Working holidays in Japan

Your visa allows you to work for 12 months, however, due to the purpose behind the working holiday scheme as outlined by the Japanese Government, we may advise you to change employers every three months.

The working holiday scheme is designed to promote international exchange and enhance friendly relationships between Japan and partner countries. Intended to deepen your understanding of Japan – the work part of your visa is designed to enhance your holiday and supplement your travel funds. See the below FAQ for how we ensure your application is formatted correctly to reflect this.

We’ll guide you through the process – supplying the correct forms and guidance on how to fill them out. Plus, advise on how to format the supporting documents you need for your in-person embassy appointment. These include an outline of your intended activities and letter explaining why you want to do a working holiday. (A year of ramen – while technically correct – is not an acceptable answer!).

We can also check your visa application before you submit it to ensure that it is filled out correctly.

You can apply year-round. However, most nationalities have a quota of Japan working holiday visas that are released each April. These don’t always run out, but where possible, we suggest applying as soon after April to ensure you secure a visa. The application consists of an online visa application and in-person appointment at the Embassy of Japan in your home country. Applications can take 2-3 months in total, so remember to build that into your timeframes – especially if you’re looking to pre-arrange a ski season job.

Applications for ski season jobs usually open in May/June with job roles that start in Nov/Dec.

No, it’s not essential to speak Japanese, as most of the employers we work with are looking to fill English-speaking job roles. However, it can be easier to find work and open up more opportunities if you have a basic understanding of the language. Plus, it will improve your overall experience and understanding of Japanese culture if you know greetings, introductions and dining etiquette etc.

Some of our travellers opt to do online courses before they go, or arrive a few weeks early to do a classroom course. We’ve partnered with the Kudan Institute of Japanese Language and Culture in Tokyo to offer 4-12 week courses. Ask us about dates and pricing.

There are two Work Japan options.

‘Own Job’ is designed to find work when you arrive. Starting in Tokyo, it includes five weeks’ arrival accommodation, comprehensive job counselling with access to job portals where English-speaking jobs are posted, job support for the full 12-months of your visa, CV translating, cover letter writing and more. Jobs are all English-speaking and are in and around Tokyo.

‘JENZA Job’ includes the same inclusions, but with five nights’ accommodation plus a pre-arranged ski season job with one of our ski season employers in Niseko, Rusutsu or Furano on the island of Hokkaido. All our winter jobs are vetted and posted on our Job Hub, where you can search, apply and interview by video. You have the same 12 months’ access to job support in Tokyo, so you can work before your ski season or after. Unfortunately, you must be aged 20 or over to work for our ski season employers.

Both Work Japan options start in Tokyo. This is because there are certain visa, residential and legal formalities that you need to get sorted before you can start to work for a Japanese employer. Japanese language skills are required for this, so our in-country partners Work Unite will take you to the relevant offices in Tokyo to get these sorted when you arrive.

Starting each Friday, you’ll be met at either Narita or Haneda airport where you’ll be accompanied via public transport (a great way to get intro-d to Japanese public transport and trains!) to your included Tokyo accommodation where you’ll have the weekend to get over your jetlag and explore Tokyo. You’ll then visit the relevant offices to get all your paperwork sorted that week. If you’ve selected ‘JENZA Job’, you should book an internal flight on day 5 to Sapporo New Chitose airport – this is the closest airport to Niseko, Rusutsu or Furano.

Once you’re booked onto Work Japan, our team will run through everything with you .