Forklift operator training
31–35 hrs
31 hours (about 4 days) if you hold a regular driver’s license or similar(e-Gov Laws and Regulations / MHLW)
Shortage of forklift operators
17.7%
Includes expected departures within 5 years (member survey)(Japan Warehousing Association (一般社団法人日本倉庫協会))
Overtime (monthly average)
16–18 hrs
All occupations: 11 hrs(MHLW)
01The work
| Receiving, shipping, picking, checking | Receiving, storing and shipping materials and products. Often uses delivery slips and handheld terminals. |
|---|---|
| Forklift operation | Loading, unloading and moving palletized goods. Forklifts of 1 ton or more require completing forklift operator training. |
| Inventory control and floor leader | Managing stock in a warehouse management system (WMS), assigning tasks, managing workers. |
Workplaces include makers’ own warehouses, commercial warehouses run by warehousing companies, e-commerce and 3PL logistics centers, and frozen and refrigerated warehouses. There are 6,582 warehousing companies, and 98.9% of them are SMEs (Japan Warehousing Association data).
02Job demand
Roughly the same as all occupations, and easier to enter without experience than, say, driving jobs. It varies a lot by region: 2.36 in Tokyo vs 0.59 in Iwate (FY2025).
REF / Sources
- 一般職業紹介状況（長期時系列表 第21表）・雇用関係指標（年度） — Employment Referrals for General Workers (long-term time series, Table 21) and annual employment indicators (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), released May and Aug 2026 (FY2025 figures))Jobs-to-applicants ratio (有効求人倍率) for regular jobs at Hello Work, including part-time; not seasonally adjusted. Does not include openings on private job sites or through recruitment agencies.
03Pay (estimated annual pay)
Average hourly pay for part-timers: ¥1,301 (handling) and ¥1,448 (transport). The forklift operator category also includes ship crew and others, so it isn’t pay for forklift operators alone.
REF / Sources
- 令和7年賃金構造基本統計調査 — Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025 (full-time workers, by occupation) (MHLW, published Mar 2026)Full-time (general) workers at companies with 10+ employees, men and women combined. The "estimated annual pay" is our own calculation — monthly scheduled cash earnings × 12 + annual bonuses — not an official annual income figure.
04Qualifications and licenses
- Forklift operator training（フォークリフト運転技能講習）: max. load 1 ton or more
- 35 hours: 11 hours of classroom learning + 24 hours of practical training. 31 hours if you hold a regular, semi-medium, medium or large driver’s license. You can’t operate forklifts of 1 ton or more without completing it.
- Special safety training for forklifts（フォークリフトの特別教育）: under 1 ton
- Even under 1 ton, you can’t operate a forklift unless you’ve had special safety training provided by the employer.
- Driver’s license for public roads
- Separate from the training above, driving on public roads requires a license under the Road Traffic Act（道路交通法）(large special or small special vehicle license（大型特殊・小型特殊）, etc.).
- Slinging（玉掛け）, floor-operated cranes（床上操作式クレーン）, etc.
- Some warehouses may ask for these.
REF / Sources
- 労働安全衛生法施行令 第20条第11号／労働安全衛生規則 第36条第5号／フォークリフト運転技能講習規程 — Industrial Safety and Health Act Enforcement Order, Art. 20(11); Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health, Art. 36(5); Rules on forklift operator training (e-Gov Laws and Regulations / MHLW, laws as of Sept 2026)
05Rules at work
Specified voluntary inspection of forklifts（特定自主検査）
Forklifts must undergo a specified voluntary inspection at least once a year and carry an inspection sticker (Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health（労働安全衛生規則）). The sticker is one sign of safety management you can see on a visit.
REF: e-Gov Laws and Regulations / MHLW, “労働安全衛生法施行令 第20条第11号／労働安全衛生規則 第36条第5号／フォークリフト運転技能講習規程 — Industrial Safety and Health Act Enforcement Order, Art. 20(11); Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health, Art. 36(5); Rules on forklift operator training”
Overtime cap（時間外労働の上限規制）
Warehouse work is not driving work, so the general cap applies (basically 45 hours a month and 360 hours a year).
REF: MHLW, “時間外労働の上限規制（働き方改革特設サイト） — Overtime cap (Work Style Reform website)”
06Who it suits
A rough guide based on the work itself. Even if these don’t describe you, it can be worth finding out on a visit or trial shift.
- You like physical work and are good at getting things done efficiently
- You want to widen your options by getting qualifications such as a forklift license
- You can follow set procedures and rules and work safely
07What to check on a visit or trial shift
CHECKLIST / Warehouse & forklift (tick as you go)
What to bring and wear, and the points common to every job, are in the how-to guide.
REF / Sources for this page
- 一般職業紹介状況（長期時系列表 第21表）・雇用関係指標（年度） — Employment Referrals for General Workers (long-term time series, Table 21) and annual employment indicators (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), released May and Aug 2026 (FY2025 figures))Jobs-to-applicants ratio (有効求人倍率) for regular jobs at Hello Work, including part-time; not seasonally adjusted. Does not include openings on private job sites or through recruitment agencies.
- 令和7年賃金構造基本統計調査 — Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025 (full-time workers, by occupation) (MHLW, published Mar 2026)Full-time (general) workers at companies with 10+ employees, men and women combined. The "estimated annual pay" is our own calculation — monthly scheduled cash earnings × 12 + annual bonuses — not an official annual income figure.
- 労働安全衛生法施行令 第20条第11号／労働安全衛生規則 第36条第5号／フォークリフト運転技能講習規程 — Industrial Safety and Health Act Enforcement Order, Art. 20(11); Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health, Art. 36(5); Rules on forklift operator training (e-Gov Laws and Regulations / MHLW, laws as of Sept 2026)
- 営業倉庫の現状と課題について（国土交通省の会議資料） — Current state and issues of commercial warehousing (MLIT meeting material) (Japan Warehousing Association (一般社団法人日本倉庫協会), Dec 10, 2024)Based on a survey of member companies (988 responses); not figures for the warehousing industry as a whole.
- 時間外労働の上限規制（働き方改革特設サイト） — Overtime cap (Work Style Reform website) (MHLW, applies from Apr 2019 (large companies) and Apr 2020 (SMEs))
NEXT → VISIT / TRIAL SHIFT
Warehouse & forklift:
see the workplace before you join.
Apply for a visit or trial shift in the app, with no résumé or interview.
Find a workplace on CuraThe Cura app is in Japanese.