Hello all,
I will be traveling to Tokyo on the working holiday visa in January, where I will be staying for 1 year hopefully. My primary reason for coming is that I am a professional photographer/videographer and I want to capture as much as I can and maybe find a paying niche here (longshot, I know). That said, I will need to get some part time work so as to not drain my savings too quickly, and I was wondering what are the options for an English speaker besides the typical ESL, etc. I am currently around N5 Japanese level, will probably make it to N4 by the winter with how rigorously I’m studying (few hours of self-study per day). I’m Canadian and speak French too if that could possibly matter.
Would be willing to do anything, just wondering what are the typical jobs that people can pick up without being proficient in Japanese, if any? On this visa I am allowed to pursue pretty much all work and I do not need a sponsor — does that change anything? Haven’t looked into it too much yet, I just wanted to get some ideas if there were any other options besides the obvious.
Worst case, I would be able to just rely on my savings but that is not ideal. Can anybody else who has gone the Working Holiday Visa route give me some advice on how they got by??
3 comments
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**Advice for getting by on a Working Holiday Visa?**
Hello all,
I will be traveling to Tokyo on the working holiday visa in January, where I will be staying for 1 year hopefully. My primary reason for coming is that I am a professional photographer/videographer and I want to capture as much as I can and maybe find a paying niche here (longshot, I know). That said, I will need to get some part time work so as to not drain my savings too quickly, and I was wondering what are the options for an English speaker besides the typical ESL, etc. I am currently around N5 Japanese level, will probably make it to N4 by the winter with how rigorously I’m studying (few hours of self-study per day). I’m Canadian and speak French too if that could possibly matter.
Would be willing to do anything, just wondering what are the typical jobs that people can pick up without being proficient in Japanese, if any? On this visa I am allowed to pursue pretty much all work and I do not need a sponsor — does that change anything? Haven’t looked into it too much yet, I just wanted to get some ideas if there were any other options besides the obvious.
Worst case, I would be able to just rely on my savings but that is not ideal. Can anybody else who has gone the Working Holiday Visa route give me some advice on how they got by??
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i dont think i ever met a working holiday visa holder wjo didnt run out of money quick…
the usual jobs you are going to do will most likely be cleaning, private english/eikaiwa, woofing, with some luck floor staff…
of all the people i ever met claiming to be photographers (trust me, it is ever second foreigner here) i know exactly one person who does it for a business, even the one who graduated from todai do wedding/tourism pictures, if they can even get that gig…
Work at a convenient store is another option mainly out in the country side pulling night shifts for 900 yen an hour.
You will still be dirt poor.