Non native speakers

Can a non native speaker with bachelor degree in economics find work in Japan? Experience 3 years in finance and 1,5 years in teaching.

1) For working in a specific field you do not have enough work experience to apply for a Specialist in Humanities Visa, which is 10 years minimum.

2) If you can find a company who is willing to sponsor you in Japan, than you can work in Japan.

3) Marry a local.

4) Expat

5) Own investment

Economics is a social science field, so a bachelor's in Economics is sufficient to qualify for Specialist in Humanities status for Economics-related jobs.

Yes.

(there are a few "but" comments that follow that simple answer, like needing to find someone wanting to employ someone without good language skills - that is what I assume you mean by non-native)

@ justmyday
3) Marry a local.
Dont use the local for getting visa. The people who cannot get work visa normally catch the Japanese women for vvisa. That is not a good practice.
Any Japanese will marry such person who want to marry for visa?

From what I've read you would likely have to become an English teacher first for a set period of time before doing anything that was economics related. That said, all they require for an English teacher is that you speak English at a native level and have a bachelor's degree. From what I know you don't need any Japanese at all to hold a job in Japan that way, but if you're hard-set on working in economics you might find it difficult if you don't speak Japanese at all. You said "Non native speaker" does that mean you speak some Japanese?

Regardless of your background and experience, you'd first need to obtain the necessary work visa. The only way to get one of those is to find a company that will hire and sponsor that visa for you. I disagree with the statement that a Specialist in Humanities visa requires 10 years of work experience. I easily obtained one with the maximum duration (3 yrs at the time, now it's 5 yrs) with 3 years of relevant experience.

The bigger concern, however, is whether or not you can find a company that would be willing to hire someone who has limited Japanese ability for a business-related position. For obvious reasons, those roles tend to require a high level of Japanese, especially for junior- and intermediate-level employees. If you don't have that Japanese proficiency, you may be better off finding a job with a company in your home country that has a satellite office in Japan, then applying for a transfer when eligible.

The vast majority of foreign business people I know in Japan, especially those who don't speak Japanese well, were transferred to Japan by their companies. However, most are directors or C-level, so they have assistants that translate for them and/or a certified interpreter for major meetings. The few people I know who found business-related jobs while in Japan have extremely high Japanese proficiency and/or work on the technical side (IT, systems security, etc.).

There are many English-speaking recruiters in Tokyo, so you could try contacting them. However, I'm 95% sure they'll tell you that you need business-level Japanese.

I don't know anything about how Japanese universities hire foreigners for professorships, so can't offer any insight there.

If you're just looking for any halfway-decent job, many language-teaching companies will hire almost anyone with a four-year degree, sufficient ability in the required language, and a clean record. Many will sponsor a work visa, but only if you're already in Japan on a legal visa. A few will provide round-trip flights between Japan and your home country, subsidized housing and a work visa.

There are language companies that cater specifically to university students and Japanese businesspeople, but they tend to require prior language-teaching experience. And then there are business corporations that hire in-house language instructors for their employees. These positions tend to be much harder to find and come by.

There are many English-speaking recruiters in Tokyo, so you could try contacting them. However, I'm 95% sure they'll tell you that you need business-level Japanese.
Just on that point, when you do look at those English recruiting websites, when I was looking last a few years ago, most positions required that you are already in Japan and have the right to live here. A bit of a "chicken and egg" situation.

Another point on the "four year degree", that is not the actual requirement as it relates to a university (or similar recognised institution) degree level and you can get a Bachelors degree in three years (for example, my three year BSc degree would qualify). Not sure why someone would need to take four years to do a three year course.

For example, for Specialist in Humanities the requirement is "A diploma or certificate of graduation with a major in the subject regarding the activity of the person concerned, and documents certifying his or her professional career."

JapanCustomTours, you're correct that recruiters -- or rather the companies that use them -- generally require you to be in Japan with an eligible visa. I'm well aware of their requirements because recruiters constantly contacted me when I lived over there. However, there are exceptions, as in any case.

Although I left Japan two years ago, several Tokyo-based recruiters recently contacted me to ask if I would be interested in xyz positions. They said the hiring companies would be willing to remotely interview and sponsor a visa for someone who was not currently in Japan, but had the necessary experience, skills and language proficiency. I also know two people who were interviewed and offered a job over the phone before moving to Japan. But they're both very experienced in highly specialized areas, such as architectural project management, and have business-level Japanese proficiency.

Regarding the four-year degree bit, I think we might be getting into semantics. Regardless of whether it takes you or someone else one, two or three years to earn a bachelor's degree, a program that is designed to normally take four years to complete is still considered a four-year degree. I also finished my degree requirements in less than four years, but it's still referred to as a four-year degree.

Perhaps my first post wasn't clear -- I didn't say a four-year degree is required for a work visa or an English-teaching job. I said many English-teaching companies will hire someone with such a degree, regardless of experience. Very different meaning. I've seen some ESL job listings that state a four-year degree is highly preferred over a two-year degree (i.e. associate's degree). As such, if you have a four-year degree, more of your bases are covered.