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35 Japanese phrases for a part-time job, from the application call to the till. Say otsukaresama desu to your manager, never gokurousama (government keigo guidelines); 77.1% use otsukaresama to seniors after work. To call in sick, contact the shop yourself before your shift: name, reason, sorede, apology. Changing a fixed shift needs the shop's agreement. And swap ryokai desu for kashikomarimashita.

Paid leave (yukyu) in Japan arises by law after six months of continuous work and 80% attendance, whatever your nationality and even if you are part-time. You start with 10 days and reach 20 after six and a half years; part-timers on 4 days a week or fewer and under 30 hours start with 7, 5, 3 or 1 day. You choose the day, constant understaffing is no reason to refuse, days last two years, employers must make you take 5 if you get 10 or more, and leave before quitting cannot be moved. Free help lines in English included.

Japan's regional minimum wages for fiscal 2026 were answered by all 47 prefectural councils on 3 September: a national weighted average of the new amounts of 1,177 yen an hour, up 56 yen. Tokyo 1,280, Kanagawa 1,279, Osaka 1,231; the lowest is Miyazaki at 1,085. Start dates run from 1 October to 2 December by prefecture; 15 prefectures, including Tokyo, Kanagawa, Aichi and Osaka, moved on 1 October, and Kyoto follows on 16 November; Iwate, Yamanashi, Saga, Kumamoto and Okinawa are not yet decided (Okinawa planned for 2 December). Until the start date the previous amount applies. The Minimum Wage Act has no nationality limit, so student part-timers, technical interns and Specified Skilled Workers get the same amount. Monthly-paid workers strip out commuting allowance and bonuses and divide by scheduled hours to compare. A contract below the minimum is void for that part and you can claim the difference; the employer faces a fine of up to 500,000 yen. Full table of all 47 prefectures included.

Registration in Japan for the 6 December 2026 JLPT closed on 3 September, with N1 and N2 full by noon on 31 August. The fee is 7,500 yen via MyJLPT. Pass marks are 100 for N1 and 90 for N2, plus a minimum in every section. Results come in late January 2027, the certificate costs 1,000 yen, and Immigration names N4 for Specified Skilled Worker and N1 for 15 Highly Skilled points.

A research student (kenkyusei) in Japan is a non-degree student: no master's, no credits. The status is the same Student visa, but only two years as a research student, other universities included. Mainly-Japanese study stopped qualifying on 26 April 2024. Work is capped at 28 hours a week. National graduate tuition is 535,800 yen a year as standard, JASSO's 48,000 yen grant can cover research students, and the job-hunting visa does not.

The EJU measures the Japanese and academic skills of international students entering Japanese universities, with scores instead of pass or fail. The November 2026 exam is on 8 November and registration closed on 30 July. Your university chooses the subjects; the fee in Japan is 12,000 yen for one or 23,000 yen for two or more. Scores last two years, and ticking the box when you apply can reserve a 48,000 yen monthly JASSO scholarship.

A paid internship on a Student visa needs permission to work. Up to 28 hours a week (8 hours a day on long breaks), the standard permit covers it. Over 28 hours, you need an individual permit, mainly for final-year students with about 90% of their credits; review takes two weeks to two months, free. Unpaid internships need no permit. Students from abroad use Designated Activities No. 9, Cultural Activities or Temporary Visitor.

A vocational school (senmon gakko) in Japan is the specialised course of a specialised training college. To enter on a Student visa you need one year at a Japanese language school, JLPT N2 or an equivalent score, or one year at a Japanese school; six months became one year on 26 April 2024. For a work visa you need the senmonshi or kodo senmonshi title and a job related to your course. First-year fees average about 1.3 million yen.