How to get a part-time job (baito) in Japan

If you come to Japan as a student, something that may be surprising to you is the number of students who have part-time jobs, known as "arubaito" or simply "baito". Of course, in other countries some percentage of university students will be working on the side, but in Japan it seems like almost everyone works part-time at a shop or restaurant. So perhaps it was just me and my stubbornness in wanting the “genuine” student experience, but I became a little bit obsessed with the idea of getting a waitress job. It was also an opportunity to interact with a wider variety of Japanese people and improve my Japanese through practical experience.

Here I explain about getting the kind of part-time job most Asian students have in Japan i.e. as a shop assistant or restaurant staff.