There are a lot of thought process and decisions to make when one’s at 30 years old and still thinking about a Gap year. So, this post is not about that at all. Instead, this just talks about the actual document/process that was needed to get a working holiday in Canada and any research along the way.
A checklist of what was in the preparation:
- Working holiday visa
- ski resort job
- Japanese language proficiency
Working Holiday Visa
Working holiday visa in Canada was rather easy to get. So I did not get an agency to do it for me. the required document can be found on Japan’s embassy here.
I did get rejected once though. Because of COVID, Japan actually required a document called ERFS at the time (~may 2022). ERFS requires sponsorship from Japan companies or education institutes. But for working holiday visa, people are not expected to have confirmed entities for sponsorship. I ended up finding someone on reddit that would provide ERFS and 7 nights stay in Tokyo area for CAD $800~. Thankfully this document is no longer need as Japan reopens.
But once I get ERFS set up, I was able to submit my application right before my 31st birthday. The consulate just told me to come back in a week with a flight ticket that’s flying out in “3 months”! Well that was unheard of! Thankfully after researching around, it turns out to be just weird decision by Japanese embassy in Vancouver. I decided to gamble and booked a ticket that allows rescheduling and voila, I ended up getting to Japan about half year later just fine.
Ski resort job
From the beginning, I know what I want: a job that allows me to enjoy the powder snow in Hokkaido, while not being too dull. As people suggest, resort tend to start hunting around July – August. So I was already looking around back then. Thankfully I have many channels to choose from. I have tried looking through resort job page, backpacker forum, and hiring agencies from both English world and Taiwan.
In the end, my job came from an agency called Boobooski. a small family owned agency that is based in Japan but serve English audience, and to some degree chinese audience too. The whole process took a lot longer than originally estimated due to (apparently) post-COVID era condition and uncertainty around Japan’s reopen policy. I had interviewed with staff from Boobooski around June, getting a work placement around sept/oct, but actually confirmed a job at the beginning of November. It was a little nerve-wrecking for sure, as the winter season getting closer. But after the job is confirmed, the process was rather smooth.
Boobooski provided pretty clear instruction as to what to bring to Japan, including some living necessities and items for documents after getting to Japan. After getting to Japan, I met up with Grant, who gave a lot of good advice and help us through the endless Japan documents. Overall, it has been a fairly good experience working with Boobooski.
Above is all my experience before getting to Japan, at least all of that off the top of my brain. Next, we’ll probably talk about the first few days in Japan?