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World Unite! has launched an intensive Japanese conversation language course tailored specifically to the needs of those arriving in Japan on a Working Holiday visa. The aim is to enhance listening comprehension, speaking skills, and basic reading skills as rapidly as possible. Beginners can commence the course once per month and are welcome to participate for any duration ranging from 1 to 8 weeks, with rates that are very affordable. We spoke with the lead language instructor, Megumi Taguchi, who also developed the educational materials, to learn more about the course. Who is the course designed for? The course is tailored to meet the needs of foreigners arriving in Japan on a Working Holiday visa. For them, possessing basic conversational Japanese skills can significantly broaden job prospects and income opportunities, enabling effective communication with Japanese customers or colleagues. They require rapid language acquisition and skills relevant to their circumstances. Additionally, individuals undertaking internships with Japanese companies or engaging in volunteer work in Japan can greatly benefit from the Japanese conversation skills acquired through this course. Given that we offer flexible enrollment options starting from just one week and do not impose costly registration fees, we also warmly welcome tourists or travelers interested in learning the Japanese language. What aspects of the course do students most appreciate? My students often expressed that the textbook structure was the most effective aspect of the course. They found it clear and understandable, allowing them to grasp the rules and independently construct sentences and conjugate forms. Moreover, they appreciated the additional homework and practice sheets customized to their individual needs, as it enabled them to focus on areas for improvement in their Japanese skills. Could you please provide a brief overview of the course content? The course offers fast-paced and intensive learning experiences beneficial for students' daily lives. Students can book lessons from 1 to 8-week durations. If you are not a total beginner, but you already know a little, you can join a course after it has started. A placement test is available to ensure the appropriate level. During the initial 2 weeks, students will acquire an understanding of basic Japanese sentence structure and word order. Each day, we will also be learning hiragana, with one column covered per day. During weeks 3 and 4, you will acquire proficiency in various Japanese linguistic elements, including past tense, formal forms, continuous forms, te-forms, imperative forms, conditional statements (if, when, even though), causation, subjective and objective expressions, comparison, and interrogative sentence structures. Each day, we will also be learning katakana letters, with one column covered per day. During weeks 5-8, you will have thorough review and practice sessions covering all previously learned forms, as well as opportunities to enhance your speaking and listening abilities. Furthermore, you will acquire proficiency in using a more formal speaking style enriched with advanced vocabulary, which is essential for working in Japan. Can you share a bit about your background and experience? With 2 years of experience teaching Japanese across 11 countries, I have taught in US colleges, Japan, and online platforms. I am enthusiastic about implementing innovative teaching methods, such as creating my own textbook. My textbook is developed based on various feedback from my students. For example, I identify the most challenging aspects of learning Japanese from my students and strive to provide clear explanations of Japanese rules and systems in English. This approach helps students grasp concepts more rapidly and comprehensively. Additionally, clarifying the differences between English and Japanese structures and expressions enhances students' understanding of the Japanese language. What other options do students of this course have to improve their Japanese? At no extra charge, we offer language exchange events twice a month and a social meetup once a month, fostering friendships and conversation partnerships. Our cultural events, which come at a little extra cost, provide a deeper understanding of Japanese history and culture, offering diverse perspectives to enhance your learning experiences. Students seeking higher proficiency levels after completing the 8-week course can access other schools that we cooperate with and continue their learning journey. Thank you, Megumi for your insights! 😃 You can book the lessons via World Unite! Japan KK: BOOK LESSONS HERE!
Cooking course, language lessons and culinary internship in Japan If you are a fan of Japanese cuisine and want to get to know it first hand and in depth, this program is just right for you! You will spend the first month in Tokyo, taking part in a cooking course and in Japanese language lessons. You can decide whether you prefer to stay with a Japanese host family or, more affordably and independently, in a sharehouse (self-catering). The basic Japanese language skills that you acquire through the participation in the language course is required for the second part of your stay in Japan - the restaurant internship on rural Sado Island. You will then spend the second and third month on Sado Island on the west coast of central Japan in Niigata Prefecture. Sado is a picturesque island with a strong local culture and is also particularly known for local seafood specialties (shrimp, crabs, squid, fish, oysters, abaolone and turban shellfish) as well as seaweed such as wakame, mozuku and iwanori, shiitake mushrooms, traditionally grown rice and persimmons. Sado has several producers of sake, igoneri (seaweed jelly), meat products and other local specialties. Many domestic Japanese tourists travel to Sado for culinary experiences. You will do an internship in a typical Japanese restaurant that specializes in yakitori, ramen, sushi, gyoza or other Japanese or local specialities. There are also two culinary day visits included in the program. You will live in an apartment or in a temple's guesthouse, depending on the location of your internship restaurant. START DATES 2024: January 5, February, 2 March 1, March 29, May 3, May 31, June 28, August 2, August 30, October 4, November 1 and November 29 BOOK NOW! ITINERARY Day 1 - 3 Arrival in Japan, accompanied pick-up from Narita or Haneda airport by public transport and escort to your accommodation (you can choose between a Japanese host family including breakfast and dinner, accommodation in a single room) or a sharehouse (accommodation in a 4-8-share dorm room together with other foreign interns). Saturday and Sunday at leisure. Day 4 - 28 Monday to Friday you will join our intensive language lessons from 9:10 to 12:40 (a total of 20 lessons x 50 minutes/week). You can join the course as a beginner, but also at other levels if you already know some Japanese. You need to do a proficiency test if you want to start the course at a higher level than beginner (available up to upper intermediate). The cooking classes are held 8 times. The English-speaking cooking teacher is a professional chef. Class 1: Japanese food basics The 5 taste concepts (sweetness, saltiness, acidity, bitterness, umami). The 5 colours: red, green, yellow, white, black The 5 methods: bake, simmer, fry, steam, raw Chopstick manners and basics of serving meals Cooking: Grilled fish, steamed egg custard, Japanese mustard spinach with sesame sauce, pork miso soup, white rice Class 2: Easy Japanese dining table setup with rice pot cooking Oyakodon, mizuna and jako salad, instant radish pickles, tofu and shiitake mushroom miso soup. Class 3: Colorful bento with five colors Fried chicken, boiled hijiki, tamagoyaki, boiled spinach, kinpira burdock root, white rice bento Class 4: The concept of "Sashisuseso" Nabe-daki rice, mackerel simmered in miso, meat and potatoes, vinegared seaweed, ginger and cucumber, miso soup Class 5: The role of seasonings in Japanese food and how to make dashi Mixed rice or sekihan, boiled in Chikuzen, horse mackerel pickled in Nanban, clear soup Class 6: Japanese sweets 1 Mizuyokan Class 7: Japanese Sweets 2 Kingyoku and Nerikiri Class 8: Other Japanese dishes Cutlet curry rice and Japanese potato salad or Dumplings and Hiyashi Chuka (Cold Ramen) Accommodation is with your host family (including breakfast and dinner during weekdays and including 3 meals on Saturday and Sunday) or in a sharehouse (shared, self-catering accommodation). The host families mostly live in Saitama, Chiba, Yokohama or in the west of Tokyo. The sharehouse is located in Koto-Ku near Kiba Station. Not included in the price: Commuter ticket for local public transport in Tokyo (between your accommodation and the language school and cooking school; approx. 6500-10,000 JPY for the entire duration). Day 29 & 30 Travel from Tokyo to Sado Island by Shinkansen bullet train and ferry (total travel time approx. 5 hours). You pay for the train and ferry costs yourself, around 14,000 JPY. We will pick you up from the Sado Ferry Terminal (Ryotsu) and drive you to your accommodation on Sado. Accommodation is chosen depending on the location of the restaurant where you would do your internship. In case of the central Sado and Ryotsu area, you will stay at a self-catering rental apartment, single room. The apartment are two-room apartments where you will share kitchen, toilet and bathroom with another participant of the program. In case of a restaurant in the Ogi area of Sado, you will stay at the guesthouse of Koninji Temple at a single Western bedroom, sharing sanitary installations and kitchen with other participants. In case your accommodation and restaurant is in the central Sado or Ryotsu area, you can reach your restaurant by walk, bus (communiting costs at your own expense) or bicycle (provided to you free of charge if needed). In case of the Ogi area, you reach your internship restaurant by bicycle (provided free of charge). Days 31 - 89 You will do your restaurant internship. You will be in the restaurant 4-5 days a week for 4-8 hours each as an assistant to the local chefs. Japanese restaurants typically only prepare one type of food, so the restaurant where you will do your internship will most likely specialize in one certain type of food only such as Yakitori, Ramen, Sushi or Gyozo. Once a month there is a full day trip (included in the price). The date will be decided depending on the availability of all internship participants. First month: Natural herbs collection in the forest and visit to/workshop in a herbal tea factory Second month: Traditional rice cultivation / harvest (depending on season) Accommodation at your apartment room or at Koninji Temple. Day 90 Transfer to the Ryotsu Ferry Port in Sado and return travel to Tokyo (at your own expense) for your outbound flight (visa validity for most nationalities is 90 days, so please make sure to book your return flight accordingly) You can do this program on a Temporary Visitor Status or Tourist Visa (or other long-term visas for Japan that you might arrange on your own). If you are unsure about possible visa options for your nationality, please consult with WORLD UNITE! before booking the program. RATES For 1 person: 2980 USD For 2 persons: 2880 USD for each Host family accommodation (for 30 days): +769 USD Do you want to join this Culinary Internship? Contact us now!
Hokkaido My first day's trip at Shiretoko National Park was split into three parts: snow shoes walking to see nature in the forest, drift ice walking on the frozen sea of Othosk and animal and coastal views at sunset. Moved a little south down the eastern side of Hokkaido. Originally I had intended to go to lake Mashū but the road was blocked so I went to Mount Iō instead and then the town of Kawayuonsen which had a nature trail with deer running free (which was quite a surprise as the trail I got first wasn’t on any map). I visited the Akan Crane Center for day 3. Unfortunately I narrowly missed the bus in the morning and had to wait over 4 hours in Kushiro for the next bus, by which time the cranes were almost all gone, but I could still get the odd decent pic of them. Public transport in Hokkaido is far worse than that in Tokyo and you really need to have things planned out and get up really early at times. I left the east of the island behind and headed for the heart of Hokkaido. This involved a train across the island which passed through endless fields of snow. Since there was heavy sleet and snow that day, I decided to make it a day. I went to see the zoo in Asahikawa where a range of different species from the world’s coldest climates could be found. In the evening I returned to Furano where I was based and walked along Ningle Terrace which is an arts and craft shopping area made entirely of wooden cabins in a forest illuminated by fairy lights. The 5th day got off to a rather bad start as the main purpose of my trip to the Shirogane area, near the town of Biei (within an hour of Furano) was to see the blue pond. However, at this time of the year (March) the pond is frozen over and covered with snow, so barely to be seen. I then headed to Shirogane Falls but enroute I found a gap in the snow drift that went into the trees and I found the relatively well concealed Fudou falls, which has a very uncanny resemblance to a stone staircase. Continuing along the road through the whitewashed landscape I reached Shirogane Falls and was pleasantly surprised to find the blue colour of the water was alive and well here after all. The water was so clear you could see the stones of the river bed even from up high on the suspension bridge. On my 6th day, after a 3 hour bus ride from Furano to Sapporo I felt like the trip to Hokkaido had already ended as it felt like I had returned to Tokyo with a dusting of snow as I had left behind the mountains, ice floes and blue rivers and traded them in for them towers and shopping centres. However, in time I would come to learn that this was in many ways a different place to Tokyo as while it shared many of the conveniences, it did not suffer from the overcrowding the way Tokyo does. In fact I felt like I had a lot of room to roam free, and so I did. I came across many things including the tower, both day and night, an underground shopping centre with exotic birds, the Susukino entertainment district and a giant ferris wheel placed in the center of the main outdoor shopping arcade area. I didn’t have much energy left on the 7th and final day, in fact I didn’t leave the hotel room until exactly the last possible minute I could to check out. I spent the day going around looking at things within a striking distance of the city centre before getting the flight back to Tokyo from Sapporo late in the afternoon. I came across a fish market, a lacklustre clock tower, a pachinko slot arcade and the main outdoor shopping street/arcade. Japanese Alps For the first day on the trip to the Japanese alps I went to Nagano prefecture to see the snow monkeys. There was very little snow left in the middle of March but an abundance of monkeys could still be found. This area is famous for monkeys bathing in the onsen but it was too hot for that (although one did fall in) and they all seemed to gather around the onsen like holidaymakers in Spain gathering around the swimming pool on a sunny day. The thing about the monkey park is although it certainly feels very touristy you still get to have a ‘real’ experience of seeing the monkeys as they act as if nobody's watching, often passing by humans without stopping to look to go off and see other monkeys. In the morning of the 2nd day I went on an hour-long ride to the lowest level of the three tiered shrine complex of Togakushi. Togakushi is essentially a group of shrines that are scattered up the mountain at 3 points of different heights. The ascent to the top involves an increase in altitude of over 100 flights of stairs. I may have picked a bad time of year (March) to go as although it was spring at the bottom it was still very much winter at the top and the shrines were buried in snow to the point I nearly missed them entirely. There was also a tree corridor where half of it was missing as only the conifer trees had kept their leaves. The snow and cold climate caused further problems as the route to the mirror pond was blocked off so all things considered you should wait until at least at the end of spring to come. I returned to Nagano in the afternoon and spent sundown walking around Zenkō-ji. Practically having the temple to myself was a peaceful way to spend sundown on a spring evening. I also liked the atmosphere uphill road leading to the temple, especially at night where it is lit up by street lamps and the mountains cast a strong silhouette in the navy evening sky. At the halfway point of my trip in the Japanese alps I visited Matsumoto Castle, one of the most famous in Japan. In my opinion, the outside of the castle grounds actually looks better but the inside is still worth visiting at only 700JPY. On the inside you can go inside the castle (which feels more like a matchup between a multi-storey shrine and a museum than a typical castle). On the fourth day I went for a ride on the Shinhotaka Ropeway (which can be accessed by bus from both Matsumoto and Takayama). The ropeway barely gets a mention from the guidebooks and online travel blogs, making it the most criminally underrated attraction I have seen in Japan so far. The views at the top of the mountain range were amazing. However, when you come in the winter months there is another thing to see, a mini snow corridor as high as you are running through the trees. The only bad things about the trip are that it takes hours to reach by bus and it is one of the more expensive things to do. Nevertheless, it is still the most impressive sight I saw in the Japanese Alps region. The final part of my trip to the Japanese Alps region was visiting the UNESCO world heritage site of Shirakawa village. I have never been anywhere like it. Even to reach it you have to spend half an hour in darkness going through a mountain tunnel and when you emerge on the other side you arrive at a place composed entirely of thatched roof wooden buildings. When I was walking around the place in the drizzle I couldn’t help but think that it was very much like where I am from in the UK. Both are surrounded by green fields, both are in close proximity to the mountains and the biggest similarity of course being the incessant drizzle that was pouring that day. Report by our participant Jacob
Serena T. (26) from Australia told us about her experience working for a tea plantation on the Japanese Island Sado, located 30km off the coast of Niigata, the largest city on the west coast of Honshu (Japan mainland). From spring 2020 she was staying on the rather rural island, experiencing Japanese daily life and traditional work at the same time. Serena, how did you find that job? Originally I wasn’t the one that signed up for the job. There was a girl at the share house in Tokyo that I lived in and we hung out a lot. She told me that she was going to have an interview with the employer of that tea plantation, arranged by World Unite!. However when the pandemic started, that girl returned to her country. I was very interested in Sado Island too, so I told them if they were looking for someone to fill in that position, I’d be happy to take the role. The interview was then arranged for me instead. Did you speak Japanese prior to the interview? Not really, I knew just a bit. But I had a translator from World Unite! attending the video interview, so it was not a problem whatsoever. Actually, I was originally planning on taking 4 weeks of language lessons when I arrived in Tokyo in February 2020. Though due to the pandemic, things were obviously kind of uncertain and the school needed to postpone the classes for a few weeks, and then decided to do them online for the time being. On Sado Island I was asked to do 2 weeks of self isolation; I used that time to attend the Japanese lessons online. Was that enough to communicate with your employer and the other employees during your work now? When they brought me in for the first time, I actually learned some Japanese from the classes, so I could listen in. Also the employee knows I am foreign, so she speaks very slowly for me. so she was speaking very slowly. Otherwise I relied on body language to understand for example what she is telling me to do during work. I think in my opinion you would need to know at least a little bit of Japanese like the basic part of it, in order to work with them, because they don’t speak any English. When I needed to ask any important questions that I didn't want to get wrong, I communicated with the employer through World Unite! or through a new staff member who recently joined the team who speaks some English. How does a typical work day look like for you? So in the morning, from around 9:00am to 11:30am we would go out to certain parts of the island to pick leaves or grass, depending on what the employer wants us to produce. After that we would return back to the workplace and have lunch for an hour. After that we would wash what we picked, cut it down to smaller pieces and then we would dry them in a machine. And then we would break down the dried leaves from the previous days and put them into bags. That’s pretty much our whole day’s process on a sunny day. On a rainy day we would (instead of picking) be busy with packaging. Putting the leaves into tea bags. May I ask how much you work and how much you are earning? At the moment I'm working 4 days a week, starting at 9:00am for around 4 to 8 hours, depending on how much work we have. The hourly salary is around 830 JPY, which is the minimum wage in Niigata prefecture. In the beginning I was only working half days, because I was still attending language classes during the morning. When working full days, the salary is enough to make a living, especially because my rent is quite affordable. I’d still recommend people to bring some savings when doing a Working Holiday in Japan. Things that you haven’t considered can always happen, like the rainy season when there is less work to do on farms like mine. How is it to live on Sado Island? With Sado Island, I think I have settled down and I’m quite happy here. Because all I’ve known Japan for was pretty much just Tokyo and Kyoto. Once I got here it was a very different sort of feeling. I’ve grown up in the city all my life and to come here where you see mountains in the distance instead of high tower buildings, is a very nice change of pace. From a fast paced environment to a very relaxed environment. Plus, I get to just focus on studying Japanese here. What are you doing in your free time? My previous roommate had introduced me to other foreigners on the island that I go out with a lot. They have a car and can take me around the island [laughs]. Staying at home, I’m doing some yoga, trying to exercise on my own and study. During the evenings I take private online Japanese lessons by a teacher that also lives on the island. What did you do back in Australia and what are your plans after leaving Japan? I worked at banks and an insurance company. And what I plan to do afterwards, I have not decided yet [laughs]. But I will stay in Japan until next February, as I’m planning to stay for the whole Working Holiday year. What’s your advice for future Working Holidayers? When it comes to the mindset, as long as you show an interest in Japanese culture and language and are willing to learn, you are good. The Japanese people I've met love to learn, they really love asking questions, so as long as you are open to also bringing some of your culture to them and are actually open to sharing, they would be open to share with you and learn something from it. Also, if anyone is looking to escape the city life, Sado Island would be pretty good! This interview was conducted in July 2020.
There can’t be anyone left living in or visiting Tokyo who hasn’t seen them at least once: groups of go-karts dashing through the streets, dressed in colorful costumes of lovable cartoon or video game characters. But did you know that you can not only join those cheerful groups as a tourist, but actually work as their tour guide, leading the squad through the exciting city? Adam E. (28) from Australia landed one of the popular jobs as a street-go-kart guide and told us everything about it. Adam, how did you originally find that job? So basically I went on a holiday to Japan before. And doing the street kart tour myself as a tourist. I looked at the guy in the front and thought, “He’s getting paid for this! If I can I want to come to Japan and try this.” But when I first got to Japan for my Working Holiday then, the company just hired someone, but I sent them an email anyway, introducing myself. Said I love driving, meeting new people, Tokyo and everything about it. Since then I checked the job market every day for the job to become available and around 2 months later it actually did. I applied officially through a job advertisement page that also told you how many people had applied for the position so far. It was exactly one person - me! The company remembered my email I sent a few months before and said “Hey, you seem pretty passionate, come in for an interview. That’s how I got the job. I knew I wanted it and I didn’t let anything stop me. I know two month waiting is generally not too bad, but it was tough to be patient for it, because of some payments I had to make back in Australia, trouble back home. But I knew that was what I wanted to do, so I even declined another offer for a second interview for a job as an English teacher that came up at the same time as the street kart job. That was quite risky, but the timing for my dream job was just perfect in the end, it came right when I needed it. Excuse this question, but what exactly is a street-go-kart guide even doing? It’s basically being a city tour guide! Just on wheels. I would go by go-kart with a group of up to 6 people (everyone has their own kart) and drive all around Tokyo, starting in Shinagawa, through Roppongi, passing by the Tokyo Tower, going through for example Omotesando and Shibuya, or over the Rainbow bridge to Odaiba, depending on the route the group chose to take. I would take pictures of the group, explain where exactly we were. And just make sure that the customers are having fun, which was the main focus of the job. Afterwards, when I came back to the office, there would be the go kart maintenance, admin stuff, greeting new customers, choosing costumes with them. Guiding customers on go-karts through the streets of Tokyo sounds challenging. Was there proper training? Yes, there was a training period. You start off in the back of the group as a customer, just watching what the other tour guide does. Depending on how quickly you learned the courses, you get to go into the front after a few times, with a small group of customers first and you have the experienced tour guide in the back following you around, giving you advice through an earpiece, for example if you lose your way. For me in the end that whole process took around a month, until the tour guide who trained me was basically just a customer observing. But I was lucky, because I had driven in Tokyo before and I remembered the different spots and in the end I knew some of the stress of Tokyo already. Different nooks and things like that. What were your general working hours? So I went a bit crazy with it [laughs]. I loved the job that much that I just asked my boss to give me as many shifts as possible. I ended up working 6 days a week, up to 12 hours shifts. But of course no one has to do that. It was just that I enjoyed it so much and on my days off I was sad. And it was probably the wrong thing doing it, but I wanted to. Generally you could do it anywhere between a full time or weekend job, or you could do it every day only in the afternoon, or however you liked it. It was kind of up to you, because it was that kind of job where you could pick shifts somewhere between morning and night. That allowed you a big flexibility. Very understandable, if you liked your work more than your free time, why shouldn’t you do it? Considering you earned money doing what you loved! Would you let us know about your salary? Sure. So I was really lucky with this job. I started off with a training that was around 900 JPY per hour. Then, once I was trained off after around a month, I was getting 1,100 JPY per hour. But the best part of it, because I was serving overseas customers, was that there were tips. So if you did a good tour, you got rewarded for it. For a few months I didn’t use my wage at all, I was just living off my tips. That was during the rugby world cup in Japan when lots of foreign travelers were around. Maybe because I loved it so much, my energy was up every tour, and that got rewarded. Do you understand Japanese? If yes, how did your Japanese skills improve while dashing around Tokyo? The best thing of all was that it was all in English, I didn’t have to know any Japanese for the job at. It was a bonus that I could speak it a little bit to communicate with some of the Japanese staff members, but not a necessity. Basically 95% of customers were foreigners from all around the world, so English was the main thing you used. That was also the most fun part of the job - meeting new people from different countries everyday. What were the general requirements for working there? As a requirement I of course needed to have a driving permit. As Australian I can drive in Japan with an international license. Other nationalities, I think for example Germans, need to get their national license translated here in Japan and then apply for a Japanese license with the translation. During the job interview the company just wanted to see how you were as a person, not my Japanese skills. After all, I needed to be a tour guide talking to people and making them feel comfortable. If you were too closed off as a person, the company may have thought “Oh, we don’t know if he is able to have fun with the customers.” Being an open character was important. If you had a little bit of background in customer service that was a benefit... Also a plus was if you knew at least some things about Japan, which I assume almost everyone who is doing a Working Holiday here does. It wasn’t too grueling to fulfill the few requirements. It was just that I really needed a license. Could you tell me something about your colleagues? It was a mix of Japanese and internationals. The managers were Japanese. And a few Japanese students were also working there as tour guides, learning English along the way. But the rest of the team were internationals, like people from Brazil, Argentina, from the UK, America. I made friends from all around the world, that was a big plus. The bonus with the Japanese staff was that I could make a fool out of myself, trying to use my Japanese skills [laughs]. That was a lot of fun. There were a few mistakes, a few laughs, but they were always appreciative that I at least tried, and because they could test their English on me, it was kind of a language exchange. What did you do in your free time? The share house that I stayed in had a lot of Japanese in it, so I’d be hanging out with them. But it also had free bike rental , so I’d just rent a bike and pick a direction and ride and take a lot of pictures of what I’d find. That was some of my favorite days, just riding around, experiencing Japan. I was living in Kanagawa, so I’d ride into Yokohama a lot, just experiencing the city. Once I knew the roads there I’d take off in a different direction. And then a few times I’d just go out into Tokyo, get some nice food, do some shopping, playing in some of the arcades. Sometimes I left the Tokyo/Yokohama area, too. I’m into the band Babymetal and went to three different concerts of them, one of them was in Nagoya. Visited a language exchange partner in Osaka. Also I hired a car a few times, visiting another friend close to Fuji. So I didn’t go all over the country, but there were a few major cities I went to, but because I’ve done a few holidays prior to my Working Holiday I was just sort of living in Japan rather than being the tourist . Could you give possible future Working Holidayers some tips? I guess it can feel daunting, but it’ll be the best thing you’ll ever do. I miss Japan every day. Just come over with a little bit of money in the case of anything unforeseen things happen. In my case I probably should have had a little bit more money before I came over. So just save up a little bit of money before you come over. And I’d just say do it, if you can. I didn't have a plan other than I wanted that job. And I somehow made it work. I think if I could do it, anybody could. Awesome, thanks for your time, Adam!
Latest update: November 19, 2020. This page answers some common questions about a Working Holiday in Japan since the issuance of Working Holiday visas has resumed in late October 2020. As procedures and regulations might change at any time, please always consult with the Japanese embassy or consulate in charge of you. This page is for basic information purposes only. All information has been collected to the best of our knowledge, but we do not guarantee the accuracy of this information. The information is not legally binding in any way. Is it possible to get a Working Holiday visa now? Yes, since end of October 2020, after a suspension of 7.5 months, Working Holiday Visas for Japan are issued again to individuals of all nationalities who can get a Working Holiday Visa. You need however a written pledge from a Japanese company ("Residence Track"). What is the written pledge ("Residence Track")? The written pledge is a document written in Japanese (see it here), which must be filled out and signed/stamped by a Japanese company, pledging that you as the traveller ona Working Holiday visa, will follow the COVID-19 related safety regulations imposed by Japanese government. The company signing the pledge takes responsibility for you during your entire stay in Japan and will face drastic consequences should you not obey to these regulations. This is a big responsibility that few Japanese are willing to take. Can I buy a written pledge somewhere? No, it is illegal for a Japanese company to just sell the written pledge. Should you find any such offer, you should be very careful if it is a legitimate one. So where do I get the written pledge ("Residence Track") from? There are three possibilities: From an employer in Japan, which is a Japanese company registered in the Commercial Register of Japan with a commercial registration number From a Japanese language school willing to issue the pledge to its language students From a Working Holiday support organization registered as a company in Japan such as World Unite! that supports you during your whole time in Japan (Source) When should I apply for a Working Holiday visa? If you book Working Holiday support with World Unite! and if you want to come to Japan as soon as possible on a Working Holiday Visa, you should allow a minimum of 3 weeks of lead time: Around one week to prepare your visa application documents and get the pledge, around 7-10 days for the embassy to process your documents and issue your visa and a little bit of buffer time to make sure you get everything sorted before the departure of your flight. In some countries you need to make an appointment with the Japanese embassy or consulate to hand in your visa application. The visa validity (the time between when the visa is issued and when you have to arrive in Japan) is currently 3 months in most cases. The one year you get on a Working Holiday visa then counts from the day you enter Japan (for some nationalities only 6 months, for Australians a maximum of 18 months). I already had a Working Holiday visa issued before the border closure in March 2020 that I have not yet used to enter Japan. Can I use it to enter Japan now? No, you need to re-apply for your visa, which is possible if you have not yet completed your 30th year of life by the time of applying for the visa. For Australians this might be different, we will add this part as soon as we have clear information. Which COVID-19 regulations do I have to follow? 1) COVID-19 tests Travellers from most countries need to provide a negative COVID-19 PCR test result (in English), with the test made within 72 hours prior to departure time of your flight to Japan. Currently only if you are flying into Japan from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan (and some more Asian countries for whose citizens there is no Working Holiday visa), this is not needed. This list of countries may change depending on the corona situation, so please double-check. Your flight can have stop-overs on the way to Japan, but you are not allowed to leave the airport transit area. You will then be tested again (free of charge) on arrival at the airport in Japan (only Narita, Haneda and Osaka are currently receiving international flights) and you have to wait for 1-2 hours at the health section of the airport to get the test result. You cannot have a connecting flight (from Narita/Haneda/Osaka) to another Japanese airport on arrival to Japan and quarantine there. You have to enter Japan from Narita/Haneda/Osaka and proceed directly the the quarantine location from there. 2) Quarantine measures Even if both PCR test are negative, you have to do 14 days of quarantine, which count from the day after the arrival (so it is 15 nights of quarantine). The quarantine can only be done at: a hotel that offers the possibility to do quarantine an apartment/room rented by you that is not shared (no other people are allowed to live there sharing rooms, sanitary installations, kitchen etc with you) your own family living in Japan For the entire duration of the qurantine you are not allowed to leave your room. E.g. you are not allowed to use the hotel's restaurant, breakfast room, lounge, or to go outside to do grocery shopping. So you need food to be delivered to your room. On the way from the airport to your quarantine location you are not allowed to use any public transport, shared shuttles, domestic flights or regular taxis. You must make use of a vehicle that is only transporting yourself. You can for instance use this special service. 3) Tracing apps You have to install two apps on your smartphone and use them during your entire time in Japan: A) LINE and B) Japan government's Covid-19 tracing app A) You will be asked on arrival at the airport how you can be contacted at any time while in Japan. The easiest option is to make use of the LINE app. You should install it before your travel to Japan and register it with your current (foreign) mobile phone number (which won't change in case you change to a Japanese SIM card later). You might be contacted by health ministry officials via text message asking about your health status and current location. These messages are only sent in Japanese. You must reply to these messages. World Unite! will help you with this if needed. B) Japanese government Covid-19 tracing app: Download for Android Download for Apple What will happen if I disrespect the COVID-19 regulations? The company that has issued your pledge will get serious problems with Japanese authorities and will therefore do the uttermost to avoid that you disrespect the regulations, e.g. by imposing certain rules to you (e.g. where you have to spend the quarantine), and asking you to sign a binding agreement with them, which could result in legal claims by the company if you breach the agreement. Additionally, the Japanese authorities can impose high fines to you and deportation. Conclusion: You have to take the COVID-19 regulation seriously! Is travelling within Japan currently possible? Travelling within Japan is currently possible. There is even the GO TO travel campaign by Japanese government to support domestic tourism that you can use if you are on a Working Holiday Visa, allowing you to get subsidized rates for hotels, tours, domestic flights, attractions etc. Some regional tourism associations have additional promotional campaigns, so travelling within Japan is currently cheaper than usually. What is the job situation like currently for someone on a Working Holiday visa? It depends on the sector. In some sectors it is more difficult than before the COVID pandemic, whereas others have recovered or have always remained unaffected. More difficult: Tourism related jobs (hotels, resorts...) - as regular foreign tourists can still not yet enter Japan, there are less job opportunities in the tourism sector. Tourism is expected to resume from around April 2021. Teaching English jobs - many language schools still don't have the same attendance as before the pandemics as lots of classes have changed to online. English teachers providing online lessons are often not physically located in Japan, but providing their lessons from abroad. Recovered or not affected: Restaurant jobs, factory jobs, cleaning jobs, farm work, sales jobs etc. are available.
We met Jessica P. (28), a half Italian half German Working Holidayer, who is currently jobbing in an Irish Pub in one of Tokyo's busy business and college districts. Before Jessica's shift on a rainy Friday night started, we were allowed to visit the pub and interview her about her job and her exciting life besides work. Jess, thank you and thank you to your boss for letting us interview you here before opening hours! How did you land this job? My pleasure! Well, a former roommate of the share house I'm living in had been working here before. She told me that she would quit her job, because she needed to go back to her country. She knew that I was searching for a job and offered me to hand my resume to her boss, because they were of course searching for a replacement for her. In the end they didn't even want to have a look at my resume before meeting me. My roommate just set up the interview between me and the boss in the pub and I brought my resume on that very day. It was a casual and rather easy-going interview. I got the job on the spot. Did they expect special skills from you? Meaning, did the job come with certain requirements? During the interview they of course asked me, if I had experience in catering work. I had been helping out on events back home, but had no experience working in a restaurant or bar. Therefore having certain catering experience might have been a plus, but it wasn't mandatory to get the job. Skills that are really needed for the job, such as tapping beer, are taught by the supervisor. I'm still learning a lot at the moment. Nevertheless, during the interview I pointed out that I have experience in working with clients and that I can get on well with people. I think that was one of the main reasons that I scored. Also Japanese skills weren't needed, neither speaking or writing. I speak some basic Japanese, but for example the two other part timers here don't speak it at all and still can manage to work here. Although I think it goes without saying that everyone should do their homework before starting a job. For me it was to learn at least a few phrases such as "What would you like to drink?" and so on. Anyway, a lot of customers can speak English. And I also think that many of them come here especially because they like to speak English and because they want to emerge into a foreign atmosphere. How many times a week are you working here? From the beginning I was searching for a job with 2-3 shifts a week. And luckily my boss wanted exactly someone like that. My shifts start at either 5pm or 6pm and end at 11pm. By the way, the nice thing about Tokyo is that you can easily have more than one part time jobs at once. Many of my friends work one job Monday and Tuesday, another one Thursday and Friday, and maybe a third one on the weekend. Thanks to that you can experience different sides of the city, various types of jobs and of course meet all kinds of people. What are you doing besides working? The pub is the only place I'm working at right now. Which is exactly what I want, because besides that I also want to make time for a project I'm working on with a group of friends. We are trying to establish an international community where Japanese and foreigners have the opportunity to meet one another. We are organising for example girls parties or international picnics. Let's see what can come out of it. This is one of the wonderful things about life here: you arrive as a working holidayer, with no special expectations, and you end up in a great international group of friends that you can explore the city with. How does a typical shift at the pub look like? Usually when I arrive at 5pm I have to start with cleaning tasks, such as wiping the counters, vacuum cleaning and disinfecting the tables. Also cleaning the toilet is a part of it. From 6pm we open and the first customers arrive. From there it's the usual pub work that most people can imagine. Like taking orders, issuing bills, cashing in, serving the drinks and dishes. I have two breaks, both quite short, but I don't mind, because the workflow is generally not too stressful or strict. In between tasks, when everyone is served, I can even check my phone or just chat with other team members and also guests. In the second break I eat my dinner. May I ask about your salary? Here in the pub I earn 1,050 JPY an hour. From 10:30pm it's a little bit more, because it's considered as the late night shift. Plus I'm getting 500 JPY for commuting and one dish a shift. What happened to your job during the state of emergency that Tokyo declared during the Corona crisis? As advised by the government, the pubs opening hours were of course shortened. We have a lot of regular customers, meaning, they come here after work several times per week, and even though we had the crisis, they luckily still came. They work in the close by business districts or even live close. I myself couldn't work during the state of emergency. I have a chronic illness that I need to take medicine for, therefore I belong to the risk group. Both my doctor back home and my Japanese doctor here recommended me not to work with people and to really stay at home. I was a little scared that I'd lose my job. But when I told my boss about it he accepted it without any resistance. During my long absence he even let me know several times that the team was looking forward to me returning back to work, as soon as it's possible. Another one of my co-workers had the same problem as me. I was happy having such an understanding workplace, although I believe that many Japanese bosses have compassion during these hard times. Do you have any last tips about job searching in Tokyo on a Working Holiday visa? Just go for it! I’m usually someone who needs to plan everything ahead and have structure in what I’m doing. But a Working Holiday is THAT chance to NOT have everything written in stone yet. Just make sure of one thing: save up some money before coming. Situations like the current Corona pandemic can’t be planned ahead, and it’s always good to have a financial buffer for cases like that. Generally the life here is not as expensive as I had imagined it. That’s maybe because I live in a share house, which is one of the most money saving styles of residing here as a foreigner in Tokyo. Don’t go into this experience thinking it’s extremely hard to find a job. For example, many of my friends here just walked into a restaurant or cafe and asked if they had an opening. By embracing chances they found their jobs. Just do your homework before applying anywhere, such as what is the minimum wage, so no one screws you over. And connections are important. As I said, I found my job through a roommate. For other people in my shared house it was the same. If you are surrounded by people, you will get offers, if you are open for them. And don't be afraid that you don't find friends. You will be socialized in no time, if you put yourself out there. Jessica is a state-approved educator and was active for 8 years as a social worker in schools in both Germany and Switzerland before coming to Japan. Visiting Japan has always been her dream. Since coming for a vacation in 2019, the thought of working and living in Japan didn’t let her go anymore. A Working Holiday seemed like the perfect opportunity to get to know the culture and language even better. Jessica is planning to switch to another visa after the Working Holiday visa expires and to stay in Japan.
In the 90’s and 00’s car tuning and car collecting hit its peak. The Japanese way of car tuning and customization became a worldwide phenomenon. Most people might remember the movie Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift from 2006, which was made upon the hype. The ones, who remember this movie, can recall how the tuning scene looks like and how the underground environment played out. The history With world-famous brands such as Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda, Lexus, Mazda and Daihatsu, Japan is a car manufacture country. Some of the country’s economy is built up around cars, which have had a huge impact to people of Japan. After the war Japanese men started to tune their cars, which escalated to the huge trend and obsession, that it became. In the late 80’s the trend was about to enter its prime. In 1989 the /Midnight club /was established, which was a very exclusive car club for enthusiasts of car tuning. The club arranges meetups and races, which was the main purpose of car tuning The obsession Japan has a word called otaku, which translates to nerd, geek and enthusiast. Otaku is more of a culture than a word, which applies to these car enthusiasts. The Japanese culture is very much competitive, and kids are taught from a young age about being the best and winning. This cultural dimension also applies to the car environment, where everyone involved want to have the fastest, coolest and most admirable car. There are different aspects of tuning and customization. Some like to buy vintage cars and rebuild them after their taste, while others have the latest Porsche or Lamborghini. Japanese car manufactures have through time created some iconic cars within this environment. If I mention cars like Skyline, Supra and RX-7, you can properly recall, who the manufacture is, and what it looks like. At the same time some Japanese people are not tuning and customizing to show off, but simple for their own amusement. They often collect antique cars, bring them to their garage and just simply make them look nice. Maybe if the cars are beyond nice, they bring it to one of the very popular car exhibits. The supercar-era Street racing and tuning peaking in the 00’s and kind of died out in the start of the 10’s due to improvement of police effort. The police brought more attention to the issue of street racing by bringing more officers on the street and step up their own car collection. For instance, they started using Nissan GTRs as police cars. In that way they could keep up with the racers. For some years there was an empty unfilled space in the car community. At the same time the racers from the 90’s and 00’s had become older and lost their interest in dangerous street racing. Therefore, a natural change happened, where the streets took quiet and the racers as well. As far as I am concerned the streets are still quiet, but the obsession with cars are not. The culture has just changed to a more radical self. With that being said some of the streets of Tokyo are still buzzing with noise from supercars. Rich people are still showing of their million-dollar cars. Take a walk in the wealthier area of Tokyo and the supercars will be driving by you constantly. Especially the areas Roppongi, Omotosando and Daikanyama are filled up due to the residencies of wealthy people. Don’t be surprised if the next three cars passing by you is a Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini. Showing off Showing off properly is a bold way to put it, but Japan have numerous car exhibitions every year. The biggest one is called /Tokyo Motor Show /and is held on Odaiba in Tokyo. Here is a list of exhibitions and locations: Tokyo: * Tokyo Auto Salon, Makuhari Messe, January * Automotive World, Tokyo Big Sight, January * Tokyo Motor Show, Tokyo Big Sight, October * Toyota City Showcase, Mega Web Odaiba, All year Nagoya: * Automotive World, Port Messe Nagoya, September * Nagoya Auto Trend, Port Messe Nagoya, February Osaka: * Osaka Automesse, Intex Osaka, February * Osaka Motor Show, Intex Osaka, December
We met with Felix M. (19) just a few days after his last shift at a Tokyo located logistic company for educational books. The German worked there for a little over 3 months and was so nice to give us an insight into his Working Holiday job. Felix, how did a typical work day look like for you? The company I worked for receives, depending on the season, huge amounts of deliveries from printing groups every day. The packages contain mainly educational books that I needed to unpack and sort into their respective space in the shelves of the storage room, first thing in the morning. Throughout the day my main task was to put our clients’ orders together, meaning, searching for the books they ordered, putting them into packages and making them ready for pickup from the delivery service. I had to be fit in order to lift the boxes, but that was not a problem, as I had done more physically challenging work back in Germany. How did you like the experience? The work itself was easy and almost monotonous I have to admit. But the work environment was all the better! The people who worked there were all friendly and we got along well, which made the job really enjoyable. The general company language was English. That made things easier because I barely speak Japanese. All in all it was pleasant to work there. Did you need any Japanese skills for the job? No, it was completely doable in English. The only times Japanese skills would have been helpful was when I had to accept the deliveries from the Japanese post service at the beginning of each day. Or when I wanted to know the meaning or reading of a Kanji. But my boss just quickly taught me if needed, although that rarely happened. Consequently my little existing Japanese didn’t improve at all during work. That was honestly the only downside of the job. How did you find the job in the first place? One of the World Unite! staff members who is acquainted with my boss posted an advertisement for the job in one of the organization's chat groups. I just had to send my application documents, in either English or German, because my boss was German actually, to her. She forwarded it to my future employer then. He found interest in me and invited me to a job interview. I was hired and a job training followed during the first couple of weeks. What were your general working hours? I started every day at 10:00 and most days I worked around 4-7 hours, depending on how busy we were. The months I worked there (beginning of February to mid May 2020) were rather busy, one of the reasons I was hired in the first place. That’s because school starts here in Japan and other places in April and educational books need to be distributed. So in average I think I worked around 4-5 hours a day, 7 hours on busy days, from Monday to Friday. One single time I also came in on the weekend because there was just a lot to do. 7 hours a day, 5 times a week, that sounds almost like a full time job. I assume you earned enough to make a living? And did that leave you with enough time for private activities? Definitely! On the weekend or even after work I had enough time to either meet friends or go to the gym. I earned 1,200 JPY per hour, minus tax, which was enough to live. And my working hours left me with plenty of free time. It was pleasant and suited my lifestyle. And there was a big plus coming with the job. Most employers in Japan pay for their employees' commuting fee. So did mine. As I worked there 5 days a week, I received a commuter pass. With that I could travel between the train station I live close to and the station close to my work place for free, whenever I wanted. Even on the weekend. Meaning, I saved a lot of money when going to Shibuya, Shinjuku and so on during my free time, as the commuter pass covered those spots. What are you planning on doing now that your job is over? Last Friday I had my very last shift. It was a nice experience to get to know my colleagues. But now I’m looking forward to traveling around, because I have spent most of my Working Holiday in Tokyo so far. I have to be back in Germany by the end of August to attend an interview with a university to get into my chosen major computer science. So I want to use the time I have left in Japan the best I can. Any advice for people who are thinking about doing a Working Holiday in Japan? Just do it! Come to Tokyo. It’s a massive city, there are always jobs waiting for us Working Holidayers. I wouldn’t worry about that.
If you want to learn how to prepare Japanese dishes such as Sushi, Tempura, Ramen, Udon, Bento, Soba, Wagashi (Desserts) or even learn the art of the Japanese tea ceremony, we recommend airKitchen, a website where local private hosts, but also restaurants with master chefs, offer cooking lesson to foreigners. The costs start usually from around 3000 JPY for a 1.5 to 2 hours course including the ingredients, but there are even cheaper listings. Lessons can however also reach 24,000 JPY or more for a 2 hours class taught by a master sushi chef. Lessons on airKitchen are listed in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Sapporo and many other cities in Japan. https://airkitchen.me
Many people are into second hand clothes shopping: It's cheap, it's original, and it is often something you do not see everyone else wearing! Especially as a Working Holiday participant, you might want to spend money on travelling instead of expensive clothes, so we found a place where this is possible. Hipster of Tokyo If you like affordable clothes, then why not try out second hand shopping? In Tokyo, the neighbourhood Shimokitazawa is known for it's many second hand shops, cafés, and young hipster people. It is also known for live music and theater. So on a sunny Saturday, my roommate and I decided to find this place. The way there is very easy: A walk from the World Unite! share house to Kiba station, then 2 different trains, and we had arrived to Shimokitazawa station. Then we basically just walked out of the station, and were met by several second hand shops, good smells of sweets and coffee shops, and a great deal of people. We chose a random street, and then we started looking around. There was a mix of second hand shops and "normal" shops, cafes, restaurants, convenient stores etc. We went into different shops, and could see the originality of the clothes, and also how different it was to what is usually seen in the streets of - for example Kiba, where most people only wear black, white and grey. So far we could already tell that the place is perfect for people who like fashion! Colours, colours, and more colours We went past so many shops, and found a dress shop that we decided to check out. The amount of different colours were outstanding! I was wondering how people could possibly wear such flowered and coloured dresses, but it actually looks really good on many people here. In the streets we also saw people wearing original outfits, but most of the people walking in the streets did not look specifically hipster. After walking a lot, we decided to take a break at a crepe cafe. Everything was baby pink inside the cafe. A friendly male cashier greeted us when we came in, we ordered our chocolate crepes, and then we realised that all the customers were female. It was like a little girlie spot, with a beautiful lamp, small pretty details, and best of all - the smell of freshly made crepes. The place was so cozy and people looked to enjoy a lot. New York Joe Exchange One "Must-Visit" second hand shop is the New York Joe Exchange. We went there, and the place was packed! People were standing in line to look at all the colourful hipster clothes, and the line to the fitting room was long! Also, there was loud rap music and people seemed so excited to shop there. That is a place that no one who visits Shimokitazawa should miss! Sadly, we did not find anything we wanted to buy, but it will probably be a better idea to visit the shop on a weekday, and not on a busy Sunday. But it was nice to see, and we were happy that we went there. That was the last stop at our little day trip to Shimokitazawa, and we went home with yet another experience. About the Author Christina is 26 years old, originally Kenyan/Danish and she is currently interning for World Unite! in the Japan Tokyo Office. She is helping participants who do a Working Holiday in Japan through World Unite!, and when she is in the office she helps out with administrative work and social media marketing. Title picture: Guwashi99; creative commons.
Japan sure has many things to offer! Everything from manga and anime, to robots and mountains! Have you for example ever heard of a 599,15m high mountain one hour away from Tokyo? I sure had not, but then someone from my World Unite! sharehouse talked about his great hike on Mount Takao. So - that is basically how that idea was planted in my head! Step 1: Find the Mountain! I am staying at the World Unite! sharehouse in Tokyo - now it is my second month here, and every weekend I do my best to plan the most interesting things to do! I do not mind if it is being touristy, as I will only be staying here for 3 months, so I do not see myself as anything else than a tourist! I just want it to be fun and exciting. So, last weekend the menu was: A mountain climb! My World Unite! sharehouse roommate and I wanted to climb Mount Takao, so we packed our bags with water and food, charged phones, good mood, and we were ready to go. From our sharehouse in Shiohama to Takao Station took approximately 2 hours, with a little train confusion on the way - but we made it! The day was hot and humid like many other days during the late Japanese spring, so we were happy and ready to explore a nice and cooler area in Kanto! When we finally arrived, my roommate did not feel very well so we decided to split up. My roommate explored the area around Mount Takao, and I climbed it. Usually, I am not a big fan of doing things all by myself as I actually really enjoy experiencing with friends or family, because then you can share the experience afterwards, and create memories together that way! But that day I was on my own! Of course, I had my very best friend in Japan with me, Google Maps, that (again) did a good job in supporting me. So, let me just admit it: the hardest thing on this little trip was to find the mountain. Where should I start? Google Maps showed me that it would take around 2 hours to get to the top, so I just started to follow the blue dot, and I ended up in a place with music and lots of people - and a path! So it looked like I found the way up. Step 2: Climb it So now you are probably thinking: 599.15 m, that is just a small hill - and now is the time I will advise you to google Mount Takao. It is an actual mountain, and it was an actual climb to the top! As I had finally found the path up, the next step was just to climb it. So I started walking comfortably up, and weirdly enough, most people were walking down. But as I looked behind me I could see that I was not the only one climbing it, so I could not be totally lost! I walked and walked and it was so so steep! I was even sweating and I was very happy that I brought a bottle of water. The place was beautiful though - so much nature! I could hear birds singing, the wind in the trees, and I could look up and see the sky which was totally blue. I was feeling very happy, and I did not have to worry about getting lost, because as long as I was walking up, I would reach the top at some point. So I continued walking, continued sweating, and continued enjoying! After some time, I reached a viewpoint from where I could see all over Tokyo - it was so beautiful! I met a nice American couple and asked them to take a photo of me, and then of course I took one of them. They were so friendly, and told me that they were living in Tokyo and then they wished me a good stay in Japan, and we went our separate ways. I decided to take a little break, eat some lunch, and enjoy the view, and then I continued up. Step 3: Yakuoin Soon enough, I reached this beautiful Buddhist temple called Yakuoin. It was so nice and there were many people there. I walked around, looked at people, and took everything in, as it was probably a once-in-a-life experience to be there (except that I had to pass the place when going down again, minor detail)! I had read that many people visit the temple to pray to the Buddhist mountain gods, and I could also see some people praying when I was there. After exploring the temple I continued further up, and there were lots of stairs to ascend. I did not want to be slow, so I passed many couples enjoying a climb, old people taking a walk, and also other tourists like myself. The funniest thing I saw was a lady who was taking her rabbit for a walk. Yes, you read that correctly, it was a rabbit. And no, it was not a small dog that I thought was a rabbit! It was an actual rabbit, and she had it on a leash and then she was carrying a little basket - probably so the rabbit could be carried if it felt tired. Of course, there were also people walking with their dogs in baby carriages (I guess it should be called dog carriages?), but I got used to seeing those in Tokyo by now! Step 4: All the way up Finally, I saw a sign saying "Top of Mt. Takao", and I knew I was close. Just a few more stairs, and then I was there! I walked to another viewpoint and it was so so amazing. That was one of those views that a photo just cannot catch! It was something you simply have to experience for yourself. I was so happy that I made it there, and I just really needed to share it with someone. So I called my family back home, and I told them how amazing it was, and then I felt even happier after the talk. It was also here that I found a friendly-looking person who took a photo of me at the top. It was so cool! I spent some time there enjoying the feeling until I was ready to go down again. Step 5: Down The way down went so fast! It basically felt like squatting all the way down, because I really had to control my legs so they would not just start to run away from me. It felt funny, and it was actually almost as hard as going up - just in a different way! But I made it down in no time. I walked and walked, back to the station, where I met with my roommate again, and we decided to spend money on discount ice-cream which was 100% worth it. So, all in all that day was just amazing, and it was a very amazing experience! I will definitely recommend everyone coming to Japan to try to climb Mt Takao. Oh, and a little side note; I found out that there are actually much easier ways up that the way I chose! Apparently, the path I used to go up, was a hard one, and my sharehouse-mates told me that there are other paths - a lot less steep. Good to know! About the Author Christina is 26 years old, originally Kenyan/Danish and she is currently interning for World Unite! in the Japan Tokyo Office. She is helping participants who do a Working Holiday in Japan through World Unite!, and when she is in the office she helps out with administrative work and social media marketing.
A working holiday should not only be about work but also about discovering the country. There is so much to see and experience in Japan that you should not miss out on while you are here! We wanted to get out of Tokyo city life for a long weekend and it wasn't difficult to decide on Nikko. Only a 2-hour train ride away from Tokyo, this town in the hills makes for a perfect weekend getaway if you want to sniff some culture and be surrounded by nature. We booked the Turtle Inn Nikko Annex Hotel which is not too far from the train station with its own onsen (Japanese style hot spring), and after dropping off our luggage in the lobby and getting some good advice from the receptionist for our stay we headed out for our first lunch in Nikko. Of course we wanted to try yuba, a by-product of tofu production that is ubiquitous in Nikko, being a center of Buddhist activity since its foundation. We found this cute little udon noodle restaurant called Kanman Teahouse that served yuba as a side dish, perfect for our lunch. The yuba was very smooth and flavorful, and we loved the cold udon and tea with Japanese sweets that we got afterward. A good start of our weekend Our First Day: History and Beauty Then it was time to immerse ourselves in Japanese history. After passing through a foresty road with old jizo statues we headed to the Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park. Here you can walk around the huge Japanese style villa that used to be the vacation home of the imperial family. It's not just the house that breathes a quiet atmosphere, the garden also makes for a peaceful little stroll in a typical Japanese garden. If you come at the right time you can also see a very old Sakura tree bloom. This was the green oasis we were hoping to find when we left Tokyo! As a visit to Nikko is not complete without visiting its main shrine, the Toshogu, it was next on our list. As expected there were many tourists, foreign as well as Japanese, but we could also easily tell why this shrine complex is so popular. Its wood carvings are exquisite, there are so many beautiful little details that the buildings are like pieces of art. At several locations within the complex priests carried out Shinto rituals in order to bring fortune to the people, and stones on the ground were arranged to look like turtles to bring good luck. What most people don`t know is that it is worth it to walk the extra 1.5 kilometer up the hill on the east side of the temple. Here you can find the rarely visited Takio shrine in the middle of the woods, surrounded by small water streams. We enjoyed being away from the crowds and savored the silence. By the time we left the Takio shrine it was getting dark, meaning it was time to look for a place to eat because restaurants and even bars close early in Nikko (and other places outside the big cities in Japan for that matter). We decided on Bar de Nikko because of its good reviews on TripAdvisor, and we did not regret it. The food was delicious and nicely presented, and there was a large assortment of drinks available. It was open until 21.00, which is quite unique in this small town. In the evening we soaked in the hotel onsen with a nice view of the fast streaming river outside through a large window and went to bed early. The Second Day: Hiking and Nature One of the purposes of the trip was to get out there and take a long walk in a beautiful, natural area. We wanted to breathe some nice, fresh air in the spring sun! We took the bus to the Chuzenji lake, an area that used to be a popular place to vacation for foreigners as well as well-to-do Japanese people. As we were there late March it was still off-season and very quiet. We first stopped by the Kegon falls, we didn't pay the few hundred yen to go downstairs and see the waterfalls up close, but I would recommend doing it anyway because I later heard from others who have gone down there that it was worth the money. We then walked almost all the way along the northern shore of the lake, which was great as we barely saw anyone else as soon as we left the little town. It was peaceful and quiet, and we walked around 4 kilometers before we got to the boathouse where we were surprised to find the restaurant open. Of course we were the only customers, but the noodles (yes, again as they are so good here in Nikko) were tasty and we were ready to go again. As we went more inland the road went up, and after 2 kilometers or so we hit a trail up Mt. Takayama. Feeling adventurous we went in even though the sign warned us of bears and deers, the former scaring us a bit more than the latter. But the trail was snowy, and after taking a selfie of the 'courageous us' and the snow we decided to turn around and go find the Ryuzu Falls which we came here to find. We soon found fast streaming clear water and went down the trail to see a cute tea house overlooking the falls which are named after the dragon it resembles. They served delicious ice-cream with the flavor of, you guessed it, yuba. It might be a surprising flavor, but it was actually surprisingly good! We then took the bus back to the hotel and ended up having the most thrilling part of our trip, a ride down the Iroha slope. I'm sure the driver knows this road like the back of his hand, but sitting right behind him and seeing the bus steer dangerously close to the slope's edge with a drop of a few hundred meters deep behind it about 20 times, made for a blood-curdling ride. I think Julia was very happy when we were back at 600 meters above sea level again instead of the over 1000 meters that we were above sea level before. After all this excitement we first went for a long soak in the hotel onsen again before we went out for dinner again. This time we went to a Chinese restaurant near the hotel that was almost completely full, a good sign. The food was indeed delicious, I would just stay away from the hot sake as I could tell why it was sold as hot sake instead of chilled or at room temperature. We then headed back to the hotel for some card games and our futons. The Last Day: A Temple and an Old Hotel After having a perfect brunch in the Kanaya Hotel Bakery (very much recommended) we first visited the museum right next door. Kanaya hotel was once the first hotel where Westerners could stay during the period in Japanese history when foreigners were still very rare in Japan and couldn't always stay in a regular Japanese hotel. The people who work there conduct short tours, most of them don't really speak English but it is still nice to hear a bit of simple explanation of what you see. Some parts of the hotel are original which is quite rare to see in Japan, especially in Tokyo as most buildings don't last this long here. We then went to our last stop on this trip, the Taiyu-in temple. What we loved here was that it was so much quieter than at the Toshogu, and it was a lot easier to relax and enjoy our surroundings. There was another mass blessing ceremony, and there were 4 beautifully colored statues near the main hall. For those who like wood sculptures, there was also a lot to see, as almost every animal was represented somewhere in the decorations on the walls. Some parts of this temple reminded me a bit of Persian or oriental art with the many colors and wood carvings. Also, we were not sure if we were supposed to go here, but a bit east of this temple up a hill there seems to be an abandoned temple with a vshery big statue in a closed off hall. There was almost no one there and it looked like no one was taking care of it, so it was a bit spooky over there. It was unfortunately already time to go home by the time we came back to the main road, but we didn't leave before a last bowl of noodles, ramen this time, and a Harajuku style desert near the station. If you are on a working holiday (or regular holiday for that matter) in the Tokyo area, you should definitely not skip Nikko. As they say in this locale: don't say 'kekkou' (I'm good) until you have been to Nikko! " order_by="sortorder" order_direction="ASC" returns="included" maximum_entity_count="500"] About the Author Stefanie has lived in Japan for 5 years, and is working as a coordinator for World Unite! since 2017. Together with her colleague Julia she decided to get out of Tokyo city life for a long weekend.
Most people who come to Tokyo know of the Skytree, the Tokyo Tower and the Shibuya Crossing with loyal Hachiko statue. Those are of course awesome places to visit when you are here, but how about some lesser-known but amazingly Japanese sights in the concrete jungle? Let me introduce to you these 5 quintessential Japanese scenes in the middle of Tokyo! 1. Bonsai Trees in Happo En This is one of the best places to see bonsai trees, as some of the trees that are on display here are already 500 years old! Pruned to perfection using traditional gardening techniques, these trees are more like masterpieces of art than anything else. Imagine all the work that went into a tiny tree that's hundreds of years old and grows exactly the way the bonsai expert wants it to grow. It is not a coincidence that an art that refined originated in partly Buddhist Japan. Besides the bonsai trees, the rest of the garden is also perfectly landscaped. It is no wonder that this is also a very popular place for young couples who can afford it to get married here and have their pictures taken in the garden. If you are lucky you might catch a few weddings and see what a bride and groom look like in their Shinto wedding dresses. They often pose near the pond full of happy and healthy koi fish. While you are there you should also not forget to stop by the tea house in the back of the garden and have a cup of matcha tea with some of the best Japanese sweets available in the city. The lady will serve you using Japanese-style small movements, where not one movement is unnecessary. Add to this the view, and you're all set for a perfect afternoon tea! 2. Godzilla in Shinjuku Ever since Hollywood did a remake of classic Japanese movie 'Godzilla' this legendary beast has been gaining popularity again. This dragon, who is actually a metaphor for nuclear weapons, even has a life-size replica of itself in the middle of entertainment-district Shinjuku in Tokyo. The best part is that it is not just a statue, at set times every day this monstrous movie villain even starts to roar and breathe steam starting at noon, and you shouldn't miss this! Especially at night, it is quite an impressive free show for everyone to see. Go with your fellow Working Holidayers to Shinjuku to watch the spectacle and after that have a yakitori meal in the alleyways of Omoide Yokocho. If you stay in the World Unite! sharehouse you will always be able to find someone who wants to go with you and explore the city. 3. Mario and Luigi in the Streets of Tokyo Even if you have always seen Tokyo as a city that is often featured in video games, you might still be surprised to hear that the streets of Tokyo do actually look like a real-life video game at times! It's only been a few years since the first Mario carters were spotted, and nowadays they became a part of daily Tokyo traffic. If you bring an international driving license to Japan, you will be able to dress up like your favorite Mario Cart character and drive the streets of Tokyo with an actual go-kart. So when you have a driving license and come to Tokyo, make sure to bring your international license and be part of the real-life Mario cart craze! 4. Japanese Idols in Akihabara For those who are not in the know, Japanese idol bands are (usually) large groups of high-school aged girls who mainly appeal to middle-aged men who are looking to relive their good old young days. The music they produce is maybe not the best, but the cuteness of the girls is enough to draw large crowds to their concerts. Akihabara is the birthplace of one of the most iconic Japanese idol bands: AKB48. The group's name stands for Akihabara (AKB) and the number of members (48). The girls are continually replaced as they become too old around age 24. Those who retired or didn't quite make the cut sometimes become waitresses at the AKB48 cafe where above picture was taken. This cafe doesn't only serve cute dishes that are said to be band members' favorites, but they also organize quizzes about the band and small performances on their in-cafe stage. 5. Votive Tablets Adorned with Anime in Kanda Every shrine (Shinto) and every temple (Buddhist) has their own image on the ema (votive tablets) that people use to write their wishes on. Usually this image has a relationship with either the temple or shrine itself or the neighborhood the temple or shrine is located. As the Kanda shrine is located near anime fan paradise Akihabara, the ema here are decorated with anime pictures. Some of them have been drawn by the fans themselves and are quite impressive. It is an interesting combination to see, a traditional solemn shrine coupled with these colorful, modern pictures! About the author Stefanie has lived in Japan since February 2013, and after starting the Japanese adventure in Nagoya she happily settled in Tokyo in 2014. She loves exploring the city, and besides her work as a coordinator for World Unite! she also works as a tour guide in Tokyo. If participants of the World Unite! program in Japan have questions about exploring Tokyo, they can always ask Stefanie which places can't be missed. She also believes that the best Working Holiday experience includes not only work to boost your skills and resume, but also plenty of exploration of Tokyo as well as the rest of Japan.
Have you ever considered traveling to Japan to do farm work? If you are interested in learning, enjoying, experiencing and having fun, this can be a perfect opportunity for you. For many Japanese people, good food quality is of great importance, as well as knowing the origin of the food. With a job on a farm, you will be learning about these aspects. Furthermore, you can have the experience of living with a family at a farm and thereby also learn about the Japanese culture. A job at a farm can be pre-arranged by World Unite!, and it is possible for you to choose if you prefer working on a big farm, or a smaller farm. These jobs do not require previous farm-work knowledge, but it does require a conversational level of the Japanese language. If you do not know a word of Japanese, or if you don't have the confidence to speak Japanese, there is still no need to worry! You will have the chance to join a language course before you start working. During this language course, you will get to know as much Japanese as you wish and have time for, and you can expect to improve your newly acquired language skills even further once you start interacting with the farm workers at your new workplace. So, what kind of work will you be doing? There are different options you can choose from, and your tasks can include: Working with horses, cows, or chickens. Your tasks can be feeding, cleaning, milking, cleaning the stables etc. Growing cut flowers and ornamental plants Seeding, growing and harvesting crops. These could include millet, corn or wheat Planting fruits and vegetables, harvesting, and processing For your work, the average salary ranges between 690-1500 Yen per hour. The farm work jobs are full-time jobs, where you can expect to work 5-6 days per week, with an average working day of 7-9 hours. How, and where will you live? You will be accommodated at the farm where you work, and your meals are offered here too. The costs of accommodation and meals will be deducted from your salary, but since those costs are low you will still have enough salary left to save some money every month. The kinds of accommodation and meal opportunities that you will have differ according to the farm you will be living at, but we will suggest farms according to your preferences: With a farmer family or at a farm staff accommodation In a single room or in a dorm room Your meals may be cooked and ready to eat, or you may get raw food items that you can cook for yourself Do You Want to Know More? Does this sound interesting, and would you like to know more? Then visit our webpage at http://www.world-unite.de/en/working-holiday/japan/farm-work-jobs-in-japan.html
We have visited Katrin H. (20) at her workplace at a hotel in Ginza, Tokyo's posh area. Katrin is doing a Working Holiday in Japan and works at a housekeeping job – so if a bed has to be made with speed - Katrin is the one to come to the rescue! The hotel is very clean and welcoming, and you will meet a helpful and friendly staff. Katrin, what made you decide to travel to Japan to work? It is actually quite a long story because the first time I came in contact with the Japanese culture was all the way back in primary school through my friend. Ever since meeting her, I kept on really appreciating the Japanese culture. Then, after my high school graduation, I didn’t want to start university right away. So I just thought, okay, this would maybe be my last chance to come to Japan for more than just a vacation and experience the culture. So I went, and here I am! How did you find the job at the hotel in Ginza? I got it through the internet because the other job introductions that I got through “HelloWork” (employment agency) didn’t have any available jobs at that moment. So I searched online, and then I found another agency similar to “HelloWork”, only for hotels. I applied, and they immediately wrote me back that they had some hotels that were searching like crazy for people. I went there, got an interview, and then I heard I got the job the next day! For how long are you planning to work at the hotel? I started to work at the hotel in October 2017 and I will quit in May 2018, because I am planning to travel to Kyoto, Osaka and Nara. After that, it is time to go back to Germany. What does a typical workday look like for you? Every single day I go to work during the rush hour – like many other people! Except for Saturday and Sunday because that is my weekend. When I get to the hotel, I change into my uniform and then wait a little bit until everything is prepared by my boss. I then search for my name on the hotel whiteboard in order to see which floor I am going to be working at. After that, I take the paper with my name and the rooms on it, I get my keycard, and go to my floor and make the beds for 6 hours. After that I'm finished, and once my supervisor has approved my work, I change back to my own clothes and go back home. What kind of demands come with your job? You should speak a little bit of Japanese, because there are some guests who want to talk to you, for example, because they don’t know how to turn on the TV, or they ask you other questions. So a little bit of Japanese is really, really helpful. I don’t think there is anything else actually. Just to be able to work normally and to be physically healthy, and speak a little bit Japanese so you can interact with the guests and with the boss. How much do you earn, and is it enough to cover your living expenses? I think, if I work full-time like I would do in Germany, I think I would get 120.000 yen per month plus travel expenses which the hotel covers. I can live off that and still save money for later for my travel, so it is really good. Do you enjoy your job? It is really stressful sometimes, but it is great. It is really great, because you get to know different people. I don’t think we have any Japanese person working in our hotel, besides our boss, but you learn to interact with each other. The others at my job usually know some Japanese and their mother tongue, so it is just like, okay! I don’t know what you say! So you have to speak Japanese to understand your co-workers as well. Also, you really feel great after a guest comes to tell you that they had a good stay, then you feel that you have done a good job. It was really stressful, but it makes you smile. Are there certain aspects of your job that you do not like? Yes, I don’t think there is any job that only has positive aspects. But sometimes I feel like the hotel’s rules for cleanliness can be stressful. Everything has to be very perfectly cleaned, so at times, it feels like they are a bit too strict. Do you think that working at the hotel helps you in improving your Japanese? Yes, a lot. It has really helped because most of the guests are Japanese, and you need to interact with them. You can speak English, and some of the guests try to speak to you in English because they see that you are a foreigner and think that you cannot understand Japanese. But I can actually speak Japanese, so there are no worries there! And every time I say that I can speak Japanese, they feel relieved, because they can interact with me, and that is really great and really helpful for me as well. I learn many new words, and it helps me to use my grammar in the correct way. It is really helpful. I also learned how to make beds really fast! And how to clean toilets and bathrooms in general. I think it is really helpful, but maybe not that helpful in Germany. But it is a great experience and I like my co-workers, so it is great there. My co-workers can be divided into 2 groups: Chinese and Filipinas, and then I am the European in the middle. There are no others – just my boss who is Japanese. So we cannot communicate in English. My Chinese co-workers can’t really speak English and the Filipinas and my boss can speak English, but the only way for all of us to understand each other is to speak Japanese. When we have meetings, for example in order to improve our work, or to handle customer complains, then everything is in Japanese. And because some of the Filipinas cannot speak Japanese that well, the shift manager has to translate it into Tagalog, and then there is another co-worker who is Chinese/Japanese who translates into Chinese to the Chinese employers. So there is a lot of translation going on, and you can hear a few words here and there! For me, if I don’t understand something, then I can just ask my shift manager, and then she can tell me what the meeting was about once more in English. But all in all, I can just say that I think it is a really nice job!
Have you ever heard of a ryokan? A ryokan is a traditional Japanese hotel, and by doing a working holiday in Japan, you can get the opportunity to work in a ryokan where you will learn about traditional Japanese culture, culinary arts, service of the highest level, and much more. Ryokans are very high standard hotels, and they are visited by Japanese as well as foreign tourists. There are usually around 14 rooms in a ryokan, and the rooms are traditionally designed, with no furniture apart from a low table which is used to serve breakfast on. For sleeping, the guests get tatami mats, and the bathing facilities are often large shared bathing areas, fed by hot volcanic springs called onsen. A job at a ryokan can be pre-arranged by World Unite!, but in order to get a job, you need to have a conversational level of the Japanese language. If you do not know Japanese, you are much welcome to join a language course, where you can expect to gain the necessary language skills after attending classes for 1 month. So, what kind of work will you be doing? There are different work tasks, which will include: Housekeeping Preparation of futons Dishwashing and kitchen assistance Preparation of tables and serving food Cleaning the onsen area For this work, the average salary ranges between 690-1500 Yen per hour. The Ryokan jobs are full-time jobs, where you can expect to work 5-6 days per week, with an average of 7- 9 hours of work per day. How, and where will you live? Most often, the ryokans arrange your accommodation, and this can be different according to the ryokan you will work at. Your costs for accommodation and meals will be deducted from your salary, but since these costs are low you will still have enough salary left to save some money every month. Different accommodation options include: Single or dorm room in a staff housing facility near the ryokan Accommodation further away from the ryokan, transportation will be arranged Meals provided at the ryokan Do You Want to Know More? Does this sound interesting, and would you like to know more? Then visit our webpage at http://www.world-unite.de/en/working-holiday/japan/ryokan-jobs-traditional-restaurant-hotel.html
To many people, foreign tourists as well as Japanese locals, Hokkaido's image is one of low temperatures and snowy mountains. It's no wonder most people go to Japan's northernmost island for winter sports. However, this amazing place has so much more to discover than just skiing down a mountain! I already visited the landscape in summer of 2009, and this time I wanted to see it during winter as the weather during summertime is a bit similar to Germany. But unlike Germany, Hokkaido turns into a snowy wonderland during the winter. If you are in Japan for a working holiday, do yourself a favor and make sure to spend a week or so at Japan's prime winter sports destination! Sapporo This year I spent around one month in Hokkaido. I decided to set up my freelance headquarters in Sapporo because the capital city has the best connection to the public transportation. Another aspect is that most of my friends are living in or near Sapporo. During the first weeks I explored Sapporo and its vicinity. As Sapporo is not a sprawling city, you can reach many spots within an hour of walking, so I walked to the Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium when a Ski Jumping event was going on. I never saw this sport before, and it was so amazing to see the competitors flying! If there is no event going on you can watch a training if you are lucky. Next to the stadium, there is a winter sports museum. Unfortunately it turned out to be closed in January, but when I visited Sapporo in 2009 it was open and I recommend you stop by. The best part of the musuem is that you can practice different winter sports with simulators, it's almost like being on the slopes for real! Other interesting spots you shouldn't miss when you are in Sapporo were the Sapporo Clock Tower where you can explore the history of the city, the Susukino nightlife district, and Mount Moiwa. When I went up this mountain using two ropeways, I was stunned by one of the most beautiful views of the city and the ocean from the top. Penguins in Asahikawa In the begin of February I went to visit a friend in Asahikawa. Because I stayed with his family, I got the chance to see from up close how a Japanese family lives in Hokkaido. My friend and I visited popular spots in the city, like the science museum and the zoo. The zoo of Asahikawa is quite a famous place in Hokkaido. It is not big, but the highlights are the nice arranged habitats and the penguin walk, where a group of penguins walks through the public area as seen in the picture. The renowned Asahikawa Yuki Matsuri (Asahikawa Snow Festival) is also a must-see. You will see snow sculptures along the river, ice slides, and be able to try many delicious kinds of food. I also visited the judo club of my friend's sister and watched the class practice. At the gym we met the class teacher of my friend, and he invited me to come to the high school the next day. I was really excited to get the chance to see a Japanese high school from the inside! The students were really amazed to see me, a foreigner, in their school. During English class, I assisted the teacher by helping the students while they prepared a group speech. After class finished, the teacher guided me around the school. This experience was a unique moment I will remember for sure! During my stay, the Sapporo Yuki Matsuri (Sapporo Snow Festival) also happened to be in full swing. I even arrived in time to see how artists built up their ice sculptures. After the event kicked off, the city was full of gigantic snow walls with pictures and ice sculptures lit up in every color. For the last week of my stay I visited several places. First on the list was visited Obihiro. I am a horse lover, so my main reason for visiting this city was the horse racing stadium, which is unique in the world. Here you can see how one of the mightiest horse breeds in the world is running on a special racetrack. Bannei horses are not cantering through the track like they do during a normal race, but they are pulling a heavy sled over 2 hills. It was very special to me to be able to watch this spectacle. Hot Springs, Bears and Drift Ice The next city on my list was Noboribetsu, which is popular for its hot springs, old city with people in ninja costumes, and bear park. In the bear park, you can see brown bears doing funny tricks to get attention and food from visitors. When I took a short walk through the city something that stood out were the many statues of Oni (demons) along the way. There is a place near the city named Jigokudani, also known as 'hell valley', hence the statues. It is a spectacular place with hot steam vents, sulfurous streams and other volcanic activity. It is from this valley where most of the onsen in the vicinity get their hot spring water. At last I went to the eastern part of Hokkaido. My first stop was Kushiro, which is famous for its wild nature and Japanese cranes. In the evening I took the train to Abashiri and stayed here for one night because it would be an early wake-up call the next day for a boat trip to see the drift ice. On an icebreaker, we went for a one-hour tour through the bay and the drifting ice, which I already saw from the train one day before. We were also lucky to see Stellerˋs sea eagles next to the boat. It was a great end to a trip to remember! About the author Michaela has been interested in Japan since she was young, and aged 25 she decided to go on a Working Holiday to the country that has always felt like a second home to her. Feeling safer by going to Japan through an organization, having the back-up of World Unite! turned out to be a good investment. Michaela found some great jobs during her stay on a Working Holiday visa (one job was scuba diving assistant!), and she also took the opportunity to travel around many areas of Japan. In the end, Hokkaido turned out to be my favorite place, as here you can find a great mix of nature and city.
Alexander S. (19) from Germany tells us about his Working Holiday experience in a dojo in Tokyo. He has already a lot of experience as a judoka and has been working as a judo instructor in Germany. Now he got the terrific chance to work in the country where judo originated and learn the trade from actual Japanese instructors. He now works as one of the trainers of a kids' class. Alexander, how did you find this job? It's an interesting story. I was actually interviewing for a restaurant job, and it so happened that a few sport companies were also having a meeting in the restaurant at the same time. Since I wrote on my CV that I have practiced judo for many years, I was invited by one of the organizers to join the meeting and I got offered this job afterwards. I was indeed very lucky. When do you work? I work at the dojo twice a week, usually Wednesdays and Fridays. The kids' training program is from 4.30pm to 6pm, and then I join the adult training hours. Sometimes one of the children receives a private training, during which I assist as a second trainer. What do you find challenging about this job? My Japanese level is very low. All my knowledge comes from a 2-week crash course I took in Germany. I am lucky that the other trainers speak a bit of English, and I even teach in English on Fridays. The school offers this special program where we try to teach the children some English while they train, so they gain more than just the physical abilities. I actually already knew quite a few judo terms in Japanese as I learned them while I was training in Germany. If there is something I can't explain using language, I just show them what I mean. So it turns out the skill that is actually most important for this job is my judo ability, and not my (Japanese) language ability. Does this job help you improve your Japanese? Yes, absolutely. I even come a little early to talk to the children sometimes. Sometimes I also study Japanese between trainings. I just bring my study books to the dojo and if I have questions there is always someone to help and advice me. What did you learn doing this job? Besides my Japanese, my English has improved as well. I have to communicate a lot in both languages so I slowly get better. Other than this I learned a lot in the adults training and improved my judo skills. This will be very useful for when I go back to work as a judo instructor in Germany again. Do you enjoy the job and are there things you don’t like? To be honest, there is nothing I don't like about this job. I like every aspect about it. It combines well with my other job at the former mentioned restaurant. It helps me balancing my weekly schedule and I stay physically fit. We have a lot of fun during the training and I gain experience. It's just the perfect combination of jobs. How much do you earn? Is it enough to cover your living expenses? I earn 1000 yen per hour and work only 2 days a week. This is fine, but of course not enough to cover my expenses. I really need the other job in the restaurant where I work 8 hours a day, 3 days a week. With these 2 jobs together I make enough to live in Tokyo and I still have enough time for private activities and trips. What brought you to Japan in the first place? I'm sure my answer will not be a surprise to many, but I have to admit it has to do with anime. Watching anime and reading manga made me curious about Japan and now I can experience the culture first hand. Would you recommend Japan for a Working Holiday? Yes, I would recommend it. Most people choose Australia and New Zealand for a Working Holiday, but I think Japan is still special and relatively unknown. There's a whole new culture to explore and I have learned so many interesting things already. It's absolutely great to spend some time in Japan in this way, working here gives me a new perspective. The language barrier might be higher than in other countries, but it wasn't as hard as I first expected. A lot of people in Tokyo can actually speak some English, and even if they don't, many people try hard to help you using just gestures and the few English words they know. " order_by="sortorder" order_direction="ASC" returns="included" maximum_entity_count="500"]
We visited Marcel S. (19) at the Butler Café in Tokyo where he has been working for a few weeks now. We had a great time and enjoyed being entertained by three charming butlers! It wasn't just the service that made it worth going, we were also surprised by the delicious dishes they served us. Afterwards we interviewed our Working Holiday butler from Germany about his experience working for the Butler Café. Marcel, how did you find this job? I found it on the internet. Someone of my share house mates told me that there is a great website for foreigners to find jobs like this in Japan. This job was actually the first one I applied for, and it worked out well. Since when have you been working at the Butler Café and what are your general working hours? I've been working here for almost 4 weeks now and I hope I can stay here for a few more months. The working hours depend on the day, for weekdays I'd say the average working time is about 3,5 hours per shift, but in the weekend I'm working up to 7 or 8 hours. We arrange the work schedule according to the number of reservations we receive online. What requirements came with the job? Obviously you have to be kind if good-looking in the employers eyes. The first thing they check when you apply is your photo, then they want to know whether your English conversation skills are strong enough. Since you only speak English during the job, it is mandatory to speak an advanced level of English. Another condition I heard of is 'looking foreign', as they prefer western butlers in order to create a 'European butler atmosphere'. So most of the employees are from Europe. It's also an advantage to be a good actor as the way you're expected to behave as a butler is quite different from what you would normally behave like. And then probably the most important requirement is that you should actually enjoy doing this job. You should not just do this job for the money. How much do you earn? Is it enough to cover your living expenses? I earned 1,000 Yen per hour until now, because that is what everyone gets in the first month. After you complete your training you can earn up to 1,500 Yen per hour, depending on your skills and popularity with the customers. What are your duties at the Butler Café? My first and most important duty is to entertain the princesses, this is how we call our customers. If they feel good and enjoy the time they spend here, we are doing a good job. I have to serve food and tea, have a little chat with them and if they want to we offer the extra service of taking a picture together. I adopted a stage name by the way, my butler name is Alfred because that is seen as one of the typical European butler's names. Do you enjoy this job? Are there things you don’t you like about it? Of course I'm enjoying this job. I have always been into acting and now I get even paid for it. I feel very lucky that I can actually do something for a living in Japan that I also enjoy. The only unfortunate thing about this job is that I can never get in touch with the customers after they leave our café. This is a strict rule, as it helps keeping the fantasy alive. Do you think working for the Butler Café improves your Japanese? What else did you learn? We communicate in English with the customers as well as with the owner, so if someone want to improve their Japanese this might be the wrong job. My Japanese level hasn't really improved since starting work here. What has improved are my intercultural communication skills. Trying to understand people who barely speak your language is hard in the beginning. I have been able to communicate using English, gestures and a little bit of Japanese, and it has surprised me how much I am actually able to get across without having a language in common. What brought you to Japan in the first place? Japan is a country with a unique culture that has always fascinated me. Besides Japanese culture being very different from German culture, I actually see things we have in common as well when it comes to the way we think. The cultural aspect was actually the main reason I decided to go to Japan. I wanted to visit hot springs, eat sushi and learn the language using it in real life. Japan is a country that has so much to offer that I would gladly stay here longer. If there wasn't any language barrier I could imagine living here for several years. Would you recommend a Working Holiday in Japan? Very much so, Japan is a country where everyone should have been at least once in their life. I would recommend coming here either for a Working Holiday or just to travel. The people are friendly, it's extremely safe because of the low crime rate, and with a little bit of luck you can find a job you like! " order_by="sortorder" order_direction="ASC" returns="included" maximum_entity_count="500"]
Sebastian H. (20), who graduated high school in Germany 1 year ago, tells us about his Working Holiday experience in Tokyo. He was working as a waiter in an Italian restaurant for 5 months together with Japanese locals and other foreigners from all over the world. Sebastian, how did you find this job? I found this job on the internet after looking for many kinds of different jobs here. I contacted many people and places, I also got many replies but in the end this job fit me the best. Because I had previous experience as a waiter it wasn't too difficult to get used to the job, even though Japanese customer service is quite different from what I was used to at home. What were your general working hours and what kind of customers visited the restaurant? I worked at the restaurant 4 or 5 days a week. My working hours were between noon and 3.30pm; then I had two hours of free time, and after that I continued working from 5.30pm to midnight. Most of the customers were middle class, there were many salarymen or families with children. I think they came to enjoy good Italian food. Sometimes we also served tourists, and one time we even had a celebrity customer: the creator of the game 'Final Fantasy'. Some of my co-workers were quite star-struck! What was demanding about the job? It was a big advantage that I already had a lot of experience as a waiter in Berlin and Australia. I didn't really need to speak Japanese to understand what to do. I just had to learn a bit of Japanese, as some of the customers didn't speak English, however, our usual customers don't expect us to speak the language fluently. They would come here for an Italian atmosphere, which is why we greet them with the words "Buon giorno", and then ask for their orders in English or Japanese, depending on their level of English. How much did you earn? Was it enough to cover your living expenses? Yes, my salary was definitely enough to cover my living expenses. This was one reason why I wanted this job in the first place. I earned 1,100 JPY an hour here, had my transportation paid, and I could eat two staff meals for free every day. This made it possible to have enough money to enjoy my life in Tokyo. However, it was exhausting at times to work five long days a week. What were your duties at the restaurant? My duties at the restaurant were the regular duties of a waiter like taking customers' orders, serving them, sometimes washing dishes, setting the tables and so on. Sometimes we had people celebrate their wedding at our restaurant, then I assisted and served the wedding guests during the party. Did you enjoy the job? And were there things you didn't like? What I really enjoyed about this job was the wonderful cozy atmosphere at the restaurant, which reminded me of my time in Berlin. It actually didn't feel very Japanese; it was more like a multicultural place with English as everybody's common language making it easy to work here. We were not just doing our job, we were all friends at the restaurant. We spent a lot of time together so it's important to have fun while working with each other. Of course it doesn't mean that I didn't take the job serious. What I didn't like so much about this job was that I had to wear a 'mask' all the time. It was not possible to be myself, I always needed to represent the restaurant, smile and be friendly, even on days when I didn't feel good. The one thing I am thankful for is how my co-workers tried to cheer me up and motivate me to do a good job on those days. One other thing I didn't really like is that newbies have to wash a lot more dishes than the other staff. That was very exhausting in the beginning. Do you think working for the restaurant helped you improve your Japanese? Absolutely! There were some Japanese co-workers I could talk to in Japanese if there was time. After I became more confident I also tried speaking to customers in Japanese. The other waitstaff helped me a lot when I had questions about specific vocabulary, so I had a good chance to improve there. They were really helpful. Besides the language, what else did you learn doing this job? I learned a lot about myself. An important thing that I learned is that I really never want to work as a waiter for a prolonged time in the future. This is not the right job for me. It's exhausting and I also don't think it would fit my personality. My actual goal is to study medicine in Germany or Austria, and this experience made me even more motivated to do well in my future studies. I have also developed a strong sense of responsibility because for this job we all had to rely on one another. One time I was sick on a really busy day and could not go to work, so the others had to cover for me. I felt deeply sorry and responsible that time. What brought you to Japan in the first place? After I finished high school in Germany and got my Abitur (high school diploma), I wanted to go abroad for a year. My original plan was to travel to either Australia, New Zealand or Canada, but my friend convinced me to visit Japan as well. He told me some fascinating things about this country, so I became interested in the Japanese culture beyond anime and manga. We started our journey together in Australia where we did a working holiday for around 3 months. Afterwards we went to Japan together, where we planned to stay a whole year. As my friend wanted to stay in Tokyo while I was eager to travel around we went our separate ways. I spent the first 5 months in Japan traveling from Tokyo to Naso in Tochigi, then back to Tokyo and I headed west to Hiroshima and Osaka. Finally I reached Kyushu, where I traveled through cities and villages and saw a lot of a less famous parts of Japan. I managed to travel on the cheap by hitchhiking and couch surfing. I had a sleeping bag with me and a few times some nice Japanese people even offered me a meal. I always felt safe in Japan. There is not much crime and the people are helpful, which are the best conditions for backpackers. Today is actually my last day at work here, from tomorrow I will take 2 weeks to enjoy Tokyo, then I will travel through to Ise to learn about the pearl divers and when I leave Japan after that I'm going to have a holiday in Thailand. I'm going to make the most of my last few weeks here in the East! Would you recommend Japan for a working holiday? I would absolutely recommend doing a working holiday in Japan to other people. I do think however that you need at least a basic interest in Japanese culture to be able to adjust well. My suggestion would be to not stick to only Tokyo or other big cities, but to also travel to smaller places and getting to know the people there. It can be a wonderful experience for anyone. Japanese people are extremely polite, much more than in Germany I feel. I gained a lot just by talking to them. I think traveling in Europe would have been much harder and the people might not have been as helpful as here in Japan. Is there something you will always remember when you think back about your time here? Every day was a little bit special in itself, and it was the people who made the job the way it was. What I enjoyed a lot was when the work was finished, and we could just sit there and talk about our private lives like friends do. I made some real friends here, and will definitely stay in touch with them after I leave Japan. " order_by="sortorder" order_direction="ASC" returns="included" maximum_entity_count="500"]
Ramen is one of Japan's most popular dishes. Many salary men have a bowl of ramen after work in one of Tokyo’s many ramen joints. It's quick, cheap and tasty! So when you are on a Working Holiday in Japan, working in a ramen shop is a great way to really dive into the Japanese experience. We spoke with Ahmed I. (20, from Hamburg in Germany) about his job at a ramen restaurant. Ahmed, could you tell us what a typical work day at a ramen restaurant is like? My work starts in the morning at 9.00am, and because it takes over half an hour to get there by metro I have to wake up quite early. Every morning I start with cleaning. After that I prepare everything in the kitchen before the first guests come, like refilling the green tea cans, putting them on the counter and setting the tables. When the guests come to the restaurant I welcome them with the words "irasshaimase"(be welcome). I then take their orders and serve them their dishes with the words “omatase shimashita" (sorry that you had to wait). It is especially important to speak in a very polite way to the customers. What is demanding about the job? The whole staff consists of only Japanese co-workers, so the communication is not always easy for me. Another thing I had some difficulties with was "to speak loudly”. Every time I got in contact with our customers, I was anxious to speak with a clear and strong voice. This was a very big problem for me in the beginning. Coming out of your shell is not always easy. Which language requirements come with the job? It is very important that you can speak basic Japanese and of course some English as well. All the people who are working here are Japanese, so this is why it is essential to speak at least a little bit of their language so you can communicate. Of course, you must be willing to improve your language skills fast and try to understand things quickly. Do you enjoy working at the ramen restaurant and is there something you don't like about it? I have to say that it is a really nice job. The other staff members are very friendly and I get a small bowl of ramen for free at lunchtime every day, which I enjoy a lot. On the other hand it is sometimes a bit difficult to communicate with people because they speak Japanese fast, which is still hard for me to understand. Another negative aspect would be the short breaks. They sort of expect you to continue to work after only around a 10-minute break. How much money are you earning and is it enough to cover your living expenses? I earn 1,000 Yen per hour, which is around €8. I had to adjust my lifestyle (I'm living in a share house) and save some money in order to let that be enough to live in Tokyo. I'm working here for 4 months now and got used to it. How did you find this job? I talked to a friend at the share house who was already working there and he strongly recommended me to apply. He was quite satisfied with the job, so I thought it would be a good idea for me as well. Did you make any special memories which you will never forget? Yes, I had a great moment when my boss came to me one day and told me that I could design the menu. I really love digital photography, so it was a very gratifying task to take pictures of all the dishes and create the menu. Do you think working at the ramen restaurant improved your Japanese? Well, of course it improved my Japanese because I had to learn new words to speak properly to the customers and communicate with my co-workers. But I have to say that I could not improve as much as I would have liked to because people are very busy at their workplace and didn't have time to explain everything. This can't be helped and I hope I will keep on improving. What are you doing besides working? I like non-touristy places very much. Often I would visit some nice spots in Tokyo, meet friends and go with them on hiking tours and day trips. I also like the bars in Japan, which I sometimes visit on the weekend. Why did you choose Japan? I have always felt a deep connection with Japan. The pop culture, traditional culture and the everyday life caught my interest so I decided to go there and experience it for myself. Would you recommend doing a Working Holiday in Japan to others? Oh yes! People should go out and do something exciting with their life. Traveling to different countries, meeting new people and discovering new places are all amazing opportunities to gain new experiences! Japan is beautiful and I would strongly recommend people to go there. " order_by="sortorder" order_direction="ASC" returns="included" maximum_entity_count="500"]
We’ve met Michaela Z. (26), a German currently living in Shinjuku, Tokyo. She is in Japan for a Working Holiday and a little more than half a year ago she had the opportunity to job for a scuba diving school in a city in eastern Shizuoka prefecture. Michaela was working as the diving teacher's assistant for almost two months before coming back to Tokyo. She told us about her time in Shizuoka. Michaela, how did you land this job? I have been planning for quite a long time to travel to Japan. As I wanted to really immerse myself in the Japanese culture, I decided to come for a long Working Holiday, because working naturally gives you a deeper insight into a foreign culture than, for instance, a short trip. Due to the fact that I wanted to start my adventure on a short notice, I felt safer being supported and therefore decided to use the service of World Unite!. They also helped me to find the job in the scuba diving school in Shizuoka. I simply informed them about my wishes: with a university degree in Hotel and Tourism Management I wanted to find a job related to this area, prior to my departure to Japan. I was introduced to the scuba diving school and got hired for the summer. From when to when have you been working for the diving school? And what were your general working hours? I came to Japan in summer 2016 and after a few days of living in a share house in Tokyo and getting used to the new thermal environment I took the train to Shizuoka to start my work. My new Japanese boss, the diving school's owner and teacher, welcomed me warmly. Originally I was asked to work there for one month, but as I liked the job and my boss was pleased with how I was supporting him and felt that I was a reliable worker, I could stay a few more weeks. After that I went back to Tokyo. There were no fixed daily working hours. But usually the working day started at around 7 am and ended at around 3 pm. Before, during and after the diving lessons the customers had to be taken care of. As long as that was assured, everything was fine. Once a week I could take a day off. But also on working days I had quite an amount of free time, too. When my boss had time, he took me on short trips into the hinterland of Shizuokas. One time a neighbor, the owner of a hotel, took me with him for a hike in the Japanese alps. What kind of demands came with the job? Special skills or previous knowledge about diving or anything weren't required. I was taught everything I needed to know within the first few days of working. During these days I have been assistant and student at the same time. I even made my diver's licence after three days. Although, I also have to admit that it was a plus to already have made experiences in the hotel and restaurant business back in my days as a student. My boss didn't need to explain everything to me twice, as I kind of knew what needed to be done. Not only during the diving courses, but also when it came to care for the customers who stayed at the school owner's guest house. The house is located right next to the ocean. It was such an amazing view! How much did you earn? Was it enough to cover your living expenses? Instead of a salary I received free accommodation at my boss's house and free catering during my whole stay. Also entry fees for several locations such as museums and hot springs were covered. But I had to pay for my first diver's licence. Therefore I had to come to Japan with a little bit of savings. Luckily I could do my second diver's licence for free, though. In late summer, when the diving season came to an end slowly but surely and the diving school became less busy, I started to help out at the neighbor's Hotel for a few days. I received 10,000 JPY a day for that. What were your duties at the diving school? I was basically assisting the owner of the school with his daily work. For instance I needed to prepare the equipment for the diving lessons, explain essential rules to the students and look out for them during the diving. My boss isn't only running the school, but is also lending his boat to his customers for day trips including BBQ and water sports. My task was to welcome the customers and accompany them during their boat trip. While the diving teacher has been snorkeling with some of his students, I needed to watch out for the safety of the on the boat remaining customers. Besides the main business of diving lessons and boat trips, the school's teacher is also running a guest house. My tasks were to prepare the breakfast, do the laundry, clean the house or make the beds. As it was a traditional Japanese house with wooden floors, a lot of windows and tatami mat floors in the guest rooms, the maintenance asked for a careful treatment. Sometimes I did some gardening, too. Did you enjoy the job? And what didn't you like about it? I was enjoying my time in Shizuoka to the fullest. Supporting my boss with his work was a lot of fun and I loved the location. The only disadvantage I saw was that I didn't have a driver's license or a car. In the area the school is located, you really need a car to get somewhere. But well, I had a bicycle, so I often used it for rides along the promenade. Day or night, I could always use my free time to relax at the sea side behind the house. Doing so I had the rare chance to see the blue marine phosphorescence at night. Do you think Working for the diving school helped you improving your Japanese? My boss spoke English fluently, therefore it wasn't difficult to communicate with him. When we both had spare time he taught me some Japanese. During the breakfast with the guests he even asked them to practice their English on me. And the other way around, I was asked to try to speak in Japanese to them. Most of the guests were girls of my age, so we spent our free time together, too. They enjoyed teaching me new words. That helped me to improve my Japanese a little bit. We used to speak in a mix of Japanese and English. In addition, my boss's girlfriend, a Japanese language teacher, visited us quite often on the weekends. She used to live in Austria some years ago and knows some German, so she helped me understanding Japanese grammar and words. Besides the language aspect, what did you learn doing the job? I was working and learning at the same time, because I had never used any kind of diving gear before. I had the chance to complete two diver's licences and also a first aid course. Preparing the breakfast, sometimes alone, sometimes together with he guests, I learned a lot of traditional Japanese recipes, which I'm planning to use even after going back to Germany in a few months. Besides that I had the opportunity to attend Japanese traditional tea ceremonies several times, as my boss is a trained tea ceremony master. I got to know a lot about not only the famous Japanese green tea, but also about Moroccan tea making we even presented the country Morocco on a tea festival in Hakone, where we were handing out mint tea to the visitors in traditional clothing. As I was in charge of arranging our booth, I could live out my passion for decorating. What brought you to Japan to in the first place? What are you doing now back in Tokyo? I've been interested in Japan's culture and tradition since I've been a teenager. I guess most people start being fascinated by Japan in the first place through anime and manga, Japanese cartoons and comics, but for me it has been Japanese rock, pop and also traditional music that is captivating me since then. Listening to all kinds of Japanese music also made me fall in love with the Japanese language. I'm hoping to improve my language skills by doing this Working Holiday. I've actually been in Japan before once in 2009 for a short term cultural exchange program. During this time and also during the time in Germany when I was studying Japanese on my own, I got to know some Japanese people who became close friends of mine. Therefore I'm also using this Working Holiday as an opportunity to meet those people again. Right now I am living here in Shinjuku, Tokyo. While working as a part-timer, I'm trying to meet new people and old friends, as well as attending concerts of musicians that I most likely can never see live back in Germany. On the weekends I usually make short trips to cities nearby. " order_by="sortorder" order_direction="ASC" returns="included" maximum_entity_count="500"]
Comic Market or Comiket as I will call it from here on out, to the west usually is merely a mystical event. A place you've heard stories about, seen referenced in Anime and Manga, seen pictures of and fanart from. It's something that the majority of people in the western world have relatively little chance of experiencing, after all, it is on the other side of the world and there really is no comparable event anywhere in the world. During my one-year stay in Japan, I had the chance to visit Winter-Comiket and it made it for an absolutely fascinating experience I'm unlikely to forget all too soon. For starters, let me explain what Comiket in itself is about for those who aren't familiar with it. As aforementioned, the name "Comiket" stands for "Comic Market". It's a bi-annual event focusing on what the west generally dubs "Otaku-culture". This includes pretty much anything from Anime and Manga, Doujinshi, over music up to things like fanfiction or self-published web novels. The possibilities are near endless. " order_by="sortorder" order_direction="ASC" returns="included" maximum_entity_count="500"] The difference to your average foreign con is the actual focus of the event. Although a huge amount of companies are represented at Comiket and depending on their popularity can attract absolutely massive crowds, the event itself is mainly about fan created content. This manifests itself in several gigantic halls, packed to the brim with booths of different artists trying to sell their work over the course of the day that rotates each day in order for as many people as possible to be able to put their work on display. Being generally handled as the biggest convention in the world, it should be no surprise that Comiket is not friendly to those who dislike large crowds. The 91st iteration, the one I visited recently, listed over 550.000 visitors over the 3 days in its after report, more than any other convention in the world. A crowd this insane of course also brings with it quite a few negatives. It's incredibly hard to get your hands on a lot of the popular doujinshi and company merchandise due to the sheer amount of people streaming into the halls, making it absolutely necessary to get into Tokyo Big Sight as early as possible. These circumstances have sparked people to start lining up at absolutely impossible hours to get their hands on the things they want the most. So guess what I did. On the first day of Comiket, I woke up at 3 am (Seeing as the Shiohama Sharehouse is relatively close to Tokyo Big Sight, this would mean that if I walked I'd arrive before the first train and with that a big majority of the people attending Comiket). There was a particular, relatively popular company selling a lot of things I wanted to get my hands on, so I did the thing a lot of Comiket attendees will do for their favorite merchandise and woke up around the time I would usually go to bed. Packed with entertainment to pass the time, Food to feast on once I'd eventually get hungry and a good amount of caffeine to keep me awake throughout the day I made my way to Tokyo Big Sight, trying to mentally prepare for the more than five-hour wait I had ahead of me. I'm sure this must sound like absolute hell to most people and that was absolutely what I was thinking it would the evening beforehand, but as it turned out the waiting time was much better than expected. This was partially thanks to my luck of finding someone I would end up being friends with shortly after arriving but also thanks to the general organization of the lines. Although incredibly full from the start the lines don't feel nearly as cramped as one would think, you can leave the line at any point in order to get food or drinks at nearby vending machines and stands and even bring your own blanket or chair to sit on as you wait. In the end, the hour-long wait outside of Tokyo Big Sight in the morning may not be comfortable, but it's certainly not something that will make the entire con experience any less worth it. To me in fact, it only made it all the more memorable. The incredibly long waiting time only ended up building up my anticipation for the event even more and made getting to the booths I wanted to get to and buying the things I was planning to get all the more satisfying. If I were to go to Comiket again I would undoubtedly do it the same way again. Of course, if you don't have any specific, popular things you want to buy there's little reason to go through anything like this. Comiket's organization is absolutely impeccable and makes for one of the smoothest line experiences I've ever had. Of course, it helps that the convention in itself is 100% free meaning no ticket-checking is required, but around an hour after the convention opens there's already close to no need to wait in line anymore. Sadly, that means with all of the people that were originally waiting outside inside already the halls are absolutely cramped and, even worse, the lines for popular artists can be endless. Lines often have to be either led to the outside to continue lining there or have to be cut into several smaller parts so people can continue walking through the already relatively small corridors in between booths. 50 years of experience in holding Comiket, however, make all of this a surprisingly smooth ride as both the people working on site, as well as a lot of the visitors already know the general drill. The event feels chaotic, but it still at all times seems to be under people's control. It's an overwhelmingly odd experience, but for something as gigantic as this to work at least just as well as every smaller foreign con is fascinating to me. So would I actually recommend you to go to Comiket? Absolutely. Even if you aren't hugely into Anime and Manga, I do believe that at the very least the experience of the event is something that'll stay with you for quite a while. I do urge you, however, to think beforehand about how you would like to enjoy the event. Having done both the Hunting after things I wanted to have and the casual strolling around the artist's alley to find things to spend my leftover money on, I can say that both of them are incredibly fun in very different ways, but the former does have a lot of effort put into it beforehand. Doing research via the guidebook available in Akihabara the weeks beforehand, looking up your favorite artists, planning out the best routes for buying your stuff, getting up extremely early etc, is quite exhausting but extremely worth it. On the other hand simply strolling around the convention does, of course, have its own merits. The experience can be extremely calming and is a lot easier especially in its preparation. Instead of the constant running around it allows for a lot more actual looking through things and surprise artists you might not have found otherwise. Regardless of what you chose to do, Comiket is an absolutely insane experience and if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend you go through it!
World Unite! offers a very useful support package for those who plan to do a Working Holiday in Japan. They run an office in central Tokyo with a multi-cultural and multi-lingual support team that has been supporting hundreds of foreigner on their Working Holiday in Japan. You can make use of their support for a full year while being in Japan. The cost of the package is 800 EUR/850 USD and can be booked here. It includes: Preparation documents (PDFs and videos) – including all kinds of practical information for your life in Tokyo Intercultural Training via Skype with an intercultural trainer Arrangement of accommodation at shared houses at preferred rates (dorm bed at 35,000 JPY per month). On arrival, pick up from Haneda or Narita Airport by public transport and drop to accommodation On-site assistance including: Immigration Department (Residence Card) Residents’ Registration Office Tax number Opening a bank account and mobile phone contract Japanese Language Course. We can either book you into a formal language school and/or we can introduce you at the nearest Community Centre and/or help you to find a tandem partner and/or one-to-one Japanese language tutor (language lessons at extra cost) Local orientation Assistance with finding a job Help with job application in Japanese (preparing your CV/resume in Japanese) Tips and Preparation for job interview Registration at the employment office Providing job offers from other sources Use of PC and printer for researching job offers and creating application documents Multilingual Contact persons on site (English, German and Japanese) for any assistance during your whole year in Japan, even if you are at other cities in Japan, incl. e.g. support with travel, accommodation, finding job etc. at other cities in Japan; at our office, via phone, Whatsapp, Line, Email... Membership Terms for cheap foods on wholesale
What are cultural differences? Culture, the way Intercultural Coaches usually define it, is describing the way how the people belonging to a certain group, such as a nation, think. The thinking is influenced by values and norms that the people belonging to the group share. Of course not everyone of a certain country thinks the same way, indeed there are big differences from one individual to another, but tendencies definitely exist. They exist because the people around oneself are influencing each other: in their childhood, children learn the values, the way of thinking and behavioural norms from their parents, educators and teachers. Later, through every interaction, in social life, in work life etc. people adapt their thinking and behaviours to the people around them - resulting that they are a little similar to the people they interact with or they have grown up with. Japan is still a relatively closed society. As an isolated island with still today, very few foreigners, a culture has developed in Japan, which is indeed unique and in many aspects very different from all the other cultures in the world. Most people in Japan are proud of their culture and want to preserve it. There is not so much the urge to adapt cultural features from other nations. Being unique, however means that there are considerable differences between Japanese culture and the rest of the world. If you are not familiar with these differences and you closely interact with Japanese people, for instance living with them in a host family, or working with them at your Working Holiday job or internship, can result in difficulties for both sides. It is therefore definitely recommendable to learn about Japanese culture prior to your trip to Japan. Once you have are familiar with it in theory, you will be sensitized and able to understand certain behaviours you can observe in Japan, and you can adjust your own behaviour accordingly to avoid possible pitfalls. Japan Explained Through Cultural Dimensions A very useful analytical tool to study cultural differences is Hofstede's 6D model of culture. The model identifies six key dimensions by which cultures differ and through comparison, serves as a good representation of differences. The dimensions described are power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity vs. femininity, uncertainty avoidance, pragmatism vs. normative and indulgence vs. restraint. The Hofstede Centre has a powerful tool on its website, allowing you to compare your own culture with Japan. You will notice in which dimensions you can possibly expect bigger cultural differences and learn how people in Japan would typically position themselves: https://geert-hofstede.com/japan.html You can also book an online intercultural skype training session with World Unite! (available in English and German), which takes around 90 minutes, and where you can learn from and also ask your questions to an experienced academic consultant (intercultural coaches, japanologists) about anything related to Japanese culture and/or living and working in Japan. To join is 45 USD/EUR. The sessions are usually offered 1-2 times per month to a group of around 4-10 participants, most of which go to Japan on a Working Holiday or Internship. It would be good to contact World Unite! latest around one month prior to your proposed journey to Japan. Even if you are already in Japan, it might make sense to join the session. Yes, I want to book an online intercultural skype training session about living and working in Japan!
It is a requirement for most nationals to have a Travel Health insurance for the whole duration of their time in Japan in order to get a Working Holiday Visa. The following insurances are recommended: Travel Health Insurance (obligatory). This insurance will cover your expenses for medical consultation, treatments and prescription medicines. Also it usually pays for a flight back home, should it be necessary from a medical point of view, if confirmed by a doctor in Japan. As a Working Holiday traveller, staying for up to one year in Japan, you can also join the Japan National Health Insurance (国民健康保険 Kokumin-Kenkō-Hoken), but you don't have to. You would need to pay for it an amount similar to foreign travel health insurances, but the Japan National Health Insurance only covers 70% of the medical costs, whereas foreign travel health insurances often cover 100%. As medical costs are relatively high in Japan, even the remaining 30% can make a substantial amount. Travel cancellation insurance. If you cannot travel to Japan after having made all travel arrangements due to a serious reason (e.g. serious illness, pregnancy etc - please check the conditions of the insurance), the travel cancellation insurance will reimburse your expenses. Travel cancellation insurances often need to be bought a certain time (e.g. one month) prior to your booked departure date. Liability insurance. As most companies in Japan have an employer’s liability insurance for their employees, this is often not necessary for those who are on a Working Holiday. In any case, please make sure what such liability insurance covers. In some cases, travel liability insurances are limited to liability claims related to travel activities (e.g. if you cause damage to a hotel room, rental surf board etc.), and don't include work-related liability claims.
Japan has a well-developed medical system of high standard, even in small towns. It might be hard at times to find English-speaking healthcare professionals though outside the big cities. Even in Tokyo, if you cannot fluently converse in Japan, options are limited, but available. “St. Luke's Hospital“ and the “Roppongi Midtown Clinic“ are two English-speaking hospitals in Tokyo that feature many medical specialties. As the prescription drugs sold in Japan are mostly made in Japan by Japanese pharmaceutical companies, and foreign medicines are not available, medication might considerably differ from the one you might be familiar with. Almost all drugs need a prescription and there are very few ones you can just buy at a drugstore. If you regularly need prescription drugs, we advise you to bring them from home for your whole duration of stay. Also bring the actual prescription with you, to proof that they are for your personal use. You might be asked at customs to show this. No vaccinations are required by law to enter Japan. Japanese encephalitis, a viral infection transmitted by mosquito bites, might be a risk in the countryside during the summer months (May to October). If you plan to stay in rural areas (e.g. doing farmwork) during these months, you might decide to get vaccinated against it.
As of April 2018, the airports in Japan where you can get your Residence Card on arrival are if you are holding a Working Holiday Visa are Kansai (Osaka), Tokyo-Narita, Tokyo-Haneda, Chūbu (Aichi), New Chitose (Sapporo), Hiroshima and Fukuoka.
Requirement 1: Have a Japanese bank account for your salary If during your Working Holiday you want to do remunerated work, you typically need a Japanese bank account, as employers don't pay out salaries in cash or to foreign bank accounts. There are only a few banks in Japan that open bank accounts for foreigners from the beginning of your stay. Most banks won't do it at all and some only after you have spent at least 6 months in Japan. The banks that open accounts from the beginning of your stay have further restrictions about new accounts, e.g. usually you cannot transfer funds from outside of Japan to your Japanese account within the first 6 months of your stay. Requirement 2: Bring a Credit Card from home So to avoid you have to bring a lot of money in cash and in order to cover your living expenses before you get paid out for the first time, which usually happens on a monthly base after having done the work, it is advisable to bring a credit card from your home country with you. You also need a Credit Card in order to get a mobile phone contract. At some, but not all mobile phone providers this can be a foreign credit card. There is no chance for anyone who is on a Working Holiday visa to get a Japanese credit card. Also it important to know that many ATMs don't accept foreign Credit Cards, even if they have the VISA or Mastercard logo. They only work with VISA and Mastercards issued in Japan. At areas where there are usually many tourists, you can find ATMs accepting foreign-issued credit cards (and even some foreign debit cards such as Maestro and Visa Plus), and also at Japan Postbank and 7Eleven Convenience stores.
What about the finances? As the salaries in Japan are relatively attractive, it is possible to finance your entire trip including living and travel expenses through the work you do in Japan. Many people achieve to even save some money, for instance to travel around and explore Japan or neighbouring Asian countries. However, you need some money before starting your trip, because when applying for the visa you need to have a flight ticket and you need to proof you have an amount of around 1500-2000 EUR/USD (depending on your nationality). You should be able to cover your living expenses for at least 1-2 months, just in case you don't find a job immediately. Let's have a look at the finances in detail! On the cost side, you have to consider: Your flight to Japan and back (you can use a flight comparison website to check rates) Rent for your accommodation: A dorm bed at a share house is usually around 45,000-60,000 JPY per month, a single room around 80,000-100,000 JPY. If you find considerably cheaper options in central Tokyo, room sizes are usually extremely tiny, the standard is poor, or they pack many people into a dorm room. You can find cheaper accommodation if you are willing to commute for around 60-90 minutes, but in this case you will have higher commuting expenses, which means you will probably not save a lot. Food and other living expenses (e.g. public transport). For Tokyo you should calculate with a minimum of around 280 EUR/300 USD per month (if your accommodation and job are in central Tokyo) Travel health insurance (around 40-50 EUR/USD per month) The services of an organization helping you: World Unite! for instance charge a one-time service package fee of 800 EUR/ 880 USD. The services included will definitely help you not only to save time to make all arrangements, pre-arrival and in Japan, but might help you to actually save money in Japan by avoiding (costly) mistakes, by finding cheaper accommodation, by getting membership terms on cheaper food on wholesale, and by helping you to find a job quickly. On the „income“ side, with the typical Working Holiday jobs, you will make (in Tokyo) between 890 and 1500 JPY per hour. So if you work part-time (28 hours per week), that’s around 100,000 to 170,000 JPY per month. If you work full-time (40 hours per week), we’re talking about 140,000 to 240,000 JPY per month. If you have a good level of Japanese and/or some professional qualification (particular IT or engineering-related, or as a professional teacher of English as a foreign language), you can make a higher hourly salary than the range stated above. With the help of an organization, it is realistic for most participants to find a job within their first month, so you should have enough money to cover one month without any job while doing job hunting. Now you can calculate how long it will take you to „break even“, which usually happens in the 4th month. So, from this moment your total earnings will exceed the total costs and many participants are actually able to save money that they can then use to travel around or to take back home.
The Working Holiday Visa The “Working Holiday Visa“ is currently available if at the time of application you are 18-30 Years old and if you are a citizen of the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, France, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Portugal, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Slowakia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Argentina, Chile, Taiwan, or Hong Kong. Citizens of Australia, Canada and South Korea can get the visa if they are 18-25 years old. You will have to prove a certain amount of money on your bank account, which might be lower if you hold a round way ticket and higher if you only have a one-way flight ticket to Japan. The exact amount differs depending on your nationality. It is typically in the range of 1500-2500 Euros/USD. Also, you can not be accompanied by dependents or children, you should be in good health and not have any criminal records. Please check the exact visa requirements on the website of the Japanese embassy of your country. With the Working Holiday Visa you can accept any remunerated job in Japan, except for jobs that "affect public morale in Japan", which include jobs in the gambling industry, and in bars, nightclubs or any other establishments where services related to the sex industry are offered, even if you are doing some other type of work at such establishment (e.g. if there are sex workers present at a bar, you are not allowed to clean there or to sell drinks etc.). With the Working Holiday Visa in your passport, you will get a Residence Card on arrival at the airport in Japan. Alternative options For nationalities and age groups that cannot get the Working Holiday Visa, an alternative solution to do something similar to a Working Holiday can be the use of a Student Visa. You can get a Student Visa if you enroll for at least 20 hours per week in Japanese language lessons at a Language School that is accredited to apply for Certificates of Elegibility for a Student Visa. The language school can then also apply for a Work Permit for you, which is usually granted if you get a Student Visa. This Work Permit allows you to work for up to 28 hours per week. These 28 hours are calculated as an average, so you can for instance, during your language lesson's semester breaks work full time, and then work a lower amount of hours while you take the language lessons. You can for instance book language lessons with World Unite! in order to get your Student Visa with Work Permit and then make use of their Working Holiday support services.
An internship in Japan is an investment into your professional future Internships are usually done by students or graduates to get practical work experience, applying the theory they learn at university in a real life work environment. Many students want to do an internship abroad to expand their global and intercultural skills. Unfortunately, the idea of doing a student internship is not very common in Japan. Japanese students, while attending university usually don't aim at getting practical work experience, but they learn about real work only after graduation when entering a company at an entry-level position. It is still the idea of many of them to stay with the same company thoroughout their professional life. As a consequence, many Japanese companies, particularly those with a more traditional mindset, don't see the point why a student wants to be with them for a limited duration of time only, and they don't see the reason why to spend effort into training someone who would leave after short time anyway. As a consequence, it can be really difficult to arrange an internship in Japan. There are agencies that arrange internships in Japan, but you need to expect to pay a relatively high amount of money to use their services. Also, internships in Japan are often not paid, or companies only pay a small living support such as reimbursing your commuting or accommodation costs. With the visa categories issued for internships (e.g. Cultural Activities Visa) it is also legally not allowed to have an income in Japan. It is usually not possible to finance your trip, living expenses and possibly ageny placement fees with the stipend you get for your internship. You should therefore see an internship in Japan as an investment into your professional future.
What are Working Holidays? Working holiday programs are based on bilateral agreements between Japan and partnering countries, making it possible for young nationals of the partnering countries to travel to Japan for a duration of 6-18 months (depending on the nationality), primarily for the purpose of spending holidays which have the aim of cultural learning and exchange, but also allowing them to legally engage in employment with the purpose of supplementing their travel funds. Typical Working Holiday Jobs are jobs in restaurants, cafés and hotels, sales jobs in shops, nanny & au pair, English teacher, sports instructor, farm work, light factory work etc. However, legally (almost) any jobs are possible. In Tokyo, these jobs are typically remunerated with around 890-1500 Yen/hour. At other cities, the salaries are slightly lower, but also living expenses are lower. So if you work part-time (28 hours per week) or full-time (40 hours per week) you can have a relatively good income, which allows you not only to cover your living expenses, but even to save some money, for instance to travel around or to pay for Japanese language lessons. lf you have some professional qualification and/or you have better skills of the Japanese language, you can find jobs with even a higher salary. Contrary to the "roadtrip" concept of Working Holiday like it is common in Australia and New Zealand, where you would travel around all the time and do constant job hopping, in Japan due to the expectations of employers that you stay with the company for a longer time, it might make more sense to plan your stay in Japan in a way, that you don't stay for less than 3 months at one place. It is simply often not feasible to find jobs for a short duration of time only. So if you stay for a full year in Japan, it is advisable not to plan to stay at a total of more than 4 locations if you intend to find remunerated work. To explore more parts of the country, you can travel around in between jobs or during weekends and public holidays. Who can do Working Holidays in Japan? The Japanese Working Holiday Visa currently exists for nationals of the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Austria, France, Portugal, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. You must be between 18-30 years old by the time of applying for the visa (for some of above mentioned nationalities it is only 18-25 years) and you have to proof you are able to afford the trip. You apply for your Working Holiday Visa before leaving for Japan through the Japanese embassy (or consulates at some countries) at your home country. Even if you can’t speak any or only little Japanese, it is still possible to find a job, but the better your Japanese language skills are, the easier it is. It is always a good idea to attend Japanese language lessons while in Japan though (and prior to your trip). How can I find a job in Japan? The usual steps for Working Holidays in Japan are: 1) to apply for the visa at your home country; 2) to travel to Japan and sort out all formalities that Japanese employers usually require such as registering as a resident, getting a tax number, opening a bank account, and getting a mobile phone contract, and 3) to find a job once you have arrange all of this. It is difficult to secure remunerated jobs from abroad, as potential employers usually want to see that you have a visa which allows you to work in Japan, that you have a Japanese tax number, a bank account where they would pay the salary, and a phone number where they can reach you at. As many things are done completely differently in Japan than at your home country, plus there might be a possible language barrier as English is not wide-spoken in Japan, it might be a good idea for you to use professional support services to assist you with the formalities and to land a job. As an extra service, agencies might also be able to pre-arrange certain jobs prior to your arrival. The leading provider of Working Holiday support services in Japan, with a multi-lingual support team in Tokyo, is World Unite!. Besides providing support services such as sorting out the necessary formalities and helping to find jobs in Tokyo, World Unite! also pre-arranges jobs at ryokans (traditional Japanese hotels), (Western-style) hotels, ski-resorts and farms all over Japan and they run an attractive and affordable share house in central Tokyo. Read more about World Unite!'s Working Holiday support in Japan: Working Holiday in Tokyo Working Holiday jobs at ryokans, hotels and ski resorts Working Holiday jobs at farms World Unite! Share house in Tokyo