The Yen Pincher

Get a job in Japan

Mon, 08 May 2023 19:47:16 +0000

Message from Adam

Looking for jobs in Japan can be intimidating, and there are several key factors to think about before you start your job search. I have worked full time and part time jobs in four different prefectures in Japan and I want to use my experience to help you find a job in Japan as well. Searching for jobs isn't always fun, but if you're interested in working in Japan, right now is a great time to start looking for jobs. In this post I will help you get started with how to get a job in Japan.

This page may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure page for more details.

How to Get a Job in Japan

Commonly asked questions on how to get a job in Japan

How to Get a Job in Japan Question #1: Are Japanese companies hiring?

The good news is that its good timing!

If you’re curious about how to get a job in Japan, then you’re in luck because now is a great time to get a job in Japan. Many Japanese companies are hiring! There are several large factors that make now a great time to start your job search in Japan. One of the biggest factors is the ageing population in Japan. As the birthrate in Japan continues to fall, the domestic workforce in Japan is also declining. With the ageing workforce and the decline number of young Japanese, Japanese companies are having a harder and harder time finding enough employees. This problem is big enough for the government to take notice and create new immigration polices to make it easier for foreign workers to get a work VISA.

In 2019, Japan made new immigration policies for “specified skill workers”. This makes it easier for workers to find jobs across several large industries in Japan. These new immigration polices also make it easier to stay in Japan longer! These new policies have opened up more job opportunities in several industries such as farming, fishing, retail, restaurant, sanitation and care taker positions.

Another big factor that makes now a good time to look for jobs in Japan, is that in this post-COVID world, Japan is trying to revitalize the Japanese image abroad. This doesn’t only mean that the there are more jobs in the tourist industry, but this applies to other industries as well. More and more Japanese companies are hiring people from different countries in order to be able to connect with the markets in different countries. Japan is not only trying to get more tourists to come to Japan, but Japan is trying to reach large markets in places all over the world.

All this means that Japanese companies in several industries are looking to hire foreigners! Now is a good opportunity to practice your trade in a different country and learn some new skills as well.

How to Get a Job in Japan Question #2: What type of jobs are available?

Teaching English

Teaching is one of the most common jobs for foreigners to get in Japan. But even for English teaching jobs there is a variety of different jobs one could get. There are teaching jobs at elementary schools, junior high schools, high schools, and at universities. There are also English conversations schools, business English classes, private classes and tutoring jobs. There are private companies, big corporate companies, online classes or in person classes or even over the phone lessons. The point is that if you want to be an English teacher, you have a lot of options in Japan.

Teaching English might be the easiest job to get in Japan because all you need is a degree from a university and come from a country that English is the main language (there are some exceptions though). You don’t even need to have any Japanese ability (though it helps)!

Restaurant Industry

The restaurant industry in Japan has a reputation to be grueling to work for, but restaurants are hiring foreigners in Japan. In fact, the restaurant industry is in the top five for industries that have foreign workers in Japan. Many of these restaurant jobs say that only limited or even no prior experience is needed. Though some experience is helpful since these jobs can be very physical and require a lot of attention to details.

These are usually fast paced jobs that require communication ability in the kitchen and in the dining area. Restaurant jobs may sound intimidating but some perseverance and some on the job training, these jobs are very doable. Plus, this is an industry that is always hiring and will always be around.

Fishing Industry

The fishing industry might not be the first industry that you would think of for working in Japan, but this industry is huge! Already, there is a large percentage of workers in this industry that are foreigners. This percentage is only getting bigger due to the aging population and fewer and fewer younger generation workers deciding to find other industries to work in.

The fishing industry is also covered in the new Japanese policies for “specified skills Visas”!

This is a skilled position in a very large and very important industry in Japan. If you have any relevant skills, this should be an easy job to land in Japan.

Information Technologies

Technology in Japan is famous around the world and some of the world’s largest tech companies are in Japan. These companies are looking for more IT specialists to keep everything running smoothly. So if you have programing skills, you should be able to find a job in Japan. As long as you know the language of computer programming, you don’t have to worry too much about your Japanese language ability. Of course, the more Japanese you know, the better off you will be.

Nursing/Caretaker Industry

This is another industry that really needs workers now. With the aging population, the demand for caretakers is very high right now and will only increase in the coming years. If you have a desire to live in Japan and to help people, this is a really good job to pursue.

These jobs can range from being a registered nurse in a nursing home or being a part time caretaker that travels to peoples homes and helps elderly with their daily lives.

At least an intermediate Japanese language ability is needed for this job. It is a job in high demand and it helps people, what are you waiting for?

Retail Industry

In the retail industry there are a lot of different options. Convenience stores, department stores, grocery stores etc.. These jobs require Japanese language ability but if you have a decent level of Japanese, these jobs are pretty easy to find. No matter where in Japan you live, there will always be retail stores and chances are, these stores are hiring.

Your First Steps on How to get a Job in Japan

Research requirements your industry

Visa

There are many different types of Visas for working in Japan. The most common types of Visas are Instructor, Skilled Labor, Engineer, Specialist in Humanities, International services and Technical intern training.

Once you decide what industry you want to work in, make sure to research what kind of Visa you will need. Some companies help with Visa sponsorship and some don’t. Finding the right Visa is a major part of getting hired in Japan, so make sure you do your due diligence and pursue the right kind of Visa.

Japanese Language Ability

Japanese language ability is another major requirement for some industries. But luckily, not every industry requires a high level of Japanese ability. For instance, English teachers aren’t required to know any Japanese at all (though basic Japanese always helps).

Again, make sure you do enough research about your industry and make sure you have the correct level of Japanese. Many jobs only require basic Japanese but there are still many jobs that require N2 ability or better.

Possible Other Requirements

A couple more requirements that your industry might need are a degree from a university or certifications specific to the industry. Make sure you know everything that the job requires and once you meet the basic requirements, then you can start job hunting!

Requirements for Teaching English

Teaching English in Japan might be the easiest job to get in Japan and the requirements are pretty simple. You don’t need any previous teaching experience and you most likely don’t need any Japanese language ability. For most teaching jobs in Japan, the only requirements are that you have a degree from a university and that you are from a country that uses English as it’s first language. If you meet these two requirements, you have many English teaching jobs available to you in Japan. Whether you find a private company or a big chain company, they will help you get a work VISA in Japan. There are always companies looking for more English teachers and they are happy to help you with the VISA process in order to get you started as an English teacher in Japan.

Some teaching jobs might require you to get a TEFL (teaching English as a Foreign Language) or a TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) certifications. Many jobs don’t require these certifications, but if you’re looking for higher levels of education like high school or business English classes, it might be a good idea to get one of these certifications. Even if you don’t need to get one of these certifications, it always looks good on your resume. If you want to get certified, it is pretty easy because you can do all the classes online and it usually takes less than three months to get certified.

One other thing that should be mentioned is that getting a teaching job in Japan is a great way to get your foot in the door for working in Japan. So even if being an English teacher isn’t your dream job in Japan, it’s a good place to start your career in Japan. Once you are working in Japan, you can improve your Japanese language skills, get used to Japanese work culture and network to find other job opportunities. Teaching English can be a good launch pad into the industry of your choice.

How to search for Jobs in Japan

How to get a job in Japan? Well, being in Japan already will greatly help you find a job. If you are already in Japan, then you can network to find jobs, go to interviews in person and it let’s companies know that you’re serious about finding a job. But even if you are not in Japan, you can still find jobs online. Here are some of the best sites to use for your job search in Japan:

Resume

For people wanting to work as an English teacher, the good news is that this section probably wont apply to you. You will do you resume in English. But for people looking for other jobs in Japan, please read this section.

Japanese resumes are very different from Western style resumes. The Yen Pincher will write a full post just on how to write a Japanese resume, but for now here are some important things to know about Japanese resumes.

Pictures

Japanese resumes require that you attach your picture to the resume. This picture is similar to a Passport style picture. It’s a head shot picture of you in in front of a solid color background, in profession clothes, no overdone make up, professional hair style, no glasses, no big jewelry and it is best to smile without showing any teeth.

Handwritten

Many Japanese companies still require that the resume be handwritten. Though, more and more companies are allowing typed resumes.

Format

The format of Japanese resumes are very rigid and there is no room for individual style. Basically how it works is that you buy or print a rirekisho (resume) and fill in your information in the appropriate places. There is no room for flare or style. It’s all business, dry and boring.

There are three parts to the Japanese resume, your basic information, you education and skills and then a little about your personality and reason for applying.

Interview

Job interviews are always nerve-racking and even more so when they are done in a foreign country. Here are some quick tips for acing your Japanese interview.

Professional Clothes

It is a must that you wear appropriate clothing to your interview. Make sure you are professionally dressed, professional hairstyle, no large jewelry or too much makeup. Image is taken very seriously in Japan so make sure that you look like you will be a good fit for the company.

Preparation

Preparation is key for doing an interview in Japan. First, make sure you research and learn about business culture in Japan. You will get some leeway since you’re a foreigner but make sure you learn about some of the basic business manners such as when to bow, how to receive or give a business card and proper business attire. It is also a good idea to practice some polite business Japanese phrases. Japanese business culture is very different than other countries so it is a very good idea to research this before going in to your interview.

Preparation also means to be prepare what you will say during the interview. You will for sure be asked to give a self introduction. Practice this in Japanese to the point where it comes out naturally. Keep it short, professional, informative and don’t brag.

It is also a good idea to prepare for some commonly asked questions. Put yourself in the interviews position and try and think about what questions will be asked. Some common questions are: Why Japan? What are your hobbies? Why do you want to work for this company?

Be Confident

If you are confident in yourself, the interviewer will see that and that will leave a good impression. Talk with confidence (not in a quiet voice), sit up straight (don’t fidget) and make eye contact (but not too much).

This post is just a very general overlook on how to get a job in Japan. There will be many posts coming in the future that will dive deep and answer much more specific questions on how to get a job in Japan.

For now, just know that right now is a very good time to get a job in Japan. There is a worker shortage in Japan and many industries are looking for new workers. And many industries are specifically looking for foreign workers. The Japanese government has made it easier for foreigners to get jobs in Japan!

So what are you waiting for? Start your job search in Japan today!

The post Get a job in Japan appeared first on The Yen Pincher.

Earn Extra Money in Japan

Mon, 10 Feb 2020 19:46:21 +0000

This page may contain affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure page for me details.

8 Ways to Make Money in Japan

Ways to make money in Japan idea #1. Rent your drone/Drone Pilot

Renting your drone to someone or get paid to be a drone pilot for events are good ways to make money in Japan.

This option has some start up costs, but who doesn’t want a drone? It would be a lot of fun to have a drone and it would be even better if having a drone meant making some money. If you did have a drone there would be a few ways to turn a profit.

First, drones could be rented out to friends, family or acquaintances. Come up with a pricing scale and rent the drone out. Pricing could be something like 2,000 yen per hour or 5,000 yen per day. Charge as much or as little as you want. Just make sure to not charge too much or you will never get anyone to rent from you.

The next way to make money from a drone is to pilot your drone wherever people need you. This could easily turn into a highly profitable side job if you put in the time. Just think of all the possible situations where people could want pictures or videos from a drone. Taking aerial photos/videos of weddings, making snowboarding/skiing videos, sporting events, music festivals, parties, school projects, hiking, driving on mountain roads, and so many other ideas. Help tourist make memorable travel videos or help bloggers take those amazing shots that will help their blog take off. Since you personally would have to go to the location for these shots, you could charge a high price for your services.

Many people would love to be able to use a drone but don’t need a drone so much that they are willing to buy one for themselves. This is a niche that you can fill and make good profits. Start with your family and friends and ask them to spread the word. Word of mouth is a great way to let people know that you have a drone and am willing to rent it out or to pilot it for a price.

Word of mouth will get you some clients but if you really want to turn this into a side job, then I suggest starting your own website. With a website you could reach a lot more people and start turning large profits. If you’re curious about starting a website, make sure to take a look at my post How to Make a Website.

**Please make sure to check the local laws in regards to drones. Never fly a drone where it is illegal or improper to fly.**

Ways to make money in Japan idea #2. Rent Out Your Gear

Renting out your extra gear are good ways to make extra money in Japan

This is pretty much the same idea as renting out a drone, but for any other gear that you may have. If you are like me, then you have many hobbies. I have a lot of hobbies but I don’t have a lot of time, so most of my gear goes unused for long periods of time. Instead of letting dust collect on everything, I decided to start renting out the gear I wasn’t using. For example, I have a lot of snowboards so I always have extra boards that don’t get used often. I started renting out these boards and it has worked out pretty good for me. I don’t charge much but it is all profit, so it is a good system for me!

Whatever your hobbies are, I’m sure that you have extra gear that you could rent out.

Hobbies like photography, snowboarding, bouldering, paintball or any other activity that requires the use of some gear could make you money.. Even renting out your Xbox could be an option. Try renting your gear by placing ads on JMTY, craigslist or Gaijin Pot. Set a price, get a deposit and start earning money from your gear! Let your unused gear make extra money in Japan for you.

Depending on how expensive the gear is, you might want to consider having a contract for people to sign. This is just in case they break or try to steal your gear. Japan is a safe country, but it is still a good practice to protect your gear with a contract

Ways to make money in Japan idea #3. Shovel Snow

Shoveling sidewalks and driveways are tiring (but good) ways to make money in Japan.

There are parts of Japan that get an insane amount of snow. Why not offer to shovel and get some cash as a reward.

If you live in a snowy area, you have potential to make money from all that snow! Offer your services to your neighbors or local businesses. It could be a one time job or a reoccurring deal.

I live in Hokkaido and we get a ridicules amount of snow up here. I have a long driveway and it would take forever to shovel it by myself, so I pay my neighbor 20,000 yen every winter to come over with his snow blower when it snows. Living here would be a lot harder without his services so I am happy to pay the money that makes winter that much easier for me.

Ways to make money in Japan idea #4. Baby Sit

Baby sitting is a good job in any country and are good ways to make money in Japan as well.

This is a very popular way for people to make extra money in America and it can work in Japan as well!

I’m not suggestion to start a babysitting company, but it’s possible to make some extra cash by watching your friend’s kids while they get a night to themselves. This concept isn’t widely known in Japan so this is your chance to introduce Japanese parents to a way for them to have a quite night alone. Just remember that looking after children is a major responsibility so make sure you are willing to put in the effort to be a responsible baby sitter. If you don’t like kids then this job isn’t for you.

Ask your friends and see if they want a night away from their kids and if so you have a chance to make some cash!

Ways to make money in Japan idea #5. Treasure Hunt

This is one of the most fun ways to make money in Japan!

This may seem like a crazy idea (and it is a little bit) but this is still a legit option. The chances may be low for making a lot of money, but there is still a chance to not only make some money, but to find something really valuable. So buy a metal detector and start treasure hunting!

This is actually one of my favorite hobbies! I bought a metal detector and when I have some free time I use it on beaches or I take it with me when I go hiking. This is one of the bigger “long shot” ideas for making money, but there is still the chance of finding something good in Japan because of Japan`s long history. Japan is a very old country and there are tons of old and historical items to be found here.

Maybe even find some old Japanese gold?

Do some research and find a promising place to look. Beaches offer a great chance of finding something because things are washing up out of the ocean all the time. You never know what you will find on a beach!

One of the bonuses of metal detecting is that it is a fun way to spend time without spending money. After you buy the metal detector everything else is free! Just find a place to hang out outside and you might be able to find something good just under the surface of the ground.

This is an exciting past time and every time your metal detector starts beeping, your heart pounds a little faster. That excitement is part of the reward!

Ways to make money in Japan idea #6. Become a Street Performer

Why not try these interesting ways to make money in Japan?

Ok, ok…. This idea isn’t for everyone, but it still offers a chance of making some extra cash. Street performers can make more money than you would expect. Of course, it takes skill or talent but this is still a possible way to earn extra money in Japan.

Whatever skill you may have, try doing it on the street. Whether it’s with an instrument, singing, magic, dancing, acting or art, use your talent to earn some money. If you’re a foreigner, then you have that added advantage and will have a higher possibility of drawing a crowd.

Use YouTube and search for street performers. There are endless possibilities to try. Just do what you like doing and put a hat in front of you and watch the hat fill with money. Sounds good right!

Don’t be shy. Have fun and earn yourself enough money for a few nice dinners.

Ways to make money in Japan idea #7. Become a Local Tour Guide

A tour guide could be a full time job or just one of the ways to make money in Japan.

Japan is a major tourist destination and the tourist industry is booming.

There are many people coming to Japan from all over the world, but there are so many wonderful places here that most tourists don’t even see because they don’t have a way to find out about them. Or even if they go to all the wonderful places, they probably don’t grasp just how amazing the place is because there isn’t any information in English (or other languages).

This is why local tour guides are so awesome. With a guide, tourists can go to all those wonderful places and get detailed information in their own native language. A local guide should know all the popular spots and all the hidden local gems. If you become a guide, make sure to do some research on all the places you would take people to. Learn the history and interesting facts of all the places you go to and your clients will love you and think you are the coolest person in Japan.

Becoming a guide would not only be a way to make money but you would be helping people experience Japan more thoroughly. To become a guide is super easy too! Just stand on a busy street corner with a sign in your native language that explains that you are a local guide. Charge by the hour and enjoy meeting new people!

I know someone in Osaka that charges 1,000 yen per person per hour and they can make over 100,000 yen in just one weekend! Granted that’s in a major city during peak tourist season, but that is a lot of money in a short period of time.

If you have pride your city, and know all the good places to go, then this would be wonderful way for you to make money in Japan.

Ways to make money in Japan idea #8. Promote Local Businesses

This isn't just one of the ways to make money in Japan, it's also a way to help local businesses!

We all have a favorite bar or restaurant. Why not help drive business for those places?

Next time you go to your favorite place, ask them if they want your help to do some advertising. It doesn’t have to be anything intensive like making a commercial. Just ask if they want you to hand out fliers on the street, hold a sign in front of the store or put menus on car windows. Since you’re a foreigner, they might jump at the chance because foreigners are highly visible and people would be curious about what the foreigner is handing out. Try wearing a sandwich board (the two sided advertising panels that you can wear) and help get the word out. Or this could be your chance to a sign spinner! (You know you want to)

Or maybe the owner wants to start getting more business from tourists. Having a foreigner on the street promoting their business is a great way to get more tourists to come in.

This idea probably won’t make you a lot of money, but it could get you some extra spending money and some free meals. Work out a payment method and get started. Besides the money, it just feels good to help a place that you love.

For more ideas, please head over to The Yokohama Life and read her post about 15 Ideas for Making Extra Money in Japan. While you`re there, make sure to check out her other posts. She has some great insights to what life is like in Japan and some great posts about finances while living in Japan.

The post Earn Extra Money in Japan appeared first on The Yen Pincher.

Get a better job (learn Japanese)

Sun, 21 Jul 2019 01:08:21 +0000

This page may contain affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure page for me details.

Get A Better Job! (Learn Japanese)

Getting a job in Japan is actually pretty easy. However, getting a job that is not as an English teacher is a bit more difficult.

Being an English teacher is great, but career advancement options are very limited and the average teacher doesn’t make very good money. Living in Japan on a teacher’s salary can be difficult because, let’s face it, Japan is an expensive country to live in. Japan is a great country, but just think how much more fun it could be if you could afford to go out more or buy all those wonderful gizmos in Japan.

TheYenPincher.com is full of ways to make money and save money in Japan, but this article might be the most important in terms of how to make REAL money. The answer is actually really simple; get a better job! Right now is a great time to look for a better job….IF you can speak Japanese.

Why Learn Japanese?

Without knowing any Japanese, you are most likely only going to find teaching jobs in Japan. Which of course, isn’t a bad thing! I was a teacher for nearly ten years in Japan and I loved it! But there are some major drawbacks of being a teacher.

Teachers simply do not make a lot of money.

Living on a teacher’s salary is doable but it is well worth the effort to try to move into a different industry. As a teacher, you have almost no possibility for promotion or pay raise. English teachers in Japan are basically stuck in an entry level job for their whole life here. Some teachers don’t even have benefits like health insurance or yearly bonuses.

There are definitely better options available in Japan! Working outside of the education industry could not only provide a better salary, but also more options for career advancement. Larger companies provide health care, bonuses, paid vacations, pay raises and the possibility for promotion. Gain valuable experience that can make your resume sparkle.

In order to qualify for most corporate jobs, JLPT N2 level is required. JLPT N1 might open more doors, but N2 is good enough for most jobs. But just passing the test isn’t going to be good enough if you can’t hold a natural conversation in Japanese.

I`m a firm believer that it is impossible to become good at a language just by memorizing textbooks. There is more to language than just remembering vocab and grammar. Language is alive and can’t be spoken well without “feeling” the meaning of the words. Living in Japan and using Japanese everyday is a great way to build that fluency. Or finding a good (and native) Japanese teacher can also really benefit you.

The better your Japanese is, the more doors that will open. This leads to a better chance of finding a job where you can make good money and build a career.

Why Learn Japanese NOW?

Japan has many jobs available right now in Japan and across the globe. For those who can speak business level Japanese, right now is a great time to be job hunting in Japan.

Japan has a rapidly shrinking workforce so demand for workers is really high right now. Not only that, but Japan is home to some of the largest international companies in the world. These companies have offices all over the world and are always looking for bilingual professionals. Companies in Japan are offering very competitive salaries in order to hire foreign nationals that can speak Japanese.

Industries such as sales, engineering, IT, commerce, marketing, hospitality, human resources and translation are all looking for qualified people to join their workforce.

These industries offer salaries and benefits that far outshine working as an English teacher and the biggest requirement for most of these jobs is Japanese ability. If that is all that is needed to get a great job, then why not start learning Japanese?

Once you learn Japanese, opportunities all over the world will open up!

Better job opportunities are not only in Japan but all over the world as well.

As previously stated, Japan has many international companies. These companies have offices all over the world and since they often are looking to expand their business, they are look for locals in a foreign market to help with that expansion. If you can speak Japanese you could land a job at an overseas office of one of these big companies.

There is a possibility for you to work for a Japanese company and speak Japanese every day, but still be living in your home country.

I’m from America and in America there are very few people who can speak business Japanese. In America, a professional who is a native English speaker and can speak Japanese, is in very high demand and can demand a very attractive salary.

There is demand for Japanese speakers all over the world! So polish your Japanese skills and start looking for a high paying job in a country of your choice.

I also want to mention that even if you want to be an English teacher, learning Japanese will help you earn more money. The best paying teaching jobs in Japan require a high level of Japanese ability. The higher your Japanese ability is, the higher earning potential you will have as an English teacher.

Feel like studying Japanese yet?

Ok! Now I know how important learning Japanese is. What is the best way to learn Japanese?

Talking with native speakers is a great way to learn Japanese, but finding time to meet with a teacher every week is difficult. And private tutors are expensive!!

Thankfully we live in an era with internet.

There are some great online options that are not only easy on the wallet but also are available anytime which allow them to fit into anyone’s busy schedule. In this day and age, online classes are just as good as going to a real classroom. Video lessons are great because they provide an excellent service that you can use in your own home AND on your own time.

There are many options out there, but I have two favorites when it comes to learning Japanese online.

Adam`s Recommended Online Classes

Italki

If you are looking for a great way to learn Japanese that works around your schedule, then I suggest Italki.

I think this website is a great way to learn Japanese and I have even recommend people to work here as a means to make some extra money in Japan. For more information about working for them, please see my article about Teaching Online.

This website has over 10,000 teachers and offers classes in a very large number of different languages. The classes are via web cam and are 1 on 1 with a native speaker. It’s great because you can customize your own classes and class times. Set your own goals and use the teacher to achieve those goals. The classes are relaxed and almost always fun. I always found it fun talking with a native speaker from the comfort of my own house. The teachers are great on this website!

It is also great that it is pay-per-class. I like this because paying a monthly fee often leads to wasted money. If you pay a monthly fee but miss a couple of classes, that is money that you can’t get returned. Paying per class means that there will be no wasted money and it means that you can have as many or as few classes as you want. Whenever you have time in your schedule you can have a class and I love that flexibility. A monthly fee creates pressure and stress for me.

The way it works, is that you go on the Italki website, sign up and start looking for teachers. Each teacher has a different level of experience and they charge a different amount of money per class. It is amazing that you can control how much you pay per class. Just choose a teacher that is in your price range and start learning. Another good thing to do is to remember to read the teachers profiles and reviews before sending them a message! After finding a teacher that meets your needs, schedule a class and that’s all there is too it. Classes are offered 24 hours a day and seven days a week! This website is great for any level of learners from beginner to advanced.

This one is my favorite because it really is the most efficient way to learn and the most convenient way. Even if you are at the airport or sitting on the beach, you can use this service and learn native Japanese. I love it!

Japanesepod101

Italki is not the only online option that I like.

I also like Japanesepod101. This website is quickly becoming more and more popular. They offer a system of learning that is a bit different than Italki.

Japanesepod101 also offers 1 on 1 classes but they also offer an extensive library of audio and video lessons that you can study from on your own. These audio and video lessons are great for building basic understanding before you talk with a teacher. Using these lessons in tandem with the 1 on 1 lessons is a very fast way to learn Japanese. Their database of vocab and grammar is very extensive and organized in a way that made it easy for me to learn.

Schedule class times that fit into your busy life with ease and have fun learning from a native speaker from the comfort of your own house. The teachers on this site are pretty good and they usually have a great method for teaching. They are really flexible and can customize your learning experience to your needs.

The website also offers other tools like pronunciation perfecting tips and ways to remember kanji! This website is easy to use and utilizes a well thought out teaching system. This is a great option for those who want to study on their own as well as using a teacher to learn Japanese. There are even apps for Android and ios so you can study anytime and anywhere.

They created a great website that can become a great tool for users to learn native level Japanese. It is definitely worth checking out!

Learn Japanese: The Bottom Line

Learning with a native speaker has so many more benefits than just learning from a textbook. When I first started learning Japanese, I only studied from textbooks by myself. Later I found out that I studied a lot of useless words that no one in Japan ever uses in conversation. There is a huge difference between textbook Japanese and spoken Japanese.

So if you plan on learning Japanese, it would be best just to learn native Japanese from the start. This way you won’t have to waste time learning words that you will never need or have to unlearn some antiquated grammar. Learning from a native speaker (like the teachers on Italki or Japanesepod101) is the best way to learn!

There are MANY options for learning Japanese online. There are self learning sites like Duolingo and there are online schools like Zipan, but I still believe Italki and Japanesepod101 are the best online options. I just really like the format and the flexibility of these websites. Online schools are WAY too expensive and the self learning sites don’t teach how to speak natively.

I have tried several of the online options and I was debating whether or not to write reviews of all the ones I tried. None of them were terrible, but in the end I would still only recommend the two I have already mentioned. If you know of a great website or have any recommendations please leave a comment below and I will look into it! Maybe someday I will write a review post of all the options available online for learning Japanese.

Just remember that learning Japanese won’t just help out in daily life in Japan, but it will become a stepping stone to a better life. At the very least, it will help you find a job that will provide a good salary, benefits and a more comfortable standard of living. The benefits are huge so it is well worth a few hours a week studying. Good luck!

Bonus: Here are some websites I use for searching for jobs in Japan

Daijob

Baitoru (part time jobs)

The post Get a better job (learn Japanese) appeared first on The Yen Pincher.

Write Lists and Make Money Online Japan

Tue, 02 Apr 2019 07:09:55 +0000

This page may contain affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure page for me details.

Make Money Online Writing Japan

Here are some more options for you to get money while relaxing on your couch in your home. There are quite a few of websites that pay people to write lists for them. Each website wants something different and some are more serious than others. These are the ten best options for writing online to get money. Find one that peaks your interested and try submitting a list to them. This could be a great way to make money online writing in Japan every week.

Make Money Online Writing in Japan Idea #1: Wonderlist

Wonderlist

With this website you can expect around $5 for each list they accept.

Perhaps the best part of this site is that they aren’t as strict about the subject matter like some of the other sites on this list. You are free to write about anything you want! Write a top ten list of places to eat or the top ten hardest things about getting married in Japan. The subject matter is up to you, but you need to make it a list of ten things. This would be a great place to start writing online, get experience and make money online Japan.

Each submission also needs to be more than 1,500 words. Write an article for submission and if it is approved, you can make $5. That is one of the lower payouts on this list but it is also one of the easiest websites to get your list approved.

They pay in US dollars via Paypal or Payoneer.

Make Money Online Writing in Japan Idea #2: Listverse

Listverse

They pay $100 per list!

The payout is great, but they are pretty strict. They make it clear that only native speakers of English can submit a list with them and the writing quality has to be high. They are one of the biggest websites for lists and there will be a lot of other people submitting lists for approval. They require around 1,800 words for each list of 10 items. Your list can be about almost anything. The lists on their site cover a huge variety of topics, so check out their site for some ideas. This site has one of the highest rejection rates, so make sure to read the other lists on their site to get a feel for the style of writing that they are looking for.

Paypal is the only method of payments that they offer you.

Make Money Online Writing in Japan idea #3: Cracked

Cracked

$100 per list!

This website is huge! They have over 300 million monthly page views!!

They pay very well for list articles and image sets, but they are also super strict. First you have to go through their prerequisite registration and then submit your list for review. If they like it, they might ask for some revisions/editing and then they will publish it.

If you’re good at humor or comedy this is a good site for writing online because they are one of the most popular comedy websites in the world. The lists for this website are not limited to only ten items per list. You can make money online in Japan if you become a regular contributor to Cracked.

Make Money Online Writing in Japan idea #4: A List Apart

A List Apart

$50-$200 per list.

This site is another site that pays well but is strict about what lists they accept. They are looking for new authors to write for their site, but their standards are really high. After writing your article (not always limited to lists), you submit a rough draft in the style of their website. Then an editor will review your submission, if they like it, then it will be shown to the rest of their team for feedback. They will then give this feedback to you and ask you to make some revisions. An editor will work closely with you to make your article into the exact article that they are looking for.

Articles can be about almost anything and they are usually around 1,500 words. They are a respected site and you could make a lot of money by working with them, but it is going to take a lot of work. If writing is something you are good at, then this could be a website you could write for often and make money online in Japan!

Make Money Online Writing in Japan idea #5: International Living

International Living

$225-$350 per article!

Here is another great website to make money from if you are good at writing. They pay $225 for 900 word articles and $350 for 1,600 words. As you can imagine, they have very high standards and they ask you to be familiar with their site and the style of their articles before submitting anything.

They are a niche website aimed at people living and retiring overseas. So, if you live in a different country (outside of America) you can write about your experiences and submit your articles to International Living. Find interesting and unique things about the area you live in to write about and get paid!

This might be a great chance for all you expats living in Japan to share your experiences in Japan and make money online in Japan.

Make Money Online Writing in Japan idea #6: List Gecko

List Gecko

$25 per list.

This is another top ten list website. They are looking for lists that have ten items and each item on the list should have one or two paragraphs explaining that item. Except for sports, gaming, self-help and personal stories, you can write about almost anything that you want. They are especially looking for posts about unknown facts, misconceptions, shocking history and strange stories.

Each list needs to have at least 1,800 words. It is nice that they allow writers to put links of their websites in their biography. This is a great way to promote your own website. They make payments through PayPal and PayPal only.

Make Money Online Japan idea #7: Funds for Writers

Funds for Writers

$50 per article.

This is a niche website designed for writers and freelancers. This really isn`t a list writing opportunity, but it is a good place to make money if you are a professional writer. They are looking for articles about how to make a living as a writer. So you must be a writer yourself and be making a living through your writing in order to post an article on this website.

They are looking for articles with 500 – 600 words. It is decent pay for such short articles, but the drawback is that you have to be making money as a writer in order to write for this website. You will need writing experience before you can make money from this website.

Make Money Online Writing in Japan idea #8: TSM PLUG

TSM PLUG

$5 per article at first. After 10 published articles, authors become “premium contributors” and will get paid $10 per article plus 60% of revenue generated from each article posted. That is a pretty good deal!

This is a sports website that accepts lists about everything sport related. Player statistics, future games. sports records or player biographies are things they are looking for.

They want top 10 or top 5 lists and each list needs to be at least 400 words.

They allow an authors bio page, which is great for people who want to gain exposure as a writer or promote their own website. TSM Plug claims to have over 30,000 visitors daily. Almost any sport in the world is discussed on this website, so if you are a crazy about sports, this is a good site for you!

All payments are made through PayPal.

Make Money Online Writing in Japan idea #9: Top Five Buzz

Top Five Buzz

$5 per list.

With this site, you have the freedom to talk about (almost) anything you want to. Each article is required to have a minimum of 600 words. Proper reference links are also required. They don’t pay much per list, but they are looking for regular contributors. Develop a good relationship with them and you could start earning money from them on a regular basis.

This is a pretty fast and easy way to make some money writing online.

Make Money Online Writing Japan idea #10: Sporteology

Sporteology

$7 per list.

This website is all about sports. If you are a sports fanatic this is the website you should be writing for. They are looking for any sports related article and will pay $7 per article. They want lists with 10 items on them and have at least 1,000 words.

Each accepted article will receive payment within 24 hours and payments are made with Paypal. They also give full credit to the author of the article and even offer backlinks to the author’s website. That is a pretty good deal because backlinks are really important for any website. If you have a sports related website, then you should write for Sporteology for the cash payouts and the benefits from getting backlinks.

The post Write Lists and Make Money Online Japan appeared first on The Yen Pincher.

Online Teaching

Fri, 29 Mar 2019 07:32:30 +0000

This page may contain affiliate links. Please refer to my disclosure page for more information.

Online Teaching in Japan

Even if you are already teach at a school in Japan, you could get another job doing online teaching. Work in the evenings or on the weekends as an online tutor.

These jobs can be lucrative and since you’re already used to teaching, these jobs should be easy for you!

There are a lot of people in different parts of the world that want to have a private English teacher. Right now online teachers are in high demand, so this is a good time to make money online teaching.

There are several good companies to sign up with that will connect you with students. Some of these companies have their own curriculum for you to follow, but some allow you to teach whatever you want. There are easygoing companies that allow you to decide your own working hours, while others hold you to a strict work schedule.

There are many different companies and each company has their own style, standards and pay. Most companies require a six month or a year long contract and most of these companies require a bachelor degree as well. Some even require TEFL\TESL certifications, so make sure to check the requirements for each company.

Check out these companies and see which style one appeals to you. All these jobs are online so you can teach from the comfort of your own house!

Please note that for these jobs, you will need to have a decent computer, high speed internet, a webcam and a mic for these jobs.

Online Teaching in Japan Option #1:

Italki

Italki is an interesting site with a unique style and they claim to be “the world`s largest online market for language teachers”.

With Italki, you can set your own price for your lessons. Charge as much or as little as you want! Of course, be careful to not price yourself too high because then you wont get any students. Your price should be based on your experience level. Start with a low price and build your reputation.

The student feedback on this site is very important and the more positive reviews you have, the more you can charge.. You can also see what other teachers are charging, so make sure to charge your students appropriately.

On the higher end of the scale, established and professional teachers are charging $25/hour but many of the community teachers are charging around $12/hour.

The classes are done via Skype, Facetime or Google hangouts. You can teach anything you want and these classes are all 1 on 1.

Teach students of all ages from all over the world. Italki takes a 15% commission on all of your classes, but this is a great site to make some real money. The more time you put into building your reputation, the more money you can make!

Online Teaching in Japan Option #2:

Cambly

Cambly is a good option for teaching online!

Work from anywhere in the world and the teachers set their own work hours.

Cambly has 1 on 1 classes with children, but they also do a lot of adult classes. The adult classes can be fairly informal. Most of the adults already know some English and just want to practice speaking more or learn pronunciation. They offer different class options to their students. There are standard English courses, conversation classes and classes designed as prep for TOEFL/IELTS tests.

Cambly has their own lesson plans but they do allow you to make your own lessons as well.

Classes are 30 minutes long and they pay $10.20 an hour and they make payments through PayPal. This is one of the lower payouts on this list but it is less rigid than the other companies on this list.

This is a fun job because you can meet people from all over the world. You could talk to someone from Brazil, Russia and Thailand all in one day!

Online Teaching in Japan Option #3:

Lingoda

Lingoda is a UK based company providing online English lessons to people all over the world.

Teachers choose their own work schedules and are paid around $12 an hour.

Lingoda offers both private classes and group classes. Classes are 60 minutes long and group classes have a max of five students. Teachers will use the Lingoda curriculum so teachers never have to develop their own lesson plans.

Teachers must be a native speaker of English, have two years of teaching experience and have an ESL teaching certificate.

With only 6,000 students, this is one of the smallest online teaching companies on this list.

Online Teaching in Japan Option #4:

Topic Time

Topic time is very different from the other companies on this list. They are a very small company with only 15 teachers (currently).

This is a company that was started in Japan and primarily services only Japan.

Classes are done via Skype and they use “Scarlett Method” for teaching each class. Scarlett method is where the teacher types everything that the student says and then after the student finishes speaking, the teacher will show them what they typed. The teacher and student will then go over everything together and correct any mistakes that the student made.

Classes are generally 1 on 1 but classes can have up to 3 students. They offer 25 minute classes and 60 minute classes. A 25 minute class costs the student around $9.

It is interesting to note that they don’t want their teachers to have a predetermined lesson plan in mind before teaching. Their philosophy is that natural conversation is the best way to learn. They will be topics to talk about, but in general there is no curriculum.

Since the teachers have to type everything thing the student says, fast typing skills are a must for this job. They also require that all their teachers have an American social security number. Teachers can set their own work schedule but they must work at least 10 hours a week. Having some Japanese ability and knowledge about Japanese culture/customs is preferred.

Pay is per class and is payed through PayPal weekly.

Online Teaching in Japan Option #5:

VIP Kid

VIP Kid is one of the largest and the most trusted site for online teaching jobs.

The minimum payment is $14 an hour but they can pay up to $22 an hour! They have six month contracts and want their teachers to work 7.5 hours a week. They allow a flexible work schedule but there are “peak” hours that have the most students looking for teachers. Peak hours are between 6-10pm on weekdays and weekends (Beijing time).

VIP Kid is an online teaching company based in China. All of the students are Chinese children 4 years old through 12 years old.

There are lesson plans already made for you to use and you are required to use these lesson plans. VIP Kid acts as the “middleman” between you and the client, so you don’t have to speak Chinese. They are the ones that talk to the parents of your students, so you don’t have to deal with any of the business side of things. All you have to do is teach!

Each class is 20-30 minutes long and each lesson is 1 on 1.

Teachers can teach from anywhere in the world, but only North Americans can apply to work with VIP Kid.

Online Teaching in Japan Option #6:

QKids

Q Kids is very similar to VIP Kid.

Here they pay up to $20 an hour and they handle all the business side of things so you never have to communicate with the students parents. Q Kids connects English teachers with over 500,000 children in China.

The students are aged between 4 and 12 years old. Each class is 30 minutes long and there is only one student in each class. The teachers never have to plan any lesson plans. They use a pre-made curriculum that uses interactive computer apps and games.

Work schedules are flexible and the teachers can choose how much they want to work. Teachers can live anywhere in the world but Q Kids only accepts teachers who are from North America.

Online Teaching in Japan Option #7:

Dada

DaDa has a lot of great reviews on the internet from people who have worked there. Teachers from anywhere in the world can apply here!

This is another online teaching job servicing China. Student levels are from early childhood through high school.

Contracts range from 6-12 months. All teachers for Dada must have TESL/TEFL certification as well as at least a bachelor degree in any field. Classes are 1 on 1 and last for 30 minutes. Working hours range from 3 hours to 20 hours a week. The work times are fairly flexible, so you can set up your own work schedule. Teachers use a set curriculum in all their classes.

The pay is pretty good at $15-25 an hour and they also offer bonuses for every new student trial lesson you do. They offer $100 for any successful new teacher referrals and even have attendance bonuses. Payments are made via bank transfers on the 15th of every month.

They have high standards for their teachers but this is a good way to make money teaching online in Japan.

Online Teaching in Japan Option #8:

iTutorGroup

iTutorGroup has more than 30,000 teachers and provide services in over 135 countries. There are some mixed reviews about this company online, but most reviews say that this is a decent place to work for if you take it seriously and put your time in.

Here you could teach anyone from 5 year olds or adults. iTutorGroup has their own curriculum so teachers do not have to design their own lesson plans. There are 25 minutes 1 on 1 classes or 45 minute group classes available.

You can set you own schedule and they provide 24/7 support for their teachers. Base pay starts low but there is possibility to get ranked higher and then get paid more. Many teachers don’t like this ranking system because higher ranked teachers get paid more than them. That is why teachers here need to be patient and put their time in before they can start to make better money.

Contracts are for one year and the minimum number of work hours a week is 10 hours. From their website, they say that the average salary for their teachers is $1,500 – $2,000 a month. They require that their teachers have a bachelors degree, TESOL/TEFL certificate and one year teaching experience.

This company can be pretty strict and it feels more like a real job than just a side hustle. But if you stay with them for awhile, you can make really good money with online teaching.

Final Thoughts

There many different options for online teaching in Japan and each one offers something different. Some are super relaxed and some are super strict. But all of these are decent options for making money online. Look at the different companies and choose one that appeals to you and give it a shot!

If you have taught with any of these companies, please leave a comment below and share your experiences.

The post Online Teaching appeared first on The Yen Pincher.

How to find your niche

Tue, 26 Mar 2019 04:25:32 +0000

This page may contain affiliate links. Please refer to my disclosure page for more details.

How To Find Your Niche

This article will show you how to find a niche, which is the first step in making a profitable website.

How to find your niche

Building your first website is relatively easy, but deciding what to write about is much more difficult. In this post I will walk you through several steps that will help you find your niche. I will also show you some tools to help you and some common mistakes to avoid.

What is a niche?

First, it is important to understand what a niche is.

The dictionary describes a niche as “products, services, or interests that appeal to a small, specialized section of the population.” For websites, that means focused content designed to appeal to a specific group of like-minded people.

A niche is the bedrock of your website. It is the content you write about and it is the reason visitors come to your site.

Some niches are very broad like “cooking” and some niches are very focused like “cooking healthy vegetarian Japanese cuisine”.

The more specific your niche is the better because there are over a billion websites on the internet, so if your topic is too broad your site will never be found. A broad niche like “cooking” will have millions of competing websites and it will make it almost impossible to get ranked on Google. The more focused your niche is, the higher potential for getting ranked on Google. The higher your rank in Google, the higher your chances of making money become.

There will be far less competition for “cooking healthy vegetarian Japanese cuisine” than there will be for “cooking”.

Having less competitors and a higher Google ranking will make making money online a lot more feasible. It is very important to find your niche!

Find your niche - Where to start?

First you need to think of the things you are interested in. It is impossible to continue to write quality content if you are writing about something that doesn’t interest you.

Take a pen and paper and make a long list of things you like and like to do. Don’t overthink it. Just jot down all your hobbies and interests. After you make this list, go back and try to get more specific with each interest. For example, if you wrote “camping” on your list, you could write “winter camping” and then “ultralight” and then “tents”. See which items on your list are easy for you to get more specific with.

If you can get really specific with one of your ideas, then that probably means you are really interested in that topic and could write a lot of great content for about it. And remember that the more focused your niche idea is, the better chance there is for making money online.

At this stage, you don’t have to stress over anything. Just relax and brainstorm ideas. Don’t worry if you’re not an expert in all the hobbies that you write down. If it is your hobby you probably already know more than an average person and after starting a website, you will learn even more and become a true expert. That comes naturally. So just start writing and worry about the rest later!

Another good thing to do is to write questions that your potential readers might ask.

Since the things on your list are your hobbies or interests, you have probably already learned a lot about them. But think of the people just getting started, what questions would they be asking?

“What is the best winter trekking pack?” “How do I lose weight fast?” “How do I make money online?”

People search for things online because they have questions and they have problems that they want solved. Your website needs to be a place that they can go to get answers. So it is good to start by trying to think of the questions people are typing into Google. Questions that could lead people to your site.

What questions could you answer and how many could you answer?

Your knowledge and experience could solve problems for people and the more problems you can solve in a niche the better chances of that niche website becoming successful. Thinking about problems you could help people with is a good way to find your niche.

Do some research and find out what questions people are asking online. Look through forums and Facebook groups. Go on Quora and look at discussions that could be related to your niche. Once you have a list of questions or problems people have, you can really narrow down your search for a niche.

Look at your list and see which interests you were able to get really focused and look at the questions/problems related to each of these interests. If you see something on the list that is really focused and has a lot of potential problems that you could solve for people, then that is a good candidate for becoming your niche.

Please don’t skip the research part! If you can’t find any discussions or people talking about your potential niche idea, then that means no one is interested in that niche. If there is no interest, then there won’t be anyone coming to your site. Research is very important!

Find your niche - I’ve narrowed my list of niche ideas down to a few, now what?

More research!!

This next step may take some time but the more time you spend researching the better your odds of making money become. You will need to research potential competitors, keywords (and their competitiveness) and look at trends.

Knowing your competitors (and how many there are) is vital information to you. It is a good idea to make a spreadsheet that lists all your potential competitors. On this spreadsheet, also write down all the good and bad points of each competitors website.

Write down all the things that you like about their websites and the things that you think they could do better. You can use this information to make your website stand out among the competition.

After making this spreadsheet you can see if you stand a chance of getting your website ranked on Google. Some niche markets are so oversaturated with competitors that it may be extremely difficult for you to get your website noticed. Some niches are dominated by a few major corporations and would be almost impossible to compete with.

The big companies just have too much name recognition and too much money to spend on advertising for any small blogger to compete with. So stay away from oversaturated markets and markets that are dominated by big companies.

If you spend the time to make a thorough spreadsheet, you will be able to see which of your niche ideas offers the best chance of succeeding. It is unavoidable that your niche will have competitors and that’s actually a good thing. It gives you a starting point to find your niche. You can use the information from your spreadsheet to see what your competitors are selling and how they are making money.

You can use your competitors as a springboard to making your website profitable. By looking at competitors you can not only see what is selling, but what isn’t selling. You can see what site designs are good and you can get an idea of what the consumers are looking for. With this information you can make a website that takes all the good points and avoids all the bad points from your competitor’s websites. In this way, you will make a website that can upset the market.

Keyword Research is next

This is another really important step that should not be overlooked.

Having good keywords is vital to your rankings in Google. Being listed in the top five websites after doing a Google search should be everyone’s goal. Being ranked high in Google, gives your website authority and it will bring in a lot more traffic to your site. After all, no one looks at the second page of search results do they?

It is true that having good keywords isn’t the only important thing for getting ranked on Google but they help a lot.

Choosing you keywords carefully is important and it should be done BEFORE you make your website. You will need to find what words are being searched for on Google and the competitiveness of those keywords.

Luckily, there are several tools available on line to help you find this information.

Check out these online tools:

Google Trends is a wonderful FREE tool that allows you to see what keywords and keyphrases are being searched on Google. Here you can try different combinations of words and compare them to each other to see which words have the highest number of people searching for them.

For example, you can compare “make money blogging” and “make money online”. There is a significantly larger number of people searching Google for “make money online” than there is for “make money blogging”. This means that “make money online” is the better keyphrase to use on your website.

This is great information to have but Google Trends doesn’t provide the competitiveness of keywords. Which is also very important to know, so other sites will need to be used as well during your research process.

Google AdWords Keyword Planner is another great free tool to use to help decide which keywords to use. Here you can type in your keyword and see historical trends for that keyword and how much competition there is for that keyword. Knowing how much competition there is for a keyword really helps you choose the right keywords to use.

If you search for the keyword “weight loss” You can see that the competiveness of that keyword is extremely high. There are many websites using that same keyword, which will make it very hard for you to break into that market and get noticed. Spend some time experimenting with different word combinations to find a keyword that doesn’t have such high competiveness.

Moz is by far the best tool for searching for keywords, but it comes at a price.

Moz costs $9 a month for their basic plan. It sucks having to spend money, but their service really is great. With them you can get a TON of data when you are searching for keywords.

This data will help you compare keywords, key phrases, prioritize keywords and fine tune your SEO strategy. This is the one stop shop for all your keyword search needs. I love that they show the percentage of difficulty to get ranked for each keyword I search for and I like their keyword suggestions.

It is good to note that they do offer a free service as well. They offer 10 free keyword searches a month, which is a great way to see if it is worth spending money on their services.

For people who are serious about making a profitable website, paying for this service is a good investment. With them you can learn about so much more than just keywords. Here you can learn about keyword difficulty, on page recommendations, SEO, link building, page optimization, and learn see a competitive analysis. This really is a cool website and can absolutely help you find your niche.

One last general tip to find your niche

One last major thing to keep in mind while deciding what niche to write about, is if you can write enough content for the niche you choose.

Think about each topic on your list and ask yourself if you could write 20-30 posts/articles about that topic. Whatever niche you decide to write about, you need to be able to write enough content for it. If you think you have a great idea for a niche but can only think of 10 articles that you could possibly write, then maybe you should try to find a different idea.

A great idea is good to have, but if there isn’t enough content to support that idea, not many people will visit your site. You will need to add content to your site regularly so it is important that your niche is about something that you can write a lot about. It shouldn’t be stressful to think of new things to write about.

It should feel like you don’t have enough time or space to write about everything that you want to write about. If you feel that way about a topic, then that is another good indicator that you have found your niche.

Here is a list of some of the most popular niche markets

Health; weight loss, muscle gain, detoxification, supplements etc.
Money; make money online, investments, finance etc.
Beauty; cosmetics, treatments, hair loss etc.
Love; dating, relationships etc.
Pets
Technology; gadgets, computers, VR etc.
Lifestyle; self improvement, fashion etc.
DIY; Life hacks, home improvements etc.

Mistakes to avoid when selecting a niche market

Choosing a niche based solely on the potential for profits.

You need to be knowledgeable about the things you write about!

Everyone wants to make money so it’s good to choose a niche that has potential for profits, but if you choose a niche that you don’t have any experience with you won’t be able to write content that will keep people coming back to your site. It will also be very stress to keep thinking of ideas to write about in a niche that you are not interested in.

Consumers are smart and they will know when you are only writing something to get them to buy something. You need to have experience with the products or services you are selling. People don’t want sale pitches; they want honest reviews and honest opinions. They can feel if an author has passion for the topic they are writing about, so it is very important to be genuinely interested in your niche. If a niche market is profitable for some people, that doesn’t mean it will be profitable for you.

Choosing a niche that is too broad.

Weight loss is one of the most profitable niches but it is a very broad niche. For you to start a website for weight loss, you would need a team of writers just to make enough content to make a decent website. And even if you did make a decent website in weight loss, that niche is already dominated by major companies and famous bloggers. It would be nearly impossible to break into that market because of the name recognition of the big companies and all the related keywords would already have extremely high competitiveness.

Making a more focused niche will give you a chance to rank on Google and give you a chance to become an authority on your topic. So a website about “Japanese weight loss techniques for women” would be a much better idea than just a website about “weight loss”.

Writing content for profits instead of for readers.

If you want to make money form a website, you need to have traffic coming to your site. The best way to get more readers is to build trust with them. Writing an article that says “this is the best headphones on the market, please buy” isn’t going to work. People go to websites because they have a problem or a need that they are trying to find answers for. Your website MUST provide honest answers or solutions to the readers.

Write content that not only helps the reader, but also lets them know that you are trustworthy and a reliable source of information. If you can do that, then you will get repeat visitors and word of mouth will bring in new visitors. Building trust with site visitors is the first step to making profits. The more trust you build, the more authority your site will have and the more money you can make. Think long term and make content that will generate traffic. Avoid making content that is only designed to sell something. Don’t make a page that has affiliate links placed all over because this looks very spammy and will make visitors bounce from your site. Strive to make a website that helps your readers instead of making fast profits. If you make a site that addresses the needs of your readers, profits will come naturally.

Waiting until you have thought of the perfect niche idea to start.

This is maybe the biggest mistake most people make. Most people never actually start! There is no perfect website idea, so just start and learn the rest while you go. Of course, do your research first and then do your best to make the best site that you can. You will learn a lot just by trying.

You don’t have to be a leading expert in the niche you choose and don’t even have to be over the top passionate about it. Passion helps but its hard to have true passion at the starting line. Choose something you are interested in and just start. After you start you will learn more about your niche and slowly become a real expert in that field. During this time your passion will grow as well. Just make sure to choose something you’re interested in and want to learn more about and your passion and expertise will both grow naturally. Find your niche and enjoy writing about it!

The fear of failure is a major reason people don’t make money online. Have conviction, stick with it and enjoy the process. There is no such thing as making money without effort. And there is zero chance of making money online if you never start.

Final Thoughts

To find your niche takes a lot of planning and a lot of work, but it is also very fun. It is fun to learn many new things and there will always be new things to learn about. With a website there is almost unlimited earning potential. Choosing your niche is the first step of this process and you should take your time deciding. Do a lot of research and have a clear vision of what you want your website to look like. Be patient with yourself and make sure that you enjoy the topic that you choose to write about. And above all….START! Research is important but don’t spend forever researching and never starting. Choose your niche and give it your best shot!

For more information on how to get webhosting and a domain name, please see my post on How to Make a Website.

The post How to find your niche appeared first on The Yen Pincher.

Transfer Money From Japan

Sun, 24 Feb 2019 07:38:42 +0000

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my full disclosure for more details.

Transfer Money From Japan

Transfer Money from Japan: My Story

A major reason why I had no money in Japan for so long was because I had to transfer money to America every month to pay for my student loans.

I had to send 50,000 yen every month!!

That was was a huge part of my paycheck and to make matters worse, I had to spend money to transfer money from Japan to America. I even lost money due to the exchange rate. I tried a couple of different ways to send money home and now I have finally found a great way to do it.

I am confident that I found the best way to send money to your home country. Since this could save you a lot of money, I really wanted to share on The Yen Pincher.

First, I want to talk about the first company that I used (and now regret using).

I used a company called GoRemit. GoRemit is a part of Shinsei Bank and even though it was expensive, I used them for five years.

Setting up my account with them was a little difficult and time consuming. I didn’t like their system and I really didn’t like how much they charged for each transfer.

I had to pay 2,000 yen to GoRemit and then another 2,000 yen to my bank in America for transfer fees. So each time I sent money home, I had to pay 4,000 yen! That money added up fast since I had to pay my student loans every month.

I thought bank transfer fees were unavoidable so that is why I stayed with them for as long as I did. But then I found a much better option!

Transfer Money from Japan: The Best Option

Wise (formerly called Transferwise)

Wise is a great service and it is changing the way the world moves money. It is the best option to transfer money from Japan. The internet is flooded with positive reviews about this service and I am no different. My experience with them has been great and I recommend them to all my friends. In fact, if you sign up through my friend referral link: Wise, you will get your first transfer (up to 75,000 yen) for FREE!

But what is Wise?

They are an online service for sending money all over the world.

They are breaking down the borders between international banks and making the process of transferring money internationally fast, easy and cheap. They started in London in 2011 and have grown to be internationally trusted.

They say that more than a billion US dollars are transferred each month through their service.

It is so great because they cut out the middle man.

They don’t actually transfer your money. Instead they take the Japanese yen that you want to send home and put it in their Japanese yen “pot”. Then they pay you the equivalent of that money to your home bank account from their “pot” that they have in your home currency.

That means there are no long transactions between international banks. This not only cuts down on transfer costs, but it also makes the whole process very fast. And since it is faster, you can also be guaranteed the exchange rate. GoRemit couldn’t do that.

With GoRemit I could try to send money home when the exchange rate was good, but since it takes a few days for the transfer to go through, the exchange rate could change for the worse.

Wise locks in the exchange rate at the time you transfer so they can guarantee the rate and knowing the exchange rate can save you a lot of money.

How does Wise make money?

Wise does charge a fee for their services but it is much cheaper than going through banks, GoRemit or even Paypal. Look at the example below.

Here you can see that if I sent 50,000 yen to America, Wise would charge me a fee of 531 JPY.

That is significantly lower than the 4,000 yen fees that I was paying while using GoRemit! Look at the bottom of that screenshot and it will tell you that using Wise could save you up to 2,494 JPY vs the average bank. This really is the best option for transferring money from Japan.

Wise is a great service that I wish I knew about sooner.

If you are living in Japan and need to send money home, then this is the service I recommend using.

This link will get you to their homepage through my affiliate link. This link will give you a fee-free transfer of up to 75,000 JPY! Enter your email and then click on “Claim your fee-free transfer” to get started.

Choose whether you are setting up a personal or a business account. Then choose what country you are living in.

You will then have to verify your phone number. Giving this information will help keep your accounts secure.

From here just follow the rest of the steps to get set up. The website makes it easy to understand each step. You will need to verify your email address, your home address and your bank account information. For Japan, you will have to upload documents that prove your identity. They will ask you for pictures of your “My Number” card and will send mail to your physical home address to confirm that you live there. This is an added security feature and an important one. When it comes to protecting your money, every security feature is an important one! Once you have finished the set up process and created your account, it is super easy to send or receive money from a different country.

How to Transfer Money from Japan Using Wise

From the Wise homepage, click the “Send Money” button to transfer money from Japan.

On this next screen, enter the amount that you want to transfer and then click continue. This page also shows the exact amount that the receiving account will receive.

Next, type in who are which account that you want to transfer money too.

The next screen verifies your account. Since this example transfer is for an amount greater than 100,000 JPY, I need to provide additional information for this transfer. You will need to have a Japan issued photo ID with your current address, a piece of paper to write a four digit code that they will give you, a camera phone and you My Number card. You will need to take a picture of yourself holding the paper that has the hand written code on and your photo ID. This is all just to ensure the safety of your money.

There could also be a QR code for you to scan with your phone. This is for verifying your information.

After you verify your account, then you review your transfer information and then initiate your transfer. It is all very simple after you do it one time.

After they confirm your transfer, they will deposit the funds into you home country`s account.

Since they will save all your information, the second time you transfer money home will be even faster!

I think this is a great service and I wish I knew about it years ago. Try it out and save a lot of money when you transfer money from Japan or transfer money to Japan!

The post Transfer Money From Japan appeared first on The Yen Pincher.

Why start a blog

Wed, 13 Feb 2019 08:04:17 +0000

This page may contain affiliate links. Please refer to my disclosure page for more details.

Why Start a Blog

My Story

I came to Japan on March 20, 2011. That was just nine days after the big Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. I lived in Iwate which was one of worse affected areas. There was no food in the convenience stores, no gas at the gas stations and most of the time, no electricity either.

It was a rough start to my life in Japan.

At that time, I was employed by one of the big dispatch companies and I was getting paid the very minimal. So from day one of my life here, money was very tight.

I struggled financially largely because I was sending 50,000 yen home to America every month. I was still paying for my student loans. That was a huge part of my paycheck every month!

It seemed like every waking minute of my life I was trying to find new ways to make money. I tried everything I could think of. I even moved to Yamanashi to start a new job (still as an ALT) and then I moved to Shizuoka to work at a private eikaiwa.

Everywhere I went the jobs weren’t paying much money, but I did find many great ways to make extra spending money. But having extra spending money wasn`t enough for me. After getting married, the pressure to start making more money really pushed me to find better ways to make more money.

I Started Blogging

After getting married I moved to Hokkaido and I started making websites. It turned out to be the best financial decision I ever made, but it was scary for me to take that first step.

I am by no means a “computer guy”. I only used my computer for checking emails and watching music videos on YouTube.

Other than that, I knew next to nothing about computers. But due to the stress of having no money and after reading about people making 1,000,000 yen a month blogging, I decided to try and start a website of my own. There really are some amazing success stories out there and they were wonderful motivation for me.

After starting, I was immediately surprised at how easy it was to start!

Don’t get me wrong, I still spent weeks watching “how to” videos and reading endless blog posts, but the more I learned, the more I realized just how doable making a website is.

It wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it would be.

You don’t have to know computer coding and you don’t even need to have a great computer.

There is also a TON of information and support available online.

Take a look at my Make a Website post and you will see just how easy it is to get webhosting, a domain name and your very own WordPress site!

No matter your background or you computer skills level, you can start a blog easily!

But what is a blog and where to start a blog?

A blog is a website that has content (articles/posts) about a certain topic or subject.

You can start a blog about anything you want! As long as you’re interested in the subject that you are writing about, the sky is the limit for blog subjects.

The Yen Pincher is my blog about how to make and save money in Japan. I was obsessed with finding ways to making money in Japan, and over the years I became an expert on the subject.

Since I am passionate about this subject, it became something I wanted to blog about.

Find something you are interested in and look for your niche. Some of the top money making niche ideas are health, fitness, finance, travel, fashion, technology, cooking, dating, pets and self-improvement.

Think about your hobbies and your interests, and then think about what niche they fit into. Remember, that the niche you choose should be something that you have experience with and are interested in.

After finding a niche that you want to blog about, make it as specific as you can. For example, “health” is far too broad of a topic to blog about. There are tons of competitors for a topic that broad and it is hard to bring readers to your blog.

So something like “breakfast recipes for a healthy body” is much more focused and it will have less competitors.

Whatever you write about, the most important thing is that you are passionate about it. If it is something you really are interested in, then it is easy to write content and it is easier to get readers because the readers can feel your passion.

You have wonderful and unique ideas, why not share those ideas with everyone in the world!

Start a blog: How do blogs make money?

Since there are several different types of blogs, there are several different ways to make money. But generally, bloggers make money through:

1. ads on their websites

2. affiliate marketing (selling other peoples products)

3. selling their own products (physical products, classes or information)

Once you start getting traffic to your blog, you can use all of these methods to make 10,000 yen a month. Maybe even 100,000 yen a month? Or how about 1,000,000 yen a month?!

There really is no limit.

The key to making a lot of money online is making a website/blog that has a lot of traffic. The more people that come to your website, the more money that you can make.

I will write posts that give more specific details on how to get more traffic to your website and how to make a website that makes money, but for this post I only want to talk about the basics.

I am a firm believer that anyone can make money if they start a blog.

It will take time and effort, but with a website you have the potential to make a lot of money. You will have the potential to not only be financially free, but you could even quit your day job and make money while sitting on a beach in Okinawa.

All you have to do is start. Take that first step and start learning the process. The sooner you start, the sooner you can start to make money.

There are many reasons why you should take that first step.

Here is why you should put the time and effort into starting a blog

Be your own boss.

This is a truly wonderful feeling. You have control of everything!

You can decide how many hours a day you work and what the design or content is. Work as much or as little as you want.

The upsides are amazing, but of course there are some downsides as well.

When you are your own boss you have no one to blame when mistakes are made and it is a big responsibility to be the only person who can make or break your blog. However, the upsides to being your own boss far outweigh the downsides. The freedom feels amazing!

Control how much money you make.

Being your own boss means that you can chose how much you work. This also means that you control how much you can earn.

When it comes to blogging, the harder you work the more money you can get. If you are happy making 10,000 yen a month from your hobby blog that’s great! But if you want to get serious and try for 1,000,000 yen a month, that’s possible too.

You can set your own goals and work accordingly.

The people who make careers out of their blogs have put their time in and have hustled to get to where they are.

As with everything in life, there are no guarantees. However, there is a direct correlation between working harder and getting paid better as a blogger.

This doesn’t always happen with other jobs.

Think about it, if you bust your ass as a teacher in Japan, you really don’t have any hope of making more money than the teacher who doesn’t do more than just read from the textbook.

As a blogger, you have the chance to make a lot of money from the extra effort you put in.

If you start a blog you can be in control of your income!

Learn new things/gain new skills.

As I mentioned above, I am not a computer guy. But over the last couple of years, I have learned so much about making websites, SEO, marketing, monetizing blogs, etc.

It has been incredibly fun to learn about all these things.

I look at the internet differently now because I understand what went into making each webpage.

Learning these skills also opens up many doors and opportunities for me.

In addition to these “computer skills” I have learned a lot about how to organize my thoughts, organize my life, how to research, how to release stress and how to communicate better.

These are skills that I can use in my day to day life. Being able to organize my thoughts better and communicate better have helped me build better relationships with the people around me and has made networking easy.

Starting a blog will teach you many things and some of those things will be pleasant and unexpected bonuses.

Many of the things you learn will help you in your daily life!

It will build character and build self confidence. All of which are wonderful things!

Help others

If you started a blog, that probably means that you are interested in a topic enough to want to share your ideas with others.

These ideas can help other people.

Whether it is about health, money, games or dating, people search the internet for answers to their problems. Your thoughts and ideas could really help people.

Your life experiences have made you very unique and you have unique ideas that could benefit others.

The world is a very big place and starting a blog connects you with people in almost every country. The power of blogs and the power of your voice can’t be understated.

For me, I really hope that The Yen Pincher will help people living in Japan make more money and improve their lives here.

You can travel while you work!

If you are making money online, you’re not really obligated to be anywhere!

All you need is an internet connection and you can make money.

Making money online equals freedom!

Work on your blog while sitting poolside in Barbados or while sitting at a café in Paris.

Even if you’re not a full time blogger, you can work (a little) on your blog while you enjoy your winter vacation in Thailand. This can help offset the cost of your trip.

The point is, making money online feels good and the fact that you can do it anywhere is amazing!

The startup costs are low

Becoming your own boss and starting your own business usually takes a lot of money to get started.

With a blog, you don’t have to lease office space, buy insurance or pay for overhead costs like labor or utilities.

You can get started for around 1,000 yen! With Host Gator (and my discount code “theyenpincher”) you can get started for very cheap.

Starting a website is by far a lot cheaper than starting other types of business and a website still has the potential of making a lot of money.

Then, the fact that you can do it from the comfort of your own bedroom, is just icing on the cake!

Final Thoughts

I want to clarify… You really can start a blog for under $10!

The only things you need to pay for at first are the hosting fees and the domain fee. With the hosting fees, you can pay for just one month if you want to. Though the more you pay for upfront the cheaper it becomes.

That’s all you need to pay for! There are no hidden fees or difficult to understand fine print.

WordPress is free. Mailing companies like MailChimp are free. SEO companies like Yoast offer free services and security groups like WordFence offer free services.

All of these free services are fine for a start up blog. Of course, when your blog starts to grow it would be a good idea to start paying for some upgrades.

For example, MailChimp is a great (free) mailing service that helps grow your email list, send automated emails for email marketing and sends out notifications to your subscribers, but it is limited in what it can do for you. ConvertKit on the other hand, is a paid service that starts at $24 a month to use.

ConvertKit may seem expensive but their service is well worth it. With them you can take your blog and turn it into an affiliate marketing money maker. It all depends on what you want to do with you blog.

The Yen Pincher uses MailChimp at the moment because this blog is more about helping other people make money and is not really designed to be an affiliate website. I use affiliate links on this site, but I dont have a sales funnel set up selling affiliate products. If I ever decide to sell my own products on The Yen Pincher or try to sell more affiliate products, I will switch to ConvertKit for sure!

As your blog grows you can start to pay for some of these premium services, but to start your first blog all you really need is a good idea, the willingness to put in the time and spend around 1,000 yen.

That is a really easy and cheap way to make something that could help make you a lot of money!

The post Why start a blog appeared first on The Yen Pincher.

Save money with free hobbies

Mon, 14 Jan 2019 05:44:16 +0000

This page may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure page for more details.

6 Free Hobbies

Here are some great ideas for spending time and not spending money. The ideas on this list will get you out of the house and enjoying life in ways that dont really need money. These free hobbies are a lot of fun!

*I am not an affiliate of any of these websites or apps. I just think that they are fun and a good reason to leave the house without having to spend a lot of money.

Free Hobby #1: Geocaching

Geocaching is one of the greatest “games” or activities that is used all around the world. It is free to do and it leads you on wonderful adventures to find new places.

Geocaching is a global treasure hunt.

After signing up for this app, you can look on a map and see the locations of all the Geocaches around you.

A geocache is a small container that someone has placed in a secret location. Well, not really secret because that person marks the location on the geocaching website/app.

Then it is up to you to go and find it!

Inside each geocache could be anything. Often it is a small toy, sticker, other small object or a notebook for you to write your name in. What is inside the geocache is not important. The fun of looking for and finding it is the main goal of this “game”. You can keep what you find in the container, but you need to replace it with something of your own.

With the app, you can keep track of how many you have found and there are challenges to do on the app as well.

Geocaching is done all over the world, so no matter what country you go to, you have a chance of finding a geocache! Maybe the best free hobby in the world!

You can also make you own geocaches and place them anywhere you like. After hiding you geocache, simply upload the location to the app and then people can try to find it.

There is a huge global community that you could join!

It is free to do and it will give you a reason to go on an adventure. This is one of the best ways to spend time without spending money!

Free Hobby #2: Gish

This is my personal favorite! Gish is truly an amazing website/culture/society.

This is listed as a “world wide scavenger hunt” and there are thousands of wonderful people participating.

Meeting people is one of the best parts of Gish, and the other wonderful part is that it is free and will keep you busy all year long without costing any money!

It is a scavenger hunt, but maybe not like you envision.

On this site, there is a long list of very strange phrases like; ice cream insects or noodle instruments. The object of this game is to make your interpretation of each of the things on the list and to take photos or videos of what you create. Submit these photos and videos to Gish and receive points.

Some things on the list can be done solo, but many require more than one person to complete. There are groups all over the world working together to complete items on the list.

You could start your own group or join a group in your area. Either way you will meet some truly wonderful and interesting people.

Gish is all about fun and there is no stress involved! Other than being weird and fun, the goal of this game is to be the person or group who completed the most items on the list and received the most points.

There are several different categories to win in and the season`s grand prize winners will be taken on a getway vacation that looks amazing.

But even if you don’t win, this is a community worth joining. This is a chance to be creative and enjoy life.

Since this is free to join, you could spend days or months working on these projects and spend almost no money at all. The more time you spend working on this scavenger hunt, the less time that you will be bored and looking for something (that costs money) to do.

The wonderfulness (weirdness) of this website is hard to explain, so make sure to check it out for yourself.

Free Hobby #3: Photo Contests

Photography is a great hobby to have for several reasons.

One reason is that taking pictures is free! Of course you need a camera (or phone), but then you can just walk around all day taking pictures. With photography you can kill time, enjoy life and do both for free!

You don’t need a big fancy camera either.

Just a phone or cheap camera will work. If you have a camera but don’t know what to take pictures of, then I suggest joining a photo contest.

There are hundreds of different photo contests to join and each one is different than the last. There are iPhone, photo contest, nature photo contest, portrait photo contests and many more. Some of the big camera makers also have photo contests that you could join.

There are different categories for profession photographers and amateurs, so don’t worry if you are just starting out. You can still join many of these contests.

In fact, you should check your town’s website. Most towns in Japan have an annual photo contest that anyone can participate in.

Here is a website that lists many of the big, worldwide photo contests that you could consider participating in.

Taking pictures is fun and creative. It can get you out of your house and enjoying life in a way that doesn’t require a lot of money.

Not spending money is saving money! Good luck!

Free Hobby #4: Zombies, Run

This is an interactive game available on iOS or Android and whoever thought of Zombies, Run is a genius.

Running is very healthy and its free to do, but running is actually a good way to save money too. The more time you spend running, the less time that you are spending money on movies, buses or the air conditioner in your apartment. Running is a great free hobby!

But let’s face it, running isn’t fun and not many people are excited about running.

That is why the creator of this game is a genius. This app gives you motivation to go running and turns exercise into a game. It is also good just for walking around as well, so it is good at any speed.

When you sign up for this app, you are given a town to live in. This town is in a world full of zombies and you need to run (in the real world) to get supplies and save people. This game uses GPS to map out routes that will take you to places to get supplies for your town or to save people that are surrounded by zombies in the game.

With headphones on you can run to the sounds of zombies chasing you, suspenseful music (and any music of your choice) in addition to theatrical story telling. All of these things make running fun and the time seems to fly by. And when you hear the zombies chasing you, you have to run faster so it is a great way to maximize your effort.

It is a very well designed game with an interesting story. The app also keeps track of how far you ran and how fast.

All in all, this is a pretty good way to spend your free time. Again, the more you run the less time you will be bored and spending money just for the sake of spending it.

Free Hobby #5: Turf Wars

Turf Wars is also a game available on iOS or Android.

The concept of this game is pretty interesting and is used by millions across the globe. The object of this game is to claim as much land as you can. All the land is in the real world, but you claim it in the game. This game also uses GPS so it keeps track of where you are and the areas that you claimed.

So walk around your town and try to claim as much land as you can. Claim your favorite bar or park as your own. Join up with friends and defend your neighborhood from rivals.

Wherever you go, turn on this app and look at the map. You can see if anyone has already claimed the location that you are at.

That means the more places you go, the more land you can claim. In this fashion, you are out of your house and enjoying life without having to spend any money.

This game gives you a reason to ride your bike around town or hike through a park.

In the app there are missions you can do and you can battle people for piece of “turf”.

This game is actually pretty addicting to play. See how much turf you can claim for your own and try to be the Capo of your city.

Do all of this without spending money!

Free Hobby #6: Pokémon GO

To be perfectly honest, I don’t really like this game. But Pokémon GO (and other games like it) is a good way to spend time without spending a lot of money. This is one of the most popular free hobbies in the world.

For those of you who are not familiar with Pokémon GO, it is a game where you travel around the real world and try to find Pokémon (characters) in the virtual world. These Pokémon “appear” in different locations all over the world. You can find where they appear on the map inside the app.

After finding a Pokémon, you then point you phone at it and catch it. After catching it, you can keep these Pokémon in your collection. Some are common and some are rare characters. How many can you find?

Even if you don’t like Pokémon, this is a good activity to go and explore the world around you. This game could keep you busy all year long and other than transportation costs, this game doesn’t cost any money.

Here are a few more games silimar to Pokémon Go. Well, similar in the sense that they are augmented reality games that get you out of the house and use your phone for virtual entertainment in the real world.

Zombies Everywhere on iOS and Android

Pixelmon Go on iOS and Android

Anomaly on iOS and Android

The post Save money with free hobbies appeared first on The Yen Pincher.

Help Farmers and Make Extra Money in Japan

Mon, 14 Jan 2019 03:37:44 +0000

This page may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure page for more details.

Help Farmers and Make Extra Money in Japan

Learn new skills, help some local farmers and make extra money in Japan. These are some hard jobs to do, but they are rewarding and are worth considering.

Depending on your Visa status, it is really hard to get a part time job to make extra money in Japan. You need a proper Visa before most employers will hire you.

That is true for big farms as well, but helping out the smaller farmers should be ok. Yes, this is a legal grey zone, so make sure to consider the risks before trying to get paid for helping farmers. Technically, you would be volunteering your times and the farmer rewards you for your time.

DISCLAIMER: The author of this post and The Yen Pincher website are not responsible for your actions. The author of this post and The Yen Pincher website are not responsible for any injury or legal issues that may occur by working on a farm.

Helping a farmer during their busy seasons isn’t exactly the same as getting a job with them. You would not become an employee of that farm. Just a volunteer.

Many small farms need all the help that they can get and often have their family and their neighbors (including children) help out during the planting and harvesting seasons.

Ask the people around you and see if anyone knows a farmer who could use some extra help.

Work out a compensation (cash or produce) and enjoy!

It is hard work, but it is honest work and you can learn a lot.

Here are some ideas for different “compensated volunteering” on farms.

Make Extra Money in Japan Idea #1: Rice Farm

Rice farms are everywhere in Japan and many of these farms are owned by private families and these small family farms usually welcome any help they can find.

The planting season starts in April or May and the harvest season is around November.

During these seasons you could offer to help out!

Planting rice is actually a lot of fun too! Walking in the mud planting seedlings is a pretty fun job, though it hurts your back after awhile. Sometimes you can even use a tractor to plant, which is a lot of fun too!

The job itself is pretty simple and easy to learn, but it can take a long time to plant a field.

Then during the harvest season, farmers need help cutting, separating and storing the rice. This too can take a very long time to finish, so finding someone who wants help should be fairly easy.

Since rice is such a major part of Japan`s history and culture, this is a great way to learn more about Japan.

Receiving cash is one way of getting paid for helping out, but receiving free rice for the year is also a great reward!

Make Extra Money in Japan Idea #2: Vegetable / Fruit Farm

There are greenhouses and fruit/veggie farms in every prefecture in Japan. These are also great places to help out.

The planting and harvesting seasons differ depending on the fruit or vegetable, but there is no shortage of work to be done all year long.

Possible jobs include; planting, pest control, pesticide spraying, picking, cleaning, and packaging.

Picking and packaging might be what you would be doing the most of.

I lived near a lot of tomato farms and during the summer I helped pick tomatoes all day. It is simple work but it is very tiring. Even so, I enjoyed doing it because there is something relaxing about it and I made good friends with the farmers around me. I receive 5,000 yen for a days work (between 5-7 hours) and I they gave me more vegetables than I knew what to do with! I helped out on weekends or sometimes even after I finished my teaching job. It is a good job if you can find it.

Again, ask around or go to farmers market and talk to the people selling there and try to find someone who is looking for help.

Make Extra Money in Japan Idea #3: Flower Farms

Flower farms are really busy in the summer and always seem understaffed.

Planting is one option for helping out, but the job that seems most needed is harvesting the flowers and packaging them. They need to be bundled, stored or shipped quickly after being cut.

So near the end of the season, flower farmers a super busy and probably would love for someone to ask them if they need help.

Of course, there are other jobs that need to be done on a flower farm. Planting, picking, pruning, watering, pest control, pesticides, packing, shipping and storing are all possibilities.

This can be a hot and sweaty job, but it is probably the best smelling job in Japan and a fun way to make extra money.

Make Extra Money in Japan Idea #4: Livestock Farm

This might be the hardest job of all the farming jobs and there is never a shortage of work to do on a livestock farm, no matter the season.

Whether it’s, cows, pigs or sheep, these farmers never have a down season and the work never seems to stop.

They are often ecstatic when someone offers to help them with some chores around the farm.

There are a variety of jobs that you could do. So you could even work for an hour or two every day, before or after you normal job. Work full days on the weekends or just a few times in a month.

Any help would probably be greatly appreciated. There really is a ton of different things that need to be done on a livestock farm but here are some of the things you could do; feed the animals, clean the barns, help load trucks, milking cows, or laying straw for the beds.

All of these jobs can be very tiring but you can use these jobs to gain new strengths. On a farm, you really can learn many new skills and learn a lot about life in general.

Farmers are not the richest people in society, but you will be compensated for your work one way or another. You will also most likely make some really good friends!

Make Extra Money in Japan Idea #5: Poultry Farm

Japan also has many poultry farms. A lot of these are owned by big companies, which makes getting a job there difficult because of Visa issues. But some poultry farms are small and local and often need more helping hands.

Working on a poultry farm is probably the loudest job on this list!

Here are some possible duties that you could do; feeding the chickens (or turkeys), cleaning the barns, collecting eggs, packaging or loading trucks. There are, of course, many more chores to be done, which is why your help could be much appreciated.

For egg lovers, this is a great job to have! Get compensated for you work in cash or eggs.

Like livestock farms, poultry farms don’t really have a down season, so you could help out anytime of the year and make extra money while living in Japan.

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