HOW I FOUND WORK IN JAPAN

Travelling abroad can be intimidating both psychologically and to your pocket. It takes a lot of guts to commit to the idea of travelling long term and even more if you decide to go in it alone.

But there is another way to really find an immersive cultural experience (while saving your pocket) and that is – working!!

Now some of us may be put off by the idea of working when we are meant to be holidaying. But let me reassure you that abroad you can find work outside your regular monotonous positions you find back home. Actually most ordinary jobs would somehow seem slightly extraordinary for a period simply because you are not in your home backyard.

Days off work at my ski resort job.

It is possible that skills you have may be in high demand in the country you visit, like the simple fact of being a native English speaker in many Asian countries.

Before I even went to Japan I already had a job set up – 3 and a half months in a ski resort with a free dorm, almost free food and free ski lift pass. It was everything I needed in one spot. Sometimes I wonder if I would have had the confidence to go to Japan alone without that job first. The idea that I had a temporary home to settle into and adjust to the culture really gave a little bit of relief. That nervous anticipation that was biting me a few months before departure was softened. Finding a job also gave me the opportunity to make new workplace friends from Japan and around the world (and future travel companions!)

The company that I used to find my ski resort job was called ‘boobooSKI.’ This is an Australian company that offers working holiday visa holders from around the world to jobs on Japanese ski resorts and also in Beach resorts during the Summer (limited positions all year round). You can find their website here: https://www.boobooski.com/

I also wrote a small article for the company about how my experience impacted my life. You can also read that here: https://www.boobooski.com/blog/reflections-on-my-working-holiday-in-japan/

On the way to work.

On a fresh powder day.

I’m not going to go over all the details, so if you’re curious go to their website, read the details and then fill in an application (if you’re reading to accept the challenge!). As part of the process you will also have a casual interview to help gauge your Japanese level and place you in an appropriate position. Nothing terrifying, yet tell that to the nerves that start screaming, making you tremble for no reason at all.

My first ski seasons is one of the biggest highlights of my Japanese working holiday visa. I can’t really say if it met my expectations because I tried my hardest not to hold any – the small ideals I held were met and so much more. I made so many friends, learnt to snowboard well (from never touched a board before). I was able to experience many firsts and grabbed hold of all the opportunities that flew my way (quite literally when I was able to ride in a helicopter as part of my resort’s heli skiing). And somehow it was one of the easiest things to do – get a job. Every day I was surprised how I was allowed to be in this little heaven on the face of a mountain even though I spoke no Japanese. Yet I was accepted, I learned and I discovered that language was only a barrier that you built yourself.

Hansan lift crew on a windy day when the lift was closed.

After travelling for a bit I found myself in Tokyo living. There I found myself working in a hostel branch of the company ‘Khaosan.’ This job I found out of desperation to find somewhere free to live. The idea behind this work is similar to that of WWOOFing (Working – especially on farms – for food and accommodation with a family) yet it was a company. Because you did not receive food you worked less hours than what was usually expected of WOOFing. 3 hours, 20 days out of 28 days you must agree to stay (11am – 2pm). Basically you got two days off a week if you chose to. Somehow I even managed to have a rich culture experience here too – yet at many times not just Japanese culture but those of the world. I lived in a staff dorm with predominantly other working holiday makers and long term travelers. We cleaned the hostel together in pairs, ate together after work, partied together, traveled together and shared rooms together. We were a family. I didn’t fit into my new home immediately yet before I left to return to Australia for a short time I couldn’t bring myself to leave. I remember at the train station my new family had gathered to send me off, carrying my large suitcase and snowboard. I kept missing the train because I didn’t want to say goodbye. In the end the station staff had allowed my friends to rush me through the ticket gates to help with my luggage. I had waved through the window with tears in my eyes.

Khaosan World (Tonpachi Staff House family) – Tokyo.

I wasn’t back in Australia long before I returned back to Khaosan at the end of Summer then again returning to my old ski resort for round two in the winter.

Living again in Tokyo for a long time I decided to get myself an income to pay for my living and stop watching my wallet diminish. My ski resort wage was almost gone (in fact I may have used that in a month…) I found myself a job at an English café in Shinjuku on the internet. The site? Craigslist. I can’t say I was expecting much from craigslist or the job. I had tried in vain to find nice affordable fitting interview clothes and in the end had rocked up in mottled jeans and a denim blouse. Yet I got the job. I sat on an exercise ball and tried my hardest to pretend to be outgoing as I answered questions that have long escaped from my memory now. All the while questioning what I was doing. I was introverted, how could I make conversations with strangers? It was a job so unlike me, yet one of the few jobs I could manage with in-confidence with my limited Japanese. It was really hard at first, especially sitting in on a chat session after my interview. I was possibly twitching with nerves as I tried to convince myself things weren’t so bad.

Staff portrait wall that is still growing till this day almost two years later.

Working at an English Café is basically getting paid to sit and host conversations with strangers. You are to direct conversation and to make sure all the customers sitting at your table are getting involved. Sometimes conversation flows naturally, customers taking the ball and questioning on another. Sometimes it grows stagnant and everyone looks at you and you scramble for the same boring questions you ask everyone. Yet somehow I really learned to love my job very much. I was disappointed to be speaking English yet in return I received a different sort of cultural experience – hundreds of fascinating stories from my customers and unknown knowledge of Japan (or the hottest off the beaten path tourist spots). I remember a customer who told me about his hobby of hang gliding, another who worked for a high tech gaming company and was working on a device that could hypnotise you and then send you into a gaming world that evoked all the senses (Like NERVE gear from Sword Art Online! It’s real!) I even coincidently discovered that that one of my Staff Dorm family worked at the very same English Café. Together we befriended a regular customer and went out on Curry Tabehoudai outings after work (All-you-can-eat). That customer later came to visit my ski resort when I went back, together we were able to snowboard. You can find new friends anywhere.

Normal evening of celebrations in Tokyo.

My job was from about 6pm until 10pm or later, so I was able to work after my Khaosan hostel cleaning shifts. Jobs relating to English usually pay higher in comparison to regular jobs. I received 1000 yen an hour (average is about 800 – 900 yen) or more if busy. Additionally, I received transport allowance, which covered my 30 minute all so commute from Asakusa to Shinjuku and back. Although this is normal in the city, most jobs will always pay for commute costs. Each week I only worked about twice yet this was usually more than enough to buy myself food and go out with friends.

I think I owe a lot of thanks to that job. I was really able to surprise myself in how I was able to direct a conversation, get interesting topics flying and engage hesitant new faces to break their shyness and speak up. Speaking to strangers doesn’t scare me so much now, or worrying about keeping conversations flowing alone with someone else. It also helped me a lot also in my own Japanese studies, their questions about English and how they became so skilled. When I return to Japan I definitely wish to work in an English café again.

After my second ski season I travelled to Hokkaido where I worked in the Sapporo branch of Khaosan. I met my close friend, Koji from Khaosan Tokyo there and again we were able to work together. Later I had my first WWOOFing experience further inland Hokkaido in a country town called Biei.

Staff and customers going down a slide.

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Before leaving Hokkaido I had an interview at an English language school where one my Khaosan Sapporo friends took up a short term position. No experience in teaching, no university degree – and he received 2,500 yen an hour. I was also offered his old position that he did for just over one month before leaving. Sadly I had to decline this offer as I was unable to receive enough hours to get visa sponsorship (which I had been aiming for in a desperate search of a English teaching position). My visa was almost finished and after flying back to Tokyo to see my visiting family and be their guide – I had just one month left.

A birthday celebration in Sapporo.

I found my English Language school position on: https://www.kimiwillbe.com/

My friend had originally been contacted by the school after leaving a notice, “Australian looking for work,” in the language community centre in Sapporo city. I applied directly and he also put in a good word for me (networking works!)

My last job in my last month I found myself in Beppu Khaosan (bottom of Japan on the island of Kyushu). Khaosan is amazing for city jumping through the major tourist destinations of Japan. Every night I was able to relax in the natural hot spring onsen in the hostel, relax at the beach and study and meet travellers who jumped off the average Japan tourist path. They are opening new branches all the time, I have been out of Japan less than one year and they already have new branches – including a much anticipated Khaosan Osaka.

Work parties are just one perk – Beppu Khaosan.

Khaosan is not the only company to offer such a work exchange program, I have a friend who did the same exchange in Hiroshima on Miyajima (surrounded by beach, deer and a sun deck to boot). We are lucky to be blessed by Google Sensei in this millennia and the opportunity to be connected to travelers from around the world to hear. Spread the word you are looking for work, talk to everyone and never miss the opportunity to experience something extraordinary. One thing leads to another, one door closes another will open so take up any offer to try something outside your comfort zone (just not gaijin hostess clubs – although they do pay incredibly well…) Challenge. Experience. Fail. Learn and grow.

I could have worked a lot harder than I did, I could have had more jobs if I wanted. I had degree-less friends who were offered full working visas at schools, knew people who worked every day and earned more than they earned back in their home countries. Yet in the end, this is a holiday. A working holiday. A chance to experience a culture from all sides. Working is just that pathway to enter the insides of a community and see what no ordinary tourist gets to see.