?
The Japan-version DBS is a new legal framework for reducing the risk of sexual violence against children in education, childcare, and similar settings.
Most people will notice the criminal record check first. Covered employers will need to confirm whether certain workers have past convictions for specified sexual crimes before placing them in child-facing work. But the law is not only about certificates. It pushes employers to build safer workplaces around children.
That means:
- Written rules about sexual violence and inappropriate conduct
- Staff training for people who work with children
- Systems for children, parents, and staff to report concerns
- Early detection of warning signs
- Proper investigation and response when concerns are raised
- Careful handling of sensitive criminal-record information
For foreign teachers, the practical point is simple. If you apply for a school, childcare, ALT, international school, eikaiwa, tutoring, sports, or other child-facing role, you may be asked to go through a Japan DBS-style check.
2. When does the law start?
The law was passed on June 19, 2024, promulgated on June 26, 2024, and is scheduled to come into force on December 25, 2026.
That does not mean every employer will wait until the last minute. Some schools and education companies will start changing job ads, onboarding forms, work rules, and training systems earlier. If you are job hunting in 2026 or later, expect more questions about background checks, child safety training, and whether you can start before a check is complete.
This matters for foreign nationals because the official overview says checks for foreign nationals may take about one to two months. Japanese nationals are expected to take about two weeks to one month.
If an employer has an urgent start date, they may still hire while the check is pending in some circumstances. Even then, official guidance says employers should generally avoid placing that person alone one-on-one with children until confirmation is complete.
3. Which employers are covered?
There are two broad groups: mandatory covered operators and private education/childcare businesses that can apply for national accreditation.
Mandatory covered operators include many core education and childcare institutions, such as:
- Kindergartens, elementary schools, junior high schools, high schools, and similar schools
- Certain specialized training schools
- Certified childcare and education centers
- Licensed nursery schools and other child welfare facilities
- Child consultation centers
- Some disability child service providers
- Infant day-care support businesses
For job seekers, regular schools and licensed childcare settings are the clearest examples.
The second group is private education and childcare providers. These may include businesses such as:
- Cram schools and tutoring schools
- Sports clubs for children
- After-school clubs
- Unlicensed childcare facilities
- Temporary childcare and sick-child childcare services
- Some specialized schools and miscellaneous schools
- Some disability welfare service providers
The official materials describe private education broadly. It can include businesses that teach children something, not only academic subjects. The detailed scope depends on the business model, how often the same child attends, whether the service is face-to-face, and how many people teach children.
For English teachers, this is where things get interesting. Some eikaiwa schools, tutoring programs, sports-English programs, and children’s activity providers may not be automatically covered in the same way as a regular school, but they may seek accreditation or face similar expectations from parents, schools, and business partners.
If you are comparing English-teaching jobs, read the job ad carefully. JOBS IN JAPAN has a practical guide to finding a stronger eikaiwa job in Japan. That guide is useful here because the new law adds one more question to ask: how seriously does the employer handle child safety, training, and supervision?
4. Which workers may need to be checked?
The check is aimed at people who work with children.
Teachers, childcare workers, and similar roles with regular child contact are the obvious cases. The official overview also says the scope can include people such as office staff or school bus drivers, depending on their actual duties and whether they have continuous contact with children.
Short-term workers, volunteers, and people without a normal employment contract may also be covered if they are doing child-facing work.
This matters because some foreigners in Japan work with children through less obvious arrangements:
- ALT dispatch roles
- Part-time eikaiwa classes
- Saturday school programs
- International school clubs
- Seasonal camps
- Sports coaching
- Music, drama, or arts lessons
- Babysitting or childcare-adjacent services
If the work puts you in regular contact with children, assume the employer may eventually need to ask about the Japan-version DBS or a related child-safety process.
For ALT applicants, the bigger picture is still the same. Schools care about reliability, classroom conduct, communication, and whether you understand the boundaries of the role. JOBS IN JAPAN has a related article on getting hired as an ALT without teaching experience, which is useful because many first-time applicants underestimate how much schools value maturity and judgment.
5. What crimes are checked?
The official overview says the system checks for specified sexual crimes. These include offenses involving children and adults, such as non-consensual sexual intercourse, indecent assault, voyeur filming, molestation, child prostitution, possession of child pornography, and unlawful sexual acts with minors.
This is not a general character review. It is a check for specified sexual-crime history within defined time periods.
The official overview lists these look-back periods:
- Less than 20 years since completion of an imprisonment or confinement sentence
- Less than 10 years since a suspended imprisonment or confinement judgment became final
- Less than 10 years since completion of a fine sentence
Employers should not treat this as permission to ask casual, intrusive, or overly broad questions about an applicant’s private life. The law also creates strict duties around how criminal-record information is handled.
6. How will the check work for foreign job seekers?
The employer applies to the Children and Families Agency. The worker submits nationality-related and identity information directly through the process. The agency checks with the Ministry of Justice.
If no specified record is found, a certificate is issued to the employer.
If a record is found, the worker is notified first. The worker has an opportunity to request correction. If the worker withdraws during the correction-request period, the certificate is not issued to the employer. If no correction is requested after the set period, the certificate is issued to the employer.
For foreign nationals, the main practical issue may be timing. The official overview estimates one to two months for foreign nationals. That could affect start dates, especially in education jobs that follow April hiring cycles or school-term schedules.
If you are applying for child-facing work, prepare for employers to ask for:
- Identity information
- Nationality-related information
- Written confirmation or pledge about relevant sexual-crime history
- Consent or cooperation with the official process
- Completion of child-safety training
Do not be surprised if job ads and offer letters become more specific. Employers are being advised to state relevant conditions in recruitment materials and employment documents.
7. What does this mean for visas and hiring timelines?
The Japan-version DBS is separate from immigration. It does not replace visa sponsorship, status of residence rules, or the employer’s normal hiring checks.
It can still affect your timeline. A foreign teacher may be dealing with several processes at once:
- Job offer and contract
- Visa sponsorship or status change/renewal
- Child-safety background check
- School onboarding and training
- Housing or relocation
If you are applying from overseas, ask early whether the employer expects the DBS-style check to affect your start date. If you are already in Japan, ask whether you can begin work while the check is pending and, if so, what restrictions will apply.
JOBS IN JAPAN has a separate guide to visa sponsorship in Japan for foreign job seekers. Read that alongside this article because a clean hiring process still needs both immigration compliance and child-safety compliance.
8. What employers should prepare before the law starts
Employers should not treat this as a one-form administrative task. The law is asking child-facing organizations to build a safer system.
At minimum, employers should review:
- Which jobs involve contact with children
- Which workers, contractors, volunteers, and dispatched staff may be covered
- Recruitment wording and offer-letter wording
- Work rules, disciplinary rules, and probation rules
- Training records
- Reporting channels for children, parents, and staff
- Rules on private messaging, personal-device photos, one-on-one contact, and physical contact
- How sensitive information will be stored, accessed, deleted, and protected
The official materials mention examples of inappropriate conduct that may not itself be sexual violence but can lead to risk. These include private SNS exchanges with children, taking children’s photos on personal devices for non-work reasons, meeting a child privately, unnecessary physical contact, or repeatedly seeking assignment to a specific child without a proper reason.
Good employers should already have rules on these points. The new law will make those expectations more visible.
9. What applicants should watch for in job ads
A serious employer should be able to explain the process calmly and professionally.
Green flags include:
- The job ad says the role involves child-facing work
- The employer explains that a background check may be required
- The employer gives a realistic timeline
- The employer separates DBS-style checks from immigration and visa procedures
- The employer has child-safety training
- The employer has clear rules about one-on-one contact, messaging, photos, and reporting concerns
Be careful with employers that are vague, rushed, or dismissive about child safety. Also be careful if an employer asks for sensitive information in a casual way, such as through ordinary email or chat, without explaining the official process or how information will be protected.
For international school candidates, the DBS-style check will sit alongside the usual professional requirements: qualifications, teaching experience, references, curriculum familiarity, and strong safeguarding habits. JOBS IN JAPAN has a related guide to international school jobs in Japan that covers requirements, salary, and how to apply.
If you are reviewing an eikaiwa offer, do not stop at the background-check language. Read the whole contract. Our guide to common eikaiwa contract traps explains other clauses that can affect your working life after you accept.
10. What this law does not mean
This law does not mean every foreigner applying for any job in Japan will face a Japan-version DBS check.
It does not mean employers can freely dig through your entire private history.
It does not mean a school can ignore normal labor law, privacy duties, or fair hiring practices.
It does not mean child safety is solved by one certificate.
That last point matters. A background check can catch some known risks, but many safeguarding failures happen because adults ignore warning signs, blur boundaries, or fail to listen when children and staff raise concerns. The stronger parts of the law may turn out to be the boring parts: written rules, training, reporting routes, supervision, and careful response.
For job seekers, the right attitude is not fear. It is professionalism. If you want to work with children, you should expect higher standards around conduct, communication, privacy, and boundaries.
11. Practical checklist for foreign teachers and child-facing workers
Before applying, ask yourself:
- Does this job involve regular contact with children?
- Is the employer a school, childcare provider, dispatch company, eikaiwa, tutoring service, international school, sports club, or after-school program?
- Does the job ad mention background checks or child-safety training?
- Could the check take one to two months because I am a foreign national?
- Will this affect my visa or start date timeline?
- Does the employer explain how sensitive information will be handled?
- Does the workplace have clear rules on private messaging, photos, physical contact, and one-on-one situations?
During interviews, you can ask:
“Will this role require a こども性暴力防止法 background check or related child-safety process?”
“Do you expect the check to affect the start date?”
“What training do new staff receive on child safety and professional boundaries?”
“Are there rules about private messaging, photos, and one-on-one contact with students?”
These are reasonable questions. A good employer should not be offended by them.
Final thoughts
The Japan-version DBS will make child-safety checks more visible in Japan’s education and childcare job market. For foreign teachers and other child-facing workers, the main changes will be practical: more paperwork, more formal onboarding, longer timelines in some cases, and clearer expectations around professional boundaries.
That is not a bad thing. Children should be safer, parents should have more confidence, and serious educators should have clearer rules to work under.
If you are looking for child-facing work in Japan, browse current openings on JOBS IN JAPAN and pay close attention to visa sponsorship, Japanese level, location, job type, and whether the employer explains its child-safety expectations clearly.
