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Reception at our Guesthouse in Matsumoto, Japan

5.0
(5 reviews)5

The experience

Make fellow travelers feel welcome and help them wind down. Checking-in guests, share travel ideas, keep things tidy and clean during the check-in time.

Volunteers can relax and study, read, do art or do personal work while waiting for guests. Or get some free drinks in our cafe downstairs!
We sometimes do community activities with the local government nearby. Not required, but recommended to join us!

What you offer

18 hours of help per week

Cleaning: Help clean the kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms and common areas.

Reception: Help with check-ins, check-outs and guest assistance.

What you get

3 days off per week

Team Dorm: You will have a bed in a shared room, which means you will share the same room with other people.

Discounts on Drinks: Get discounts for drinks and beverages from our bar.

Free Laundry: You can use our laundry room freely.

Get free drinks or beverages.: Drink up! Get free and tasty drinks for yourself.

Bikes at your disposal: You can use our bikes any time you want.

Use our equipped kitchen: Feel free to use our kitchen and make your own delicious food.

Basic Internet Access: Basic speed internet for you to work remotely

Requirements

Intermediate English or Intermediate Japanese

Between 18 and 35 years old

Only hosts solo volunteers (doesn’t accept couples or partners)

What's not included

Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa

Program Details

Our volunteer program provides you a comfortable and beautiful place to stay in a nice building on a beautiful tourist street along a small river, in almost downtown of an exceptionally beautiful small city.

If you enjoy being social and peacefully hanging out, this is great for you because apart from keeping the guesthouse neat and organized in a basic way, most of the working time is waiting for folks to arrive. During this time, you can either be social and talk to other travelers, or you can read, do work, do art, or relax in the cafe downstairs.

Work is 2-4 days a week (around 18 hours), and is mainly:
-checking guests in and keeping the area tidy during that time

Beyond reception and housekeeping work, there may sometimes be various tasks to help with, such as maintaining guesthouse bicycles, writing some signage, etc.

Additionally, we have some other interesting opportunities if you would like to be more involved. We participate with the local Matsumoto government in organizing community activities, and we're always looking for people to help! Sometimes even our regular paying overnight guests help us with these activities. They include:
-setting up music events on Nawate Street in front of our place
-helping clean the river, along with locals and high schoolers from a nearby high school
-setting up for picnics and other small events

Activities & Shift

On off days, there are many many places to travel to nearby. Matsumoto is at the foot of the Japan Alps mountains, and surrounded by farmlands and small hikes. Staff may use our bicycles at anytime for easy travel around the city.

Rules

Volunteers must follow the same basic rules as overnight guests, such as following the quiet time (no curfew, but doing things quietly after 10:00pm), when laundry machines are available (not available after 10:00pm), cleaning up after yourself, locking the main doors behind you, etc. Going a little further, volunteers should help remind and encourage other guests to also follow those rules (people forget rules easily if they're really tired, or if they've had a few to drink!)

Feel free to connect with others, share contact info, take group photos, etc. Just be sure to always be respectful of others and anyone's special requests for privacy, etc.