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Vacations
One of the things that might have attracted you to Japan is its close proximity to South East Asia, Russia and even Australia. Below you’ll find some useful information, which will help you plan your holiday. Most of your contracts state that you have 20 days paid holiday a year. Although this doesn’t sound like a lot, if you arrange you vacations around national holidays, you can make it stretch quite a bit.
DATES:
Most schools prefer ALTs to take their paid leave when there are no classes i.e. not during term time. The Japanese school year is divided into three terms, and roughly speaking the students get 2 weeks off for Christmas, 2 weeks off for the spring break and about 4 weeks in July/August. These are ideal times to go on holiday.
FLIGHTS:
So now you have a rough idea about when you want to go the next step is to enquire about flight availability. You might want to have a quick word with your supervisor and tell him/her you are thinking of going somewhere, although they might be more interested if you have some concrete dates. Things get booked up really quickly, especially around Christmas time, so 3 months ahead (now) is not too early to start thinking about booking flights. Most travel agents will allow you to make a reservation without paying anything for a few days or even weeks. They will give you an itinerary, which you can show to your supervisor. Once he/she gives you the go-ahead you can pay your 20,000-yen deposit (refundable or partially refundable if you cancel your flight within the given time limit). This deposit will of course be deducted from the price of your ticket. You will be required to pay the balance about two weeks before the date of your flight.
TAKING NENKYUU:
This is the easy bit and your supervisor will help you fill in the forms. Try to plan everything a couple of months in advance – it is unlikely that your supervisor will appreciate you telling him/her that you are going on holiday the next week. The contract states that if you are taking more than 3 days consecutive holiday you should consult your supervisor at least one month before.
IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG:
It is advisable to leave a photocopy of your passport (both the information page and the page with your re-entry permit and visa) with your supervisor. This will be very useful should you happen to lose your passport. If you want to take travelers cheques, they are available from the Hokuriku Bank. Try to get large denominations as in some countries there is a flat rate to change one cheque whether it is 20 or 100 dollars.
RE ENTRY PERMIT:
You must get this stamp in your passport in order to get back into Japan. It is easy to get so don’t worry. You can get a re-entry permit issued at the Immigration Office in Toyama Airport, but first you must buy a revenue stamp at the kiosk/store on the 2nd floor. See following maps for details. You can either get a single re-entry permit for 3000 yen or a multiple re-entry permit for 6000 yen (valid for the same length of time as your visa). Take this stamp to the immigration office and fill out the bilingual form. It should be ready in 10-15 mins. The office is closed at weekend and the opening times through the week are during school hours, so you may have to take a few hours of nenkyu to do this.
Actually, it might be worth checking your schedule for the entire term before you take nenkyuu for this. Some ALTs will have a weekday off at some point, in lieu of working a Saturday for some reason (Exams, Sports day, School festival etc etc). My advice would be to go and get it then, even if it’s the middle of September and you’re not even sure if you’re going away.
Address: Toyama airport terminal building 1st floor, 30 Akigashima Toyama-shi Tel: 0764 95-1580 Fax: 0764 95-1581 Open: Mon – Fri: 9:00 - 12:00,13:00 - 16:00 Closed: Sat & Sun
Click here for the location of the office and kiosk within the airport.
- Toyama airport has free parking lots, but some areas are charged. Be careful.
- There are buses to and from the airport from different areas of the ken. This link has buses from Toyama city - http://www.chitetsu.co.jp/bus_a/airport.html. For other areas please ask at your school/office
DEPARTURE TAX:
When you leave Japan you will have to pay departure tax at the airport, which is around 3000 yen. Most airports in Asia, Australia and New Zealand also have departure tax, so you will have to pay again when you leave these countries.