Mun-Su Park, a South Korean 밤알바 university student, details the personal, negative experiences she had working part-time jobs in Japan. Many foreigners believe it is expensive to live in Japan, but if you are an international student, having a part-time job in Japan is a good way to earn a decent income. Part-time jobs are known in Japan as arubaito, and they are quite common for both domestic and international students in the country, and pay quite well in comparison with average living expenses.
Part-time jobs are unusually common in Japan, with many students working part-time jobs as their side income. In Japan, international students may be employed part-time, 28 hours a week, broken down into four or five hours per day. Foreign students also may be able to get part-time jobs if they possess special employment permits issued by the government known as Shakugan katsudo kyoka.
Before legally working in Japan as a foreign student, one needs to obtain authorization from an immigration office for engaging in activities outside of ones state-qualified activities. When applying for jobs in Japan, you generally will require a Japanese-language curriculum vitae.
You may be thinking it is impossible to get a job in Japan if you cannot speak Japanese, but this is simply untrue. Jobs teaching English are easily found in Japan, and you do not need to know a single bit of Japanese to get one. There are a few opportunities for working with Japanese colleagues, so it is something that you may want to consider doing.
There are lots of events and clubs that both Japanese and foreigners participate in Japan, and you will find lots of Japanese people that speak English, and are excited about talking with foreigners. These sites have a mixture of local and foreign Japanese, and are a good way to find bilingual friends. Apps can also help you find Japanese who want to work on their English skills, and want to meet foreigners.
Your chances of making friends in Japan will largely depend on where you are living in Japan, and on how open you are to getting out there to meet new people. In Japan, it seems that many foreigners do not find making friends very easy — but making new connections and acquaintances could make your time here a whole lot easier. Making friends in Japan as a foreigner means going the extra mile to make the Japanese person feel more comfortable.
While Japanese people are generally quiet and reserved when meeting new people, that does not mean that they are unwilling to become your friends. Japanese people are generally very intimidated at the thought of talking with a foreigner, unless they have lived abroad themselves or are friends with a lot of expats. As we mentioned, because the Japanese are trying to keep some kind of harmony in Japanese social environments, a lot of times, the reason they might be more shy about talking with foreigners is that they are unsure how to approach them without being disrespectful.
Some foreigners or new expats might feel desperate and urgent about making new friends in Japan, in part due to their loneliness and lack of social networks. This might seem surprising, but even foreigners who are fluent Japanese speakers and who have lived in Japan for years can still find it difficult to find friends and make new connections. Foreigners often tend to rush into making new friends, often making the Japanese person feel uncomfortable with their persistence. The thing is, a lot of foreigners, upon arriving in Japan, start out at the dorm parties, or international greeting parties, or language-exchange events in order to meet people.
You will also get Japanese friends, as well as getting along with other students studying abroad. Learning Japanese and making friends while working is sure to make your study abroad experience a lot more enjoyable. Being involved with industries such as fast-food, coffee, teaching, and tourism in Japan will also help foreign students get familiar with Japanese working culture, and also opens doors for making Japanese friends.
In the future, more jobs may become available for students studying overseas. The types of jobs foreign students could easily get when studying in Japan include jobs at restaurants, hotels, and dormitories, at language and cultural exchange centers, as well as teaching, and writing papers and articles. If you are lacking work experience and Japanese language skills, you may struggle to get jobs paying a lot more–but that is not impossible.
Japan has some unique characteristics that determine their part-time jobs; not surprisingly, some students go as far as to solely rely on part-time jobs to make a financial living. Keeping in mind that not every part-time job overburdens their employees, there is still a strong work culture in Japan, one which can be seen as more rigid than some other cultures. I have personally worked at a sushi restaurant as part-time while studying, working alongside students from China, Nepal, and Myanmar. As a side-note, there is a massive shortage of workers in Japan, which is why there are a lot of places desperate for workers.
Every year, we see international students being forced out of Japan as they cannot prolong their period of authorized residence in the country because they are working part-time and ignoring their studies. There comes a time when you will have to extend your stay period as an international student living in Japan.
If you want – and can – do some part-time work as you study, this can be a great way to meet new people and make friends in Japan. You could also study languages, cultures, and make lots of friends in language schools, a great alternative to simply taking pictures and sightseeing. Some studying abroad students decide to teach English to children, not using Japanese, or to work in hotels using their own language skills.