How to Become a Rental Friend in Japan (2026): Agencies, the Visa Question, and Another Way to Do It

People who read about Japan's rental friend industry tend to ask the same next question: how do you get that job?

The short answer is that most rental friends in Japan work through an agency, the agency decides which clients they meet, and for anyone who isn't Japanese, the visa matters more than the personality. Here is how it actually starts, what to check, and a second route that fits people who live in Japan and speak English.

The usual route: sign up with an agency#

Japanese rental friend agencies recruit "cast" members. The steps are broadly the same everywhere:

1. Apply through the agency's recruitment page.
2. Interview. They look at how you talk, how you present yourself and which hours you can cover.
3. Build a profile with photos, a short introduction and what you're good at.
4. Get assigned. Clients book through the agency, which passes requests to the cast member who fits.
5. Get paid the client's fee minus the agency's share.

You don't have to find clients yourself. In exchange, the agency decides who you meet and what the hour costs. Client prices in Tokyo run at the upper end of the ranges in our industry breakdown; what reaches the cast member depends entirely on the agency's split.

What to check before you sign anything#

If an agency won't put those four things in writing, walk away.

Postings to avoid#

• Any fee before work: registration, training, costume. Real agencies don't charge the people they employ.
• Vague job descriptions that promise high pay and never say what the work is.
• Anything that hints at romance or physical contact. Legitimate rental friend agencies ban both explicitly, because Japanese law draws a hard line there.

The visa question, if you're not Japanese#

This is where most foreign residents get stuck, and it has nothing to do with whether you'd be good at it.

• Permanent residents, spouses of Japanese nationals and long-term residents can generally do any lawful work.
• Students need a permit for activities outside their status (shikakugai katsudo kyoka) and are capped at a set number of hours a week during term.
• Most work-visa holders are limited to the field their visa was issued for. Paid side work outside it usually needs permission too.

Check your own status with the Immigration Services Agency before you take paid work of any kind. Getting this wrong can cost you the visa.

Language: Japanese agencies need Japanese#

Agencies serving Japanese clients need cast who speak Japanese, usually fluently. The work is conversation.

If English is your strongest language, the more realistic version of this work is with visitors from abroad. Japan receives tens of millions of them a year, and most can't read a menu, don't know which station exit to take and have no idea where people who live there actually eat. They need someone who lives in the city far more than someone who speaks perfect Japanese.

The second route: showing visitors your city#

On Roavi, you don't go through an agency. You:

• create a free profile with your city, your languages and what you like showing people;
• set your own hourly rate;
• get messages directly from travellers heading to your city, and choose who to meet and when.

There's no licence to get: since the January 2018 change to Japan's guide-interpreter law, anyone can guide for pay; only the title of licensed guide interpreter is reserved. What makes a profile work is a clear photo, a specific introduction and the languages you speak.

One honest caveat: Roavi is still early in Japan, and few Local Friends are listed there. That means fewer people to compete with, and it also means messages may be slow at first.

If you live in Japan, start from your country page: Become a Local Friend in Japan, or Tokyo and Osaka directly. Japanese speakers can read the Japanese version of this guide. For what the work pays elsewhere, see what rent-a-friend jobs actually pay and how Tokyo locals make money as Local Friends.