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Please note that it is illegal for any student in Japan on a short stay (tourist) visa to seek or accept part-time work. The only students who may work part-time are those whose visa status allows them to.

Usually this includes only the following 2 categories:

1. Working Holiday Program participants
2. Student Visa ("Shugakusei") holders.

Please note that even if you have a student visa, you will require one additional document before you can start looking for work. Since foreign students are given permission to stay in Japan for study purposes only, they are basically not allowed to seek or accept employment unless they have official permission to do so from a regional immigration bureau. In the case of HCJS students this is the bureau in Sapporo. Once you receive permission, this part-time work is defined and referred to as an extra activity.

Unless any problem arises, permission to engage in an extra activity is granted uniformly and comprehensively, although it entails certain conditions. (The part-time job must not exceed four hours a day and must not involve work in an amusement business establishment.) If the application for permission to work is made jointly with other applications (for example an extension of period of stay) then the applicant usually isn't required to submit any additional documents. Please note that your student visa will be for 12 months. If you decide to extend your visa, you also need to renew the document granting you permission to work part-time, although this is fairly easy.

The only document required for submission at the time of application is the official "Application for permission to engage in an extra activity". However, you will also be asked to submit other papers, such as a student identity card, an attendance certificate, or a document clarifying the specific content of the extra activity. All of these are available from the school. As a general rule, documentation is not provided to students who have been enrolled in Sapporo for less than 3 months, with the exception of those who are transferring from Okazaki as part of the Academic Year program.

After the application has been approved, you will be issued with a "Certificate of permission to engage in an extra activity". This will show your identification, the content of the job that has been newly approved, the term of validity of the permission, and so on. Permission to engage in an extra activity (part-time work) is only granted to students who are attending a school, permission automatically becomes invalid if you leave the school.

In summary permission to engage in an extra activity can be obtained simply and without any charge. However, please remember that if you engage in part-time work without receiving permission before and or engage in part-time beyond the limits of the permission, you will become liable for punishment as an illegal worker and may be subject to deportation. Furthermore, any persons who are caught employing foreign students or introducing part-time work to foreign students while knowing that they have not received permission will be subject to punishment on a charge of promoting illegal labor.

(Note: The permission for students to engage in an extra activity concerns part-time work that continues for a short period as a sideline to study. If you decide to seek full-time employment, you will be required to change your status of residence. If a foreign student is discovered working full-time without obtaining permission for a change in status of residence, he or she will be liable for deportation as an illegal worker even if his or her existing visa is still valid.)

Now for the other rules.

Foreign students cannot engage in part-time work at an entertainment or entertainment-related establishment. If a foreign student is discovered working in such a place, he or she will be punished for engaging in an illegal extra activity and will be liable for deportation.

Places classified as such are as follows:

1. Cabarets, nightclubs, dance halls, bars that require staff to entertain customers and eat and drink with them, pachinko parlors, mahjong parlors, game centers, private-room bathhouses, strip clubs, peep shows, love hotels, pornographic bookstores, private room massage parlors.

2. Foreign students are not permitted to work in places that (a) require staff, such as hostesses, to entertain customers, (b) are dark (with an illumination of less than 10 lux), and (c) are narrow (less than 5 square meters per customer seat) or otherwise difficult to see.

(provided by the Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education)

Please return to the Visa Information Index.

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