In this article, I will talk about everything useful to know when moving to Japan. From Visa through Job search to common customs and rules to be expecting in the country of the rising sun. We are now located in Osaka for something over 2 years and I must say, it’s been a learning process since the day one. If you have any other questions you couldn’t find answers to, let me know in the comments.
More detailed information about our life in Osaka is summarized in separate article Expat’s Guide to Life in Osaka that you can find HERE.
Visa
Working Holiday Visa
Japan offers Working Holiday visa for many countries. The conditions are pretty straightforward just like with any other WH – you can stay in the country for one year and work full time, but you can’t (or shouldn’t) stay at one employer for longer than 6 months. After that you have to change the job. moving to Japan
Japanese WH has some differences though. Firstly, you shouldn’t leave the country during that year, unless it’s an emergency (but apparently they are not very strict about it). Secondly, you have to apply in person on Japanese embassy in your country. It’s impossible to apply from abroad. And lastly, there are no visa fees! Which for me was the nicest surprise.
The process of application is quite easy, the embassy in your country should have everything on their website. You will need to bring:
- Your Passport
- Letter of Application (which you'll have to download from your embassy's website)
- Motivational Essay on "Why you want to move to Japan"
- Your bank statement (showing you have enough money to survive for a couple of months but there is no set rule on how much money you should have)
- List of activities (What you want to see and do in Japan)
Your primary intentions should be travelling around Japan rather than coming here to work. I’ve read some comments that people got visa rejected because they said they want to work, but honestly our ambassador in Slovakia was more than okay with that. Within one week we had our visas approved and imprinted in our passports. After that we bought the flights and we were ready to set off!
Work Visa
Once in Japan, it is not very difficult to get a proper work visa. Companies offer them to their international employees quite often and they help with the visa process. Currently I work for an International School as an English teacher. I applied for the job in April with my visa expiring in September. During the interview I was quite straightforward, and told them that I will need work visa to be able to stay longer in Japan. Needless to say, they hired me and after the probation period we started to work on obtaining the work visa for three more years for both me and my husband as “Dependent”.
Work visa process can be long and it is quite complicated but as I said, your company will set this up for you. The application differs from city to city, each immigration office has their own rules. Apparently, the immigration bureau in Osaka is the most strict, we had to come there 3 times in total with different paperwork but in the end we got it and it was all worth it! Every time we went there, an HR officer from my company came with us, that’s how much companies care for their people to make sure they will be able to stay. If you risk it, come to Japan and find a job, I am sure your company won’t have anything against sponsoring you.
Residency Card
Right after you get your foot off the plane in Japan, you have to go and get the Japanese residency card (or ID). Honestly this step was giving me a bit of anxiety because none of us speaks Japanese and I wasn’t sure how we’ll explain our situation. Luckily it wasn’t difficult process at all. It’s obvious that they have experience with working holiday makers and the signage where we should go was pretty obvious. You just show them visa in your passport and they’ll give you your ID within few minutes while they take your fingerprints and do your eye scan.
When you get your ID, within 2 week from arrival you have to go to the local municipal office and register your address, which will be printed on the other side of your card. This is a little more challenging than actually getting your ID, because in the municipal office barely anyone speaks English. However you can expect the staff to be super helpful and sometimes they can even call to someone from head office to speak to you in English over the phone.
Our experience was like this – we went there the first week after arrival, but the ladies in the bureau didn’t even know about this rule. There was a lady who could speak some English and she explained that the place we are staying in is registered as hotel, therefore they cannot put the address on the card. Same happened the month after, when we moved out from our first accommodation. Finally, when we moved to our current apartment, they printed the address on the cards, however, this place is still considered an apartment hotel.
It’s hard to say what you should do. If you are planning to stay all year in a hostel, maybe you don’t have to register. Or if you move from one place to another every few weeks, maybe you don’t have to go there every time. But the general rule is that you should so the municipal office can communicate with you (such send you paperwork etc.). My advice here is, go there and see what they tell you. If you are not sure, seek advice in Facebook groups of expats living in Japan.
When we came to the office after more than 2 months, they wanted to know why we hadn’t come earlier. When we told them they didn’t want to sign us up, because we technically lived in a hotel, they were surprised and told us they should have done it. It seems like these rules are still new for some Japanese officials as well.
Opening a Bank Account
Japan is a country of cash, there are still many places that don’t accept credit or debit cards, but if you plan to work and live here, you will need a bank account. The easiest way to open a bank account for foreigners is with JP Bank (Japan Post Bank). You can walk to any bigger post office, bring them your residence card, fill out some paperwork and it is done! However, be aware that the paperwork is in Japanese and if there isn’t a staff member that can help you in English, they can ask you to come again a different day (don’t worry about ATMs, they all have display also in English and some other languages).
In JP Bank, they will give you on spot a cash book which is a little book that you can insert in any JP Bank ATM and it will imprint there your transactions and you are able to withdraw money with it. I have never seen anything like this in other countries and I barely use it in my daily life. After a week from opening your account you will get your cash card. For foreigners it is not easy to get a debit or credit card immediately, you are required to live in Japan for at least 6 months to be able to apply for this type of service. With cash card you cannot pay online or in store, you can only withdraw cash. But as I said, Japan is a country of cash so this is pretty normal here. I got used to it pretty quickly.
After 6 months, you can apply for a sort of a debit card that allows you to pay online or in shops. It is connected to your cash card and these transactions can be displayed in your cash book. In my opinion, it is quite outdated process and unnecessarily complicated but well… If this is the Japanese way, we have to accept it.
Other banks where you can apply for debit or credit cards as a foreigner are Rokuten, Shinsei and Resona or Sony Bank. In these banks you should be able to open an account after 6 month with no problems but all their apps and internal systems are in Japanese only except Sony Bank. Sony bank is my personal recommendation to open an account in because it’s all online, their system is all in English and you can even use their debit card abroad.
Getting a Japanese Phone Number
Getting a Japanese phone number is not such an easy process. When we first came, we bought travelers’ sim cards at the airport, however, these can be used only up to three months and you don’t get to make calls, it is only data (I am not sure if you are able to receive calls either). Many providers require you to have a credit card (preferably Japanese) to get a phone number, but as I mentioned before, you are able to apply for a credit card after six months of living in Japan. It seems like no win situation but luckily there’s a solution.
First of all, your employer should be able to help you to get a proper sim card. I got my first sim directly from the school where I worked. Currently I am using services of GTN Mobile based on recommendations from my second employer. They provide different plans you can chose from and they are targeted on expats living in Japan. It is not the best plan, as it doesn’t have a lot of data but it is enough for me and it s not crazy expensive (I pay about 3000 yen per month).
Other option is obtaining a Skype phone number. It is attached to your skype account, but people can call you from their mobile or landline. The only condition is that you have to access to the internet.
Job Search
So, you got your WH visa, you made it to Japan and you got your residency card… Now, how is it really with work in Japan? Is it possible to find a job even with knowing zero Japanese? Is it worth to get the WH visa at the first place?
Working holiday visa to Japan were approved for certain countries for different reasons, but they have one thing more or less in common. Japanese people can’t speak English very well and with bigger amounts of tourists coming here every year (especially from Australia), there’s a bigger demand to employ foreigners. The only strict rule that needs to be followed is, that you cannot work in late-night bars and clubs where alcohol is served and also in gambling facilities.
There are several options that you can do. The most popular one is to go to Hokkaido Island, to the cities Sapporo or Niseko, where many ski resorts are, and try to find a job there. The job opportunities vary – from house-keeping, through working on a reception, to teaching how to ski and snowboard. People usually go to a resort for only 6 months while the season lasts, and then they travel around Japan. We considered this option as well, but it wasn’t exactly what we wanted to do.
My focus was on teaching English since the very beginning. I knew that it’s possible to get a teaching job, even if English isn’t my native language and I was trying to sell this fact to different schools more as an advantage rather than disadvantage. Because I also had to learn English, I know better which techniques would work the best with young and adult learners. There’s a good article about it here, if you are considering this option.
After few rejections I got lucky and got an interview in a private international school. After 30 minutes with the manager Yuki, I was hired. I found a job in Japan without speaking Japanese sooner than I did in Australia when we came there for the first time! I realize I had a bit of a luck, but with the right mindset everything is possible. This first job was, however, only part-time so I kept searching for full time opportunities. The key is not to get discouraged and keep going. My patience and endurance paid off and since April 1st 2020 I am a full time teacher in one of the best international schools in the country. I work with small kids and honestly this path is something I have never imagined for me, but after few months I can say that I love teaching. It’s tiring but very rewarding and all the kids I teach are so adorable. Now with my new work visa I can stay for three more years which I am very excited about!
It’s important to mention though, that I already had some experience with teaching English in Slovakia and the fact that I lived, studied and worked full time in Australia helped as well.
The website I found the most useful while looking for a job is gaijinpot.com. They don’t offer only jobs, but they can also help with accommodation, studying Japanese etc. Other websites I used were yolo-japan.com and jobsinjapan.com, or there are many different Facebook groups for expats where people offer seasonal and regular work opportunities.
If you want to teach English or other language, you can start your profile on enjoy-lesson.com and hello-sensei.com, set your own rates and give private lessons in cafes in Osaka. It’s not the most reliable source of income, but having some extra cash can always come in handy.
Language Barrier
Japanese don’t speak English well (even though this has been changing in last few years) and as we don’t speak Japanese, we often get into situations where the language barrier is quite high. However, in the end we always find a way to understand each other. People of Osaka are very engaging and helpful, if they speak even a little bit of English they’ll try to communicate as much as their skills will allow them.
It’s surely useful to know at least some basic phrases in Japanese to show the people that you are trying to speak their language too. And if you feel like you are in trouble, you can still help yourself with google translate. At the moment, I am learning some conversational phrases, but honestly I have no interest to learn their alphabets because it’s too difficult and time-consuming.
Japanese Customs and Rules
You’ve probably seen different pictures on the internet of the city life in Japan and its disciplined inhabitants – people walking up the stairs squeezed only on one side even though there’s no one on the other, people politely waiting in line for trains, people being literally pushed into the trains during rush hour, people waiting on crossroads waiting for the light to turn green even though there are no cars anywhere in sight etc. Sometimes, before I came here, I wondered that this is like a different planet… Is it really always like this every day everywhere in Japan…?
Japan is a country of respect, punctuality and discipline, there’s no doubt about that. Osaka, however, is a bit different from the rest of the country. Osakans are more laid-back and relaxed and you can see these personality attributes when it comes to following the rules. I don’t mean to say that no rules apply here, but they are visibly stretched to the convenience of the people. Here are some examples I noticed while living my daily life here:
Take off your shoes
Big thing! Anywhere you go, notice if there are shoes at the entrance. If there are, and if the floor slightly changes (from to timber to carpet etc.) you must take your shoes off! Don’t worry, it’s rare in public spaces, but if you visit a traditional Japanese inn – ryokan, there’s a big chance you’ll have to leave your shoes at the door. Don’t worry, you won’t be cold at your feet. There will be slippers provided for your comfort.
Don't walk and eat
Japanese people don’t walk while drinking, eating or smoking. If they want a snack or a cigarette, they wait on the sidewalk and they continue their journey after they finish. Sometimes I forget this unwritten rule and eat while walking and I have to admit I got few looks of disapproval from daily commuters.
In Metro
So I mentioned at the beginning people walking only on one side of the stairs in metro, even though there’s no one on the other. This doesn’t fully apply in daily life – people happily walk wherever they want outside of peak hour. However, when it gets busy, they form lines to keep the foot traffic organized. I also noticed in the trains that young people (especially men) don’t vacate the seats to elderly, pregnant women, mothers with children or basically anyone in need, not even when they sit on priority seats. This fact quite surprised me as Japan is country of respect, but I guess it doesn’t apply in metro. So men sit, and old ladies stand, but they seem not to mind it. I can’t sit when see an older person and when I vacate my seat for them, they are always so surprised and thankful.
(Note – later I found out, that younger people don’t vacate the seats to elderly because this way they are showing them they they are disabled. So by not vacating the seat they show their respect. I find it a bit strange but well, every country has its own customs).
Even though you can freely walk on stairs and sit on priority seats with a group of old people standing, there is one rule which is followed in public transport – no one talks loudly, speaks on the phone or listens to music out loud that the whole carriage could hear it. Trains in Osaka are a quiet place.
Safety
Another thing that came to me as a surprise was seeing people leaving their bags in a café to secure their table. Bags with wallets, phones, keys and other valuables inside. Honestly, would you leave your bag unattended? I wouldn’t! Coming from Slovakia I know that if you don’t hold your bag safely, you’ll most probably get robbed. Well, not in Japan.
The crime rate here is so low, that people are not afraid to let their children go to school by themselves. It’s not unusual to see 6 year old children alone in metro with their school bags and in their uniforms. Of course, anything can happen and you should be aware of your surroundings, but Osaka has been announced as the 3rd safest city in the world (1st was Tokyo followed by Singapore) and you can really feel it here.
Where should I stand on an escalator
Tricky question indeed! It’s a general rule to stand on one side of the escalator so the people in hurry can walk by. This rule is followed in Osaka as well, but unlike to Tokyo and other Japanese cities, where people usually stand on the left, in Osaka you stand on the right! And why is that you may ask? There’s a saying, that explanation lies in the past, when Tokyo was the city of samurais and Osaka the city of merchants. Samurais preferred to be approached from the left so they can draw their swords more easily, while merchants usually held their money in their right hand to be able to protect them better from strangers. I think this is more of a made-up story than a fact, but still the rule applies that you should stand on the right.
Don't get run over by a bike
I was quite pleasantly surprised to see how many people ride a bike in Osaka and in Japan in general. Bikes are everywhere! But you have to be careful, because even though you can see lines made especially for bikes along the roads, people just ride on the pavement for walkers in any direction. There are no rules! And sometimes they ride very fast not looking around at all.
Funny thing is that I can also see people smoking while riding a bike, but they never walk and smoke so the pavement wouldn’t get dirty from ashes. I simply cannot see logic in that.
Clean Streets and the lack of Rubbish Bins
While walking the streets of Osaka, you’ll maybe notice how clean it is. There’s no rubbish on the pavements, no cigarette butts or pieces of paper lying around. You’ll see people cleaning the public areas regularly, not only the streets but parks as well (I literally saw people with rakes cleaning grass area in a park from the leaves). Japanese people really care about keeping their streets clean, that’s why they don’t eat and drink while walking so they won’t make any mess.
On the other hand, there’s lack of rubbish bins in the city, so if you have any waste, you’ll have to take it home with you. There are usually bins next to the vending machines and close to convenience stores so if people buy some food, they can eat it there and throw the packaging away, but otherwise it’s rare to see a single standing bin just like that. (It’s always accompanied by a vending machine.)
In three months in Osaka, I’ve also seen only one homeless person. This is very unusual because in big cities you can meet them quite often. I haven’t figured out yet, if the Japanese social system is so good that they can afford to keep people of the streets, or if the homeless are so polite that they stay away from busy areas.
Public Restrooms
You know the feeling when you just need to go and there’s no public toilet in sight. You wait, you look for it, and finally when you find one, it’s usually completely disgusting so you decide to suffer in silence and wait until you get home. Well, in Osaka, there are many public restrooms that are almost on every corner and so far I haven’t found one that would be smelly or unclean. Public restrooms are well taken care off, just like vending machines are refilled and streets are cleaned. Plus, if you don’t like doing your business in public in case someone can hear you, often there’s a speaker with sounds of nature in each toilet so you can just relax.
Things I Can't Get Used To
Yes, unfortunately, there are some things I don’t like about life in Japan.
SINGLE USE PLASTIC
Japanese streets are clean and they try to save water by reusing the water you flush your toilet with to wash your hands, however, their single plastic usage is absolutely incredible. It hurts my eyes and my heart to see all the vegetables packed in plastic. If you buy biscuits or chocolate, every little piece in package is double packed in plastic, in convenience stores they always give you chopsticks and plastic fork also packed in more plastic. Even in cafes, if you sit down to have your coffee or lemonade on spot, they’ll bring it in plastic take-away cup instead of normal glass. Rest of the world is trying to limit their plastic usage, but here people don’t seem to care very much.
WINTER TIME AND RUNNY NOSES
In Japan I realized that I have a weak spot when it comes to runny nose. It’s impolite to blow your nose on public into a tissue so people just keep it in and well, you can imagine the sound. In winter it’s especially terrible because every second, there’s a person doing it. Honestly, sometimes I am so desperate that I listen to music in public transport too loudly that people can hear it (which is also considered rude), but if it protects me from throwing up, I don’t care.
SMOKING
The last thing I dislike is that smoking is still allowed in some izakayas and restaurants around Osaka. Not so much in touristic areas like Namba or Dotombori, but when you wander to some local establishments you’ll see ash trays everywhere and people happily smoking. This is slowly changing but there’s still much progress to be done.
So far we are loving our life in Japan and we had zero regrets about moving here! Of course, it wasn’t easy. The cultural shock at the beginning was, in all honesty, quite shocking and we are still not entirely used to some things. But we adapted and settled well and I cannot wait for more Japanese adventures to come.
If you are interested about how the life in Osaka is, click here on my other article dedicated solely to the customs in this city.
Have you ever visited Japan? Can you imagine to live here? Or have you ever tried the life of an expat in a foreign country? Let me know in the comments below!
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You have presented the article I wish to write! You are spot on in all of your descriptions about Osaka. I recently immigrated to Nishinomiya and have spent considerable time in the city. I can verify your statement about pedestrians staying to the right and letting passers pass on the left ,as opposed to Tokyo, where just the opposite is the norm. Your explanation for this was illuminating. And the bicycles!!! My goodness- for all of Japan’s kataization (everything is SO ordered) all bets are off when it comes to bicycle culture.