Hi, just graduated from a Master’s degree program last week in Tokyo and starting job searching. I came across this topic many times but was curious about the unemployment insurance.
Will I qualify for unemployment package since technically I am currently unemployed? Supporting myself here with no income but savings, so some relief package would really help me give some breathing space to pay rent and living expenses.
My last job was overseas two years ago. Would be great to get some advice or suggestions on this matter as I think I will need some time finding a job since I’m over 35 years old.
Also, currently in the process of switching my visa from student to designated status, if that complicates things?
6 comments
Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think you qualify for any social assistance at all on a student visa because you’re supposed to have savings to support yourself and you’re not paying into those systems.
Honestly your mistake here was not starting job hunting months ago. I know it’s hard while writing your thesis and finishing your research, but it’s really necessary to try to have something lined up before you graduate. Most Japanese undergraduate students start job hunting the year before they graduate, and many graduate students do as well.
Being over 35 might not be a huge problem as long as you have work experience up to now. If you have nothing it will be a struggle. Good luck and do prepare for the possibility of not finding something as leaving everything to the last minute will be super painful.
Do you need to have paid 6 months into the system before you can claim benefits?
Edit: Don’t know about its veracity, but this seems to agree
https://blog.gaijinpot.com/understanding-japanese-unemployment-insurance/
Nope.
isnt it a bit too late to look for job? you should have started 就活 like a year ago.
Get a part time job in the meantime. But no, you haven’t paid into the system so you can’t take from the system. Also not having a job after graduation isn’t “unemployment” in the political sense of the word.
As others have written, I think you started looking for work too late. Many students start it a year or more before graduation.
Under Japan’s unemployment insurance system, a person who works pays monthly unemployment insurance premiums. When such a person loses their job, They receives money from the insurance system. Since you do not pay unemployment insurance and have not lost your job, you do not receive any money.
This is a system for people who “lost” their jobs. It is not a system for those who “didn’t look” for a job.