PEP Certification Featured in 'Nikkei Trendy' May 2026 Issue — Gaining Attention as a Practical Generative AI Specialist Qualification Open to Non-Engineers
The Japan Prompt Engineering Association (JSPE)'s PEP Certification has been featured in the May 2026 issue of 'Nikkei Trendy.' It is attracting attention as a practical generative AI specialist qualification open to non-engineers, promoting the safe and effective use of generative AI.
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- 📰 Published: April 15, 2026 at 22:09
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The Japan Prompt Engineering Association (hereinafter, JSPE) is pleased to announce that its Prompt Engineering Professional (PEP) Certification has been featured in the May 2026 issue of 'Nikkei Trendy.' Additionally, JSPE's Representative Director, Shigeru Kuroyanagi, collaborated on the selection of recommended tools for the generative AI-related feature in the same issue.
This publication indicates that the PEP Certification is beginning to be widely recognized by general business professionals as a qualification that allows for systematic learning and objective proof of the knowledge and practical skills required in the generative AI era. While the utilization of generative AI is rapidly advancing, it can be unclear "what to learn," "how far is safe to use," and "what knowledge is practical." The PEP Certification provides a framework for learning and evaluation that serves as a standard.
In the magazine image, the PEP Certification is positioned within the "AI/IT Qualification Difficulty Map" as a step beyond beginner-level qualifications, moving into the realm aimed at business application and improving practical skills. This confirms that the PEP Certification is "a qualification that is open to non-engineers while possessing a certain level of specialization and practicality."
A major feature of the PEP Certification is that while it has an accessible entry point for non-engineers and non-data scientists, its content is designed with practical-level application in mind. It targets a wide range of professions regardless of programming experience, including sales, planning, administration, managers, and engineers. It is positioned as a certification exam that systematically measures not just knowledge confirmation, but also generative AI instruction design, evaluation, and application skills.
Furthermore, the PEP Certification not only focuses on knowing about generative AI but also emphasizes the perspective of safely, appropriately, and effectively utilizing it in business. The syllabus includes chapters on ethics, risk management, and legal considerations, clearly outlining essential points for corporate use such as AI bias, privacy protection, ensuring transparency, hallucination countermeasures, security risks, copyright, and personal information protection laws. It also includes questions from the perspective of how to utilize it more effectively. This reflects the idea that in the current widespread adoption of generative AI, it is important not only to "be able to judge when and where to use it and what to be careful about" but also "how to use it to improve productivity."
Moreover, the PEP Certification is characterized by its continuous updates to the exam content itself to prevent knowledge obsolescence. In 2025, the association announced the addition of new chapters on "AI Agents" and "Context Engineering" to the PEP Certification, indicating a policy to reflect the latest trends in the rapidly evolving generative AI field in the exam. The exam content and learning materials are scheduled for regular updates, making the PEP Certification a "living certification" where learned knowledge is less likely to become outdated, which is one of its great values.
In addition, free learning materials for the PEP Certification are publicly available and can be downloaded by anyone from the official website. This not only helps individuals with self-study but also serves as a useful mechanism for companies as supplementary material for generative AI training or as a basis for standardizing knowledge and creating a common language within the company. The official website also provides information for corporations regarding group examinations, centralized management functions, and volume discounts, suggesting its use not only for individual skill certification but also as a means to raise the overall AI utilization level of organizations.
For inquiries regarding corporate adoption, please contact us using the information below.
JSPE will continue to promote the development of human resources who can "safely, practically, and continuously utilize" generative AI, not just "know about" it, through the PEP Certification. We will continue to work on establishing learning and evaluation standards suitable for the generative AI era, contributing to both individual career development and corporate productivity improvement.
About PEP Certification
The PEP Certification is Japan's first prompt engineering certification exam that systematically measures generative AI instruction design, evaluation, and application skills. It targets a wide range of professions including sales, planning, administration, managers, and engineers, emphasizing practical application and the acquisition of specialized skills. It is designed to be user-friendly for both individuals and corporations, offering free learning materials, CBT format available at test centers nationwide, and corporate services such as group examinations and centralized management functions.
https://prompt.or.jp/pep
About Japan Prompt Engineering Association
The Japan Prompt Engineering Association (JSPE) is dedicated to promoting the knowledge and skills of prompt engineering required in the generative AI era.
This publication indicates that the PEP Certification is beginning to be widely recognized by general business professionals as a qualification that allows for systematic learning and objective proof of the knowledge and practical skills required in the generative AI era. While the utilization of generative AI is rapidly advancing, it can be unclear "what to learn," "how far is safe to use," and "what knowledge is practical." The PEP Certification provides a framework for learning and evaluation that serves as a standard.
In the magazine image, the PEP Certification is positioned within the "AI/IT Qualification Difficulty Map" as a step beyond beginner-level qualifications, moving into the realm aimed at business application and improving practical skills. This confirms that the PEP Certification is "a qualification that is open to non-engineers while possessing a certain level of specialization and practicality."
A major feature of the PEP Certification is that while it has an accessible entry point for non-engineers and non-data scientists, its content is designed with practical-level application in mind. It targets a wide range of professions regardless of programming experience, including sales, planning, administration, managers, and engineers. It is positioned as a certification exam that systematically measures not just knowledge confirmation, but also generative AI instruction design, evaluation, and application skills.
Furthermore, the PEP Certification not only focuses on knowing about generative AI but also emphasizes the perspective of safely, appropriately, and effectively utilizing it in business. The syllabus includes chapters on ethics, risk management, and legal considerations, clearly outlining essential points for corporate use such as AI bias, privacy protection, ensuring transparency, hallucination countermeasures, security risks, copyright, and personal information protection laws. It also includes questions from the perspective of how to utilize it more effectively. This reflects the idea that in the current widespread adoption of generative AI, it is important not only to "be able to judge when and where to use it and what to be careful about" but also "how to use it to improve productivity."
Moreover, the PEP Certification is characterized by its continuous updates to the exam content itself to prevent knowledge obsolescence. In 2025, the association announced the addition of new chapters on "AI Agents" and "Context Engineering" to the PEP Certification, indicating a policy to reflect the latest trends in the rapidly evolving generative AI field in the exam. The exam content and learning materials are scheduled for regular updates, making the PEP Certification a "living certification" where learned knowledge is less likely to become outdated, which is one of its great values.
In addition, free learning materials for the PEP Certification are publicly available and can be downloaded by anyone from the official website. This not only helps individuals with self-study but also serves as a useful mechanism for companies as supplementary material for generative AI training or as a basis for standardizing knowledge and creating a common language within the company. The official website also provides information for corporations regarding group examinations, centralized management functions, and volume discounts, suggesting its use not only for individual skill certification but also as a means to raise the overall AI utilization level of organizations.
For inquiries regarding corporate adoption, please contact us using the information below.
JSPE will continue to promote the development of human resources who can "safely, practically, and continuously utilize" generative AI, not just "know about" it, through the PEP Certification. We will continue to work on establishing learning and evaluation standards suitable for the generative AI era, contributing to both individual career development and corporate productivity improvement.
About PEP Certification
The PEP Certification is Japan's first prompt engineering certification exam that systematically measures generative AI instruction design, evaluation, and application skills. It targets a wide range of professions including sales, planning, administration, managers, and engineers, emphasizing practical application and the acquisition of specialized skills. It is designed to be user-friendly for both individuals and corporations, offering free learning materials, CBT format available at test centers nationwide, and corporate services such as group examinations and centralized management functions.
https://prompt.or.jp/pep
About Japan Prompt Engineering Association
The Japan Prompt Engineering Association (JSPE) is dedicated to promoting the knowledge and skills of prompt engineering required in the generative AI era.