The School of Japanese Language & Culture.

Teach in Japan
on a Working Holiday Visa

Before you go to Japan

The first step is to complete an application form, after which there will be an opportunity to discuss your personal preferences and options via e-mail and telephone. Then you will be invited to an interview. With Japanese people, personal contact and polite communication is very important. Fortunately, we have many years experience of organising study tours to Japan for British people and residential study retreats for Japanese people in the UK, so there is already a lot of good will and a fund of knowledge and local experience ready to assist with this programme. However, to ensure that you make the most of Japan and that you are prepared for the experience, there is a short course of instruction in Japanese culture and manners, including a lot of opportunity for questions and answers.

It is then a matter of matching you with a suitable host family for the first two months of your stay in Japan. This is to give you the best possible opportunity to settle into Japanese life before you have to start looking after yourself in a separate accommodation. We aim to match you with your host family in sufficient time to allow an exchange of letters and pictures before you leave the UK. We also ensure that your friends and family have your appropriate contact details and information, so that they can easily keep in touch with you. In addition to the partner school and the host family, you will also have the details of our local representative in Japan, who will keep an eye on you during your stay.

Of all the options, this is probably the one that benefits most from the workshop on how to live in Japan and the help with planning your activities, as the requirements of the Working Holiday Visa are covered by these matters. Although you will be expected to fund your own air fare to and from Japan, you will be given lots of help and advice based on many years experience of organising these matters for study tours and other visits to Japan. Similarly, your insurance while in Japan is a matter of personal choice; however, we will be able to recommend appropriate cover, taking into account your planned activities during your stay in Japan.

When you are in Japan

On your arrival in Japan, you will be met by our local representratives and taken to your host family. As mentioned above, you will be surrounded by helpful people during your stay, but we also provide a telephone and e-mail connection with an assigned mentor in the UK, who will keep an additional eye on your progress and be available to give help and advice, as required.

As you would expect, your accommodation for the first two months includes eating breakfast and evening meal with the host family. Lunch may be with the family, or as an obento (traditional Japanese boxed meal for eating away from home), or another choice of your own. You will also take an evening bath in the Japanese manner and sleep on a futon. Living with the Japanese family and being an active member of the local community are important aspects of the experience, as well as a unique opportunity. The projected cost for renting an apartment is ¥80,000 - ¥90,000 per month.

The exact nature of the employment in Japan varies from person to person; however, you should expect to help with English conversation classes at the partner school, or at other locations. Japan has a tradition of working hard and foreign people are expected to conform to it. However, the provisions of the Working Holiday Visa only allow for a limited number of working hours, so your duties will not be onerous and will leave you with time to explore aspects of the traditional and modern culture. You may find it interesting to study the arts and take part in sports or local pastimes, as well as making friends and travelling to interesting places.

The areas being considered are as follows:

• Tokyo
• Kumamoto
• Kagoshima
• Fukuoka
• Kyoto
• Shiga
• Gifu
• Aichi
• Kanagawa
• Saitama
• Aomori

Cost

The School of Japanese Language & Culture will arrange this programme for you for a fee starting from £250.

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Japanese visa matters and other legal issues are vetted and assisted by Hoshimoto Legal Administration Office, Tokyo.

Akemi may be contacted via the following e-mail address: akemi@solloway.demon.co.uk

Copyright © Akemi Solloway 2006. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Last updated - 29th November 2007