Resident cards are automatically generated and given to you by immigration officials upon your arrival to Japan into Narita, Haneda, Chubu, Kansai or Itami Airports. If you enter Japan through a different airport your Resident Card will be sent to you about 2 weeks after your register your address at the local city office – which we give you assistance with.

In addition to Travel Insurance, you’ll need to join the Japanese National Health Insurance program, which is compulsory for all adult residents of Japan. You’ll enter this after arriving in Japan – at the same time as you register your address at the local city office, which we give you assistance with.

Once you arrive in Japan, you’ll be met at the designated meeting spot (to be announced after you receive a tentative offer), and delivered to your resort by bus/van.

On the way, you’ll be given an Orientation about what to expect from the experience, receive your official job offer, sign your contract, and go through important points to remember about your stay. This is covered by a ¥10,000 (USD$100) transportation fee, which will be collected while you are on the bus.

Yes. Uniforms will be provided for all staff, though you may be required to bring your own shoes, stockings, skirt/pants or white shirt. We’ll send uniform details to successful staff before departure to Japan.

Yes. During busy holiday periods (Ski: Xmas/New Year’s Break + mid-February, Beach: Jul-Aug Summer Vacation), your resort will ask you to work overtime, as they tend to be understaffed around this time.

During these periods, please accept you may not have much free time (in some cases, staff have to work up to 50-60hrs a week!). After the busy periods though, things quiet down a lot, and you’ll have about 6-7 days-off a month, working a standard 40-48hr week.

NOTE: Work hours depend on snow conditions (eg. if there’s no snow, you’ll be working less because the resort won’t be as busy).

Try to look at the busy periods on the positive side. It’s a fantastic opportunity to: a) Learn Japanese, b) Make new friends at work, and c) After the busy periods end, you’ll have a sizeable paycheck to go out and live it up a little!

Most contracts are only 3-4 months long. Changing jobs would mean being re-trained in a new one. Given the short time you’re there it makes more sense to train you up in one position and have you perform that for the duration of your contract.

That being said, there are different aspects/roles within each position and as time goes by you’ll learn new aspects of your job and be given more responsibilities. 

VEGETARIANS: Please be aware that it is extremely difficult to live and work in Japan as a vegetarian. Read a Blog post from a past Vegetarian staff.

Unfortunately, Resorts cannot cater to specific dietary needs (vegetarian, diabetic etc). If you have dietary constraints, you’ll need to buy your own food each day (as staff aren’t permitted to use kitchen facilities to prepare their own food).

PLEASE NOTE: Japanese food is high in fish and meat. In the past there have been vegetarian staff who could only eat the side salad (very small) which accompanies the regular menu, and as a result, they began to complain of lack of energy, and became sick etc. Please understand that kitchen staff prepare food in bulk, for hundreds of staff dishes every day, so you can’t expect them to go out of their way to prepare something especially for you.

If you have particular dietary needs, please think seriously about whether you’ll mind making a trip to the nearest supermarket / convenience store every day to purchase food (as there won’t be kitchen facilities for you to use). Thank you for your understanding.

Resorts do not provide kitchen facilities for staff, so you will need to accept meals provided by the resort. Of course, you can always keep snacks / food that doesn’t require cooking in your room, or go out to restaurants anytime you wish.

Most resorts pay cash, which you will collect from your resort office each month.

A few resorts may require you to open a Japanese bank account, into which your salary will be paid monthly. Banks are located near the resorts, so withdrawing money won’t be a problem.

In this case, we will show you where the bank is, and how to fill out the forms. You will not be able to open a bank account on Day 1, as you have to first wait until city hall processes your change of address.

Yes. When you open a bank account in Japan, you will be given an ATM card which allows you to access your money via ATMs all around Japan (though your card probably won’t work internationally).

Ski jobs: Approx. 90,000yen after-tax take-home pay per month (including meals, accommodation, and ski pass). See sample monthly cost breakdowns Here.

Beach jobs: Approx. 125,000yen, minus 20% tax (23,000yen), food (5,000yen), and dormitory (15,000yen) = 82,000yen after-tax take-home pay per month.

According to Japanese law, all foreigners on Working Holiday Visas must pay 20% income tax.

You can only file a Japanese tax return (to try to get some of your tax back) if you stay in Japan for more than 12 months. Otherwise, you can’t. In addition, filing a tax return is a complicated process. Taxback offer a useful service if you need.

You may wish to travel to the big cities on the weekends. However, they’re the busiest time for resorts, so your days-off will almost always fall on weekdays. In addition, you may not always have two consecutive days-off at a time, so it’s best to explore Japan at your own leisure before or after your Resort work experience.

All resort staff must have valid travel insurance for the entire period of their contract, so in case of an accident, you’re completely covered by your insurance policy for the costs. You’ll also be covered by “rousai” Japanese Work Insurance while on the job.

In case of an accident, you’ll be taken to a local hospital for treatment. Rest assured; we have English-speaking staff contactable 24/7 to assist you anytime.

In the event of an accident which prevents you from performing your job, unfortunately your resort will be forced to dismiss you. For this reason, we can’t stress enough how careful you should be; please be responsible!

Any staff who break their contract with the resort must vacate the staff dormitory within two days of their final day of work.

Please be honest about your availability when applying online. Staff who leave early inconvenience the resort by leaving them short of staff, and may result in future foreign staff not being able to work there.

Furthermore, if you quit early, the 50,000yen Processing Fee will no longer be waived.

Yes, many staff work consecutive seasons in Ski, then Beach Resorts. Just keep in mind that there will probably be a break between jobs (after the Ski Season finishes end-March, because most Beach jobs don’t start until June or so; or after the Summer season, from Oct/November until Ski jobs start in December).