Working Holiday Visa in Osaka – job opportunities?

5 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

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   **Working Holiday Visa in Osaka – job opportunities?**

   Hello everyone,

   I’m planning on going to Japan on a Working Holiday Visa in 2024. I was thinking of starting in Osaka, going to a Japanese language school for 3 months, saving up some money, and then see where live takes me from there.

   Only problem is that I’m worried about the job prospects as a WHV holder. I would like to start working in Japan as soon as possible, however most foreigner-friendly job postings I can find in Osaka right now are English teaching positions. I grew up in Germany, so I imagine it would be very difficult for me to be hired for these positions, as I’m not a native speaker. The only other postings I can find require a certain level of Japanese, which I probably won’t have by then.

   Now I’m starting to reconsider my plan. My savings should be able to support me for 2-3 months, so I could still go to Osaka and if it does go wrong, immediately move to Tokyo after finishing Japanese language school for better job opportunities. However that would mean spending more money and traveling less overall, so it might just be easier to start in Tokyo right away until I have saved enough to be comfortable enough to travel the country more.

   What I’m basically asking is, does anyone have any experience finding part time jobs in Osaka/Kansai region that are not ASL positions? Is it possible without any help? Or would it just be better to start in Tokyo for more opportunities in the beginning?

   Any advice would be appreciated 🙂

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3. I did a working holiday visa in Tokyo. Most places wont even hire you unless you’re gonna stay with them for 9 months +. I lucked out with a international catering company so didn’t need Japanese though I would of liked to learn but was here with a full time job and sometimes I would work a 6th short 4-5 hour shift on a Saturdays. You might only be able to get a Job as Dishwasher or similar if you have zero Japanese ability. If you only have 2-3 months saved up it would be best to get a job right away and use what little you have to supplement your most likely low wage.

   If you want you’re own apartment in Tokyo it’s not gonna be cheap. You would probably have to commute from chiba or Kanagawa. Unless you get a share house. Those are usually minimum 3 – 6 months right out the gate. Apartments would be a 1 year lease.

   I traveled fukuoka, kyoto and osaka for one month before settling in Tokyo and commuting from Kanagawa.

   I went with my ex gf she could only find a job as a Dishwasher. Then later worked at a wedding banquet place in Omotesandō.

4. In my opinion, lot of it really depends on your Japanese level. You can certainly work at a konbini, hotel or restaurant with solid N3 Japanese – I can see a bunch of such job openings on the Japanese indeed website. Without N3, it’ll be a lot more difficult. That’s not to say it’s impossible, but it’ll probably be quite frustrating.

   My recommendation would be to get started on Japanese *now* (if you haven’t already done that), so you have less to worry about when you’re actually there. I would say that passing the N3 should be possible if you start now, learn diligently and go to language school for a few months. Still, Tokyo may be the better choice, especially since you haven’t saved up much and will need a job quite soon.

5. I used a site called Workaway (workaway.com) to find job opportunities for my working holiday. There’s a wide range of locations and lengths of stay you can look for.

   You’re most likely going to find a job that pays minimum wage over there, but on the plus side, many of these jobs offer free room and board on top of the pay.