Japan's FDE Kentei Level 1 certification exam opens on November 17

Japan's IoT Certification Committee (IoT検定制度委員会) says its FDE Kentei Level 1 (Associate) exam goes live on November 17, 2026. CertPro (株式会社サートプロ) runs the project's secretariat. The exam is 100 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes, taken online with a live proctor. It costs ¥19,800, has no entry requirements, and the pass mark is 96 of 120 points (80%). Four sittings of 20 seats each are scheduled in November, with more dates to follow from December.

The exam covers ten areas: FDE fundamentals, AI and LLM basics, business understanding, communication, change mindset, teaching and coaching, AI-first thinking, data literacy, AI agents, and ethics and security. A beta run from September 7 to 18 drew about 100 applicants, and 63 people sat it.

The organizers are clear that Level 1 only checks knowledge and judgment. They plan a Level 2 certification based on actual implementation work and a Level 3 based on measured business outcomes such as ROI, but neither has launched yet.

Why it matters for FDEs: Japan already has hundreds of FDE-titled openings, and credentials for the role are starting to appear, like Lenovo and CESI's program in China and partner certifications from big vendors. A multiple-choice exam won't prove you can ship in a customer's environment, and the organizers say so themselves. Still, it shows FDE becoming a recognized job category in Japan, and it may become a résumé signal for engineers moving into the role there.