Hello r/movingtojapan,
I am moving to Japan this September. I’ve been brought up to always make time in my week to serve my community in one way or another, and I wanted to ask if you have ideas/know of how a new resident might be able to volunteer locally, with my as yet very basic Japanese. I’m actively learning the language, but it will be a while before I’m truly fluent.
In the past I have worked in soup kitchens, storytelling to children, visiting elder care facilities and cleaning up parks and beaches. I also had first aid training which I would need to renew if that is relevant.
Thank you in advance for any advice you may have.
7 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
—
**Volunteer opportunities for non-Japanese speaking residents?**
Hello r/movingtojapan,
I am moving to Japan this September. I’ve been brought up to always make time in my week to serve my community in one way or another, and I wanted to ask if you have ideas/know of how a new resident might be able to volunteer locally, with my as yet very basic Japanese. I’m actively learning the language, but it will be a while before I’m truly fluent.
In the past I have worked in soup kitchens, storytelling to children, visiting elder care facilities and cleaning up parks and beaches. I also had first aid training which I would need to renew if that is relevant.
Thank you in advance for any advice you may have.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/movingtojapan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Have you looked into language volunteer opportunities in your area?
When you arrive and register at your ward office, talk to the people in the “international lounge” and ask about the opportunities— they may have some ideas.
My husband did the same thing and our ward office had a few good suggestions!
Japan is a pretty big place, so it’s hard to give you specific advice without knowing where you’ll be.
There are plenty of volunteer opportunities all over Japan. The better your Japanese the more you’ll find.
I do like to give a shout out to Second Harvest whenever possible, so hopefully you’ll be able to lend them a hand:
http://2hj.org/english/support/time/
You could also check for local community events, craft festivals, farmers markets, etc.
Especially outside of Tokyo/Bigger cities those are often meant to revitalize a community or area. Those events cannot survive without volunteers.
Depending on your location you could check out Hands On Tokyo.
Check out Hands On Tokyo, recently did a river cleanup event with them for Earth Day. I don’t speak Japanese and about half the volunteers there didn’t either and there was instruction in English and Japanese!