How to resign well in Japan

You want to resign and you don't know how to say it. In Japan that is a little harder than elsewhere. Hard enough that a whole industry exists to say it for you: resignation proxy services. Nearly 30% of users cite fear of the boss, and 60% say they wouldn't have used one if the boss had been approachable. The numbers are in the resignation-proxy post.

This is the version without a proxy. Proxies aren't wrong. But Japan's professional circles are small, and how you leave follows you to the next company.

The legal part first

For open-ended employment, Article 627 of the Civil Code says the contract ends two weeks after you give notice. Company rules often say one month or more. Legally the two weeks prevail, but in practice following the rulebook causes the least trouble. You don't need the company's consent to resign, and the company can't refuse.

If you resign on your own (jiko-tsugō) and claim unemployment benefits, the waiting period was shortened from two months to one in April 2025, as long as you haven't resigned repeatedly in a short span. Company-initiated separation (kaisha-tsugō) is very different. It has no waiting period at all. If your "resignation" was really the company's idea, read Foreign-company layoffs: your rights in Japan before you write anything.

This is general information, not legal advice. For your own situation, use the free consultation at a labor standards office, or see a lawyer.

Your boss first, in person, in one sentence

The first person to know has to be your direct manager, and you tell them in person (camera on if you're remote). The unwritten rule in Japanese workplaces is that a boss who hears about your departure from someone else is hurt more by that than by the departure itself. It goes on the favor ledger, and it travels.

What to say fits in one sentence. "I've decided to resign, and I'd like to leave on date X." Give no reason, or one reason that blames nobody. Most Japanese managers won't press. If yours does, repeat the sentence. Every reason you give becomes a handle for a counteroffer, and later it becomes the version your boss tells everyone else.

There will be a counteroffer. Usually it's your boss's reflex. It rarely reflects what the company wants. There is one answer: thank you, but I've decided. A lot of people who stay after a counteroffer leave again within a year, and the second time the ledger is already overdrawn.

Timing around the handover and the bonus

From notice to departure, one month is the custom. For managers and specialists, six to eight weeks is common. The more time you give, the cleaner the exit. Think of it as credit between you and the company. Extra gets remembered.

The date has two traps. The first is the bonus. Most Japanese bonuses require you to be on payroll on the payment date. Giving notice after that date and leaving with the bonus is standard in Japan, and nobody sees it as unethical. Just don't bring it up when you give notice. The second is the project. Leaving right after a milestone and leaving right before one leave very different memories with your boss and colleagues.

Submit a notice, and skip the request

The two Japanese words differ by one character. Taishoku-negai is a request. The company can decline to accept it, and you can withdraw it. Taishoku-todoke is a notice. It takes effect when you submit it. If you're leaving, submit the notice. The format is simple: one sentence, the date and your signature, handwritten or printed. Hand it in the same day you say it out loud, or the day after, so nobody can argue about the date.

Write the handover down

Japanese companies expect more from a handover than most countries do. The hikitsugi-sho is a document. It lists the status of every item on your desk, who the counterpart is, what the next step is and where the files are. Write it as if your successor has never met you. It is the last impression the company has of you, and former colleagues will decide on the strength of it whether to speak up for you later.

Paid leave comes last

Unused paid leave is legally yours, and the company can't refuse it. The custom is to finish the handover and then use up the leave until your departure date. Raise it last, once the handover plan is settled, so it doesn't sound like you want a holiday before the work is done.

When a proxy is right

If your boss has threatened you, verbally or physically, or the company has flatly refused to accept your resignation, a proxy or a lawyer is the right call. Otherwise, saying it yourself once is worth far more in this market than having someone say it for you. Choose your boss, not the company is about reading a boss before you join. This post is about leaving. Get both ends right and the middle rarely goes wrong.

The last time you resigned, who was the first to know?