Part-time Jobs as a Language Student

On our third day in Japan, we started with our very first part-time job or arubaito(アルバイト).

When you come to Japan to study, you will be allowed to work for 28 hours a week to help with your day to day expenses (rent, utilities, food, etc.) At the time, the hourly rate for part-timers in Ibaraki was 800 yen per hour. One good thing about working as a part-timer in Japan is the fact that everyone is paid the same rate. They don't look at age, gender, or nationality. Across the board, the minimum wage is the same.

Update: As of 2020, the minimum wage in Ibaraki is at 850 yen per hour.

There is a multitude of part-time jobs available all over Japan. But if you come here with practically zero language skills, then your options become limited. Let me show you a few of these arubaito gigs that can be done even when you barely speak Japanese.

Part-time jobs Japanese language students can do

Let me tell you our story...

After the school orientation, we were given the rest of the day off. Or so we thought. At around 3pm, (if memory serves) we were told to report to the school's field office. We called this place jimusho(事務所). This is where we would go whenever we needed administrative stuff; work issues, problems with our apartments, payments, or when you accidentally get bit by your neighbor's dog (true story XD), among other things.

So, we were told to go there because they decided what our part-time jobs would be and when we would start work- which was the next day. We were told to buy work boots and hats. Hmmm... what was this job going to be?

The next day.

So we went to school and had our first day of lessons. We were then loaded on to a van to be taken to our very first job. We ate our lunch in the van, en route to our destination.

Farm Work

Four girls standing in a field of sweet potatoes in Oarai

Sweet potatoes...as far as the eye can see...

We were taken to a large field with exposed sweet potatoes for the picking. Digging the crops are done by a machine but the initial sorting is still done by hand and thus we had to go, pair by pair into the field and pick out the big ones first, and then the smaller ones.

休憩中 - Breaktime

This is one of the jobs available for students who are still at the very basic stages of learning the language. It's hard labor, we all had muscle aches the next day, but it was a very fun day.

Some other farm work part-time jobs in Oarai are:

Harvesting cabbages and other vegetables

Harvesting strawberries

Note: Harvest jobs are typically seasonal.

Factory Work

The next day, the boys continued with the farm work, and the girls were taken to the factory to help with the packing of the finished products. We were given a white long-sleeved shirt, a yellow apron, and a head covering.

couple of factory part-timers on tea break in Oarai

Guess who???

This is what factory part-timers usually look like, especially the ones working in the food industry. Uniforms vary depending on the work they do. In this factory, we had to arrange the dried sweet potato in a way that it will look beautiful inside the packaging.

Part-timers on the factory production floor in Oarai

Nihongo wakaranai!

Going back to the story

We thought that we would stay with this part-time job till we graduated like most students. But the sweet potato industry only operates in full capacity from autumn through winter. So when spring comes around, they let all their part-timers go. A lot of industries will have peak and off-peak seasons so there is a possibility of needing to change jobs from time to time.

We were then transferred to a different food processing company.

Part-timers in a food processing plant in Oarai

"Why am I always the one holding the camera?"

From sweet potatoes, we moved on to vegetables. We prepared vegetables for restaurants and bento making factories.

Part-timers processing bellpeppers in a food processing plant in Oarai

"Aren't we supposed to be working?"

Some other factories that employ part-time student workers are:

Fish/Seafood processing plants

Bento (boxed lunch) processing plants

Industrial laundromats

Restaurant/Cafe Staff

The saga continues...

When we were transferred from our sweet potato life, we were divided into two groups. Three of us were sent to vegetable processing, the other three were sent to a seafood restaurant.

Part-timers preparing dishes in a seafood restaurant in Oarai

Prep time!

Another entry-level job students can get while studying is in restaurants and cafes. When you can't hold your own in a conversation yet, you will most probably be placed in the kitchen where you will wash dishes all-day-long.

But as you progress with your Japanese language skills, you will slowly, but surely, be introduced to other aspects like taking orders or manning the register.

three part-timers in sailor uniforms working in a cafe in Oarai

And sometimes, you get to wear cute uniforms!

Hotel Staff

Oarai may be a small town, but it does have a number of hotels. Students can get jobs in housekeeping, cleaning, kitchen staff, etc in some of the hotels in the area.

Part-time student cleaning capsule hotel in Oarai

Do not disturb me!

Other Arubaito

For students who come to Japan with some Japanese skills, you can find other part-time jobs. I listed these jobs for last because most of the time, students come with almost no Japanese language skills.

Convenience store clerk

Whenever you take a customer-facing job, it will require you to speak and it goes without saying that you will need language skills for this one. I never experienced this myself so I really have no opinion about this.

English Tutor

For those with English speaking skills, you can sideline as an English tutor. The biggest downside to this would be having to find your own students. Although there are a lot of available websites to do this.

Supermarket Staff

This is similar to the convenience store clerk job where you have to man the register. Although sometimes you just need to stock the shelves or put discount stickers on bento boxes two hours before closing.

I'm sure there are other part-time jobs I may have failed to mention here. Not to worry, the key is to be open to any available job and you can't go wrong. Besides, no matter how difficult, it makes for a good experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the usual questions students have. If you have any other questions, feel free to comment below and I will update your questions here periodically.

Q: Can I have more than one part-time job?

A: Yes. But you still need to abide by the 28 hours per week rule. During long school vacations (golden week, summer vacation, winter vacation, etc), you can work up to 40 hours a week.

Q: Are we allowed to work night shifts? Do we get paid night differentials?

A: Yes. You may work any shift as long as it does not interfere with your class schedule. Yes, the night differential is paid. It's set at 25%.

Q: Do we get paid holiday premiums?

A: Depends on your company. Some pay it, some don't. Same with weekends. It really depends on the company you work for.

Q: How much do you earn a month?

A: Part-time workers earn about 80,000 to 100,000 a month.

What do you think? If you liked this post, read about how a usual day goes in our life as a student in Oarai. For questions, feel free to comment below or message me on Facebook or Instagram.