One of the great conundrums of travelling is that there is never enough time. You plan for months: the hotels, the itinerary, the experiences, the transport, and then, before you know it, your holiday has been and gone.
In today’s tourism market, more travellers are seeking deeper, more authentic experiences. But with limited time to spend in a destination, it’s hard to make those connections with the people, culture, and environment. However, if you are serious about wanting to take the time to get to know a culture better, there is a solution: the working holiday visa.
First launched in 1975 by Australia, the working holiday visa is an agreement between certain countries that allows their citizens to travel and live abroad for a period of time. Depending on the country you are from and the country you are visiting, a working holiday can allow you to stay from six months up to two years in your dream destination.
For me, that dream destination was Japan.
The freedom to explore
Prior to my working holiday in Japan, I had already lived in the country for two years between 2017 and 2019. I understand what you may be thinking: ‘If you already lived there, then why did you need a working holiday?’ Just as short-stay vacations can sometimes limit you from delving deeper, living and working full-time can also impede you from truly experiencing all the amazing destinations a country has to offer.
The working holiday visa was my way to return to Japan unencumbered by the restraints of a full-time job. I didn’t need to be fixed in one place and could travel freely, which opened the rest of the country to me in a way I had been unable to experience before. My only limit was my budget, but we will get to that.
How to get a working holiday visa
The first step is the application. You need to check whether your country has an arrangement with Japan. In my case, as a UK citizen, there was an agreement that I could come to Japan for one year on the working holiday visa (this has now gone up to two years).
You also have to ensure that you are a resident of the country you are applying from and that you will be 30 years old or younger when you apply (UK rules). You apply at your country’s Japanese embassy, so be sure to book an appointment on their website. The site will also give you a checklist of documents you must fill out and bring with you.
The biggest tip I can give you for your written application is: do not stress any form of work you may have lined up. They care that you have enough money in your bank to survive (roughly £2,000), but the working holiday is primarily for travel. Instead, you should focus on where you want to travel and any kind of cultural activity you wish to partake in. You can briefly mention if you have a way to make a little money, but they do not want that as the focus of your application. I know people who were denied because of this.
Once you have your working holiday visa (mine took two weeks to process, but it can take as little as five working days), you then have a whole year to get to Japan.* As soon as you land in Japan, your working holiday begins, and you have that one year (or however much time your countries agree upon) ahead of you.
* Again, be sure to check your country’s requirements when applying for a working holiday visa to Japan, as these can vary.
Planning
Before arriving, it’s best to have some sort of plan. For many, myself included, working holidays are often split 50/50: fifty percent of the time you are travelling, touring the country, and taking in the sights; the other fifty percent, you settle down short-term, usually in a major city such as Tokyo or Osaka, to take on part-time work and enjoy said city and its surrounding areas.
The order you do it in is up to you, but if it’s your first time in Japan, I recommend hitting up a city first, learning some Japanese, and adjusting to the culture before setting off on your travels.
When looking to travel through the country for months on end, my recommendation is to look at sites such as Workaway. Unless you are very wealthy and able to afford hotels and hostels every night, you need to find a more cost-effective way to travel. Workaway is a global platform that allows you to find homestays and working holiday accommodation across the world, including in Japan.
The travelling phase
Due to the fact that I had lived in Japan prior, I actually started with the travelling aspect of my trip. Thanks to Workaway, I was able to stay for two weeks at a very friendly couple’s home in the deep countryside of Hyogo.
During my stay, I had my own part of the house, which included two traditional Japanese rooms complete with futon and tatami, and wasn’t charged a penny (or yen, in this case). In fact, I earned money by working weekends in the small restaurant they had attached to their house. I did odd chores, painted a small wall mural, and in return, they welcomed me into their home, bought me lots of fruit (an expense in Japan, for sure), and even took me on trips.
After thanking my hosts, I next travelled on through Awaji, Tokushima, and Hiroshima, spending a short time in each location before landing at my next Workaway: a landscaping project in Fukuoka.
Here, I had to work in return for housing and food. I did five hours of hard landscaping labor from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. In the middle of August. On an extreme slope. Pushing wheelbarrows of stone and soil. However, I then had the afternoon to do as I pleased. I relaxed on the beach, napped in a hammock, played with the house’s three friendly cats, and cycled to the local conbini (40 minutes away) for snacks. I also kept tabs on the various huntsman spiders that had made themselves comfortable in the house. That was an exciting game.
After leaving Fukuoka, I travelled to Oita to take in Beppu, and then back to Osaka (where I had spent my first few months in an Airbnb) and Kyoto.
This experience had been exactly what I was looking for when I returned to Japan on the working holiday visa. I had travelled, spent time in ‘off the beaten path’ locations, gotten to know local people better, and slowed down enough to just “be” rather than tick items off a vacation itinerary. I had finally gotten to simply enjoy the journey and immerse myself in it—a privilege I will always be grateful for.
Finally, six months in, I left my travelling days behind, satisfied and exhausted, and boarded an overnight coach to Tokyo.
Enjoying that city life
Once in Tokyo, I met up with old friends from my previous two years in Japan and then quickly started searching for a more permanent solution to my housing conundrum. In this particular field, Japan has a rather wonderful setup, something I do not believe we have in the UK: share houses.
This is a topic that will be discussed further in another article (keep your eyes peeled), but it is an invaluable place for those on working holidays to settle in, thanks to a mix of Japanese and international residents, low-cost move-in fees, and flexible month-by-month renting options.
I got to use this time to knuckle down and push for the kind of career I wanted in Japan. While most people who come on a working holiday will choose to head home once it’s over, some, myself included, will choose to use the time to explore career options. I pushed my freelance writing work during this time and made invaluable connections that I still utilise to this day.
For those just here for the short term and simply in need of making an extra bit of cash, a working holiday visa allows you to take on work in many different fields, as long as they don’t breach “public morals.” These include bars, cabarets, nightclubs, and gambling establishments. Be careful when applying for any job you think could fall into this category.
Settling in Tokyo was immensely rewarding for me. I made friends, joined a theatre company, and took the time to explore parts of the city I had never visited before. Tokyo is still my home to this day and has allowed me a wonderful career, but I occasionally find myself wistfully longing for the more carefree days of my working holiday.
I am so happy I took the time to explore Japan and my career options here through a working holiday, and I recommend it to anyone who is able to apply and is looking to gain a deeper understanding of the country and all that it has to offer.
