One-Year-Stay in Japan

Hi!
Is there any possibility for me to stay in Japan as an Au-Pair?
And if yes, how can I find a family or perhaps does anyone Japanese know someone?
I'd be glad to know =)
I am going to Japan in Summer 2011.
Bye,
Miriam

Hello,

It is possible, my friend went to Japan as an au-pair. She worked in 2 families in 2 different cities, but she had big problems with them so she had to leave Japan earlier than expected. So in the end she could only stay 3 months, though she had planned to stay 5 or 6 months... Anyway, my point was just that you can be an au-pair in Japan, though in general the families who look for au-pairs are expatriates, or Japanese who have already lived in foreign countries (or so I heard). My friend found her 2 families through au-pair websites. I don't know which ones she used, but just search for ''au pair'' in google and you will find lots of websites that can help you. It seems it was easy for my friend to find because she had a lot of experience, and she had already worked in non-western countries, like India.

Good luck !

I'm wondering what kind of visa could the OP get that would allow one to work as an au pair in Japan. Perhaps a working holiday visa would be appropriate considering she is from Germany and only plans to work one year. Perhaps someone with more knowledge on WHVs can comment.

but she had big problems with them so she had to leave Japan earlier than expected. So in the end she could only stay 3 months

Aivilo,

Do you have more info on what visa your friend was on? Having big problems that caused her to leave in 3 months implies she was having visa trouble and may have been working illegally on a tourist visa.

Oh sorry that's not what I meant about the 3 months stay thing, actually she left earlier because she didn't get along at all with the families, not because of visa-related problems. But she sure intended to stay longer, so I guess she had a visa, for she couldn't have stayed more than 3 months without it. I don't know what kind of visa she had (working holiday I guess), but I will ask her !

try wwoofing instead of au-pair (whatever that is)

more choices that way. if you don't like the wwoof host you can pack up and move on to a different one.

Hello,

My friend confirmed you can be an au-pair for one year with a working holiday visa. I have read the same thing on au-pair websites too.

Hope it helps anyone who's interested !