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Volunteer in Kobe: join our friendly bar "Alchemy" & sharehouse!

The experience

Be part of the vibrant bar & art community in downtown Kobe, Japan, by volunteering in our sharehouse connected to the popular bar 'Alchemy'! Help with light cleaning and daily tasks while making our space welcoming for tenants and guests. With a green thumb, you can also keep our rooftop bar lush. Enjoy your own private room with basic facilities, make great friends, and explore the exciting city of Kobe and its surroundings.
See you soon!!

What you offer

16 hours of help per week

Painting & Decorating: Help with painting or decorating the property facilities.

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

Housekeeping: Help with changing the bed linens and general housekeeping.

Gardening: Help grow plants and cultivate gardens

What you get

3 days off per week

Private Room: You will have a bed in a private room. In other words, a room just for you.

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

Discounts on Parties: Get discounts at nearby parties and clubs.

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

Discounts on Accommodation: Get discounts for your stay in other hostels.

Free Laundry: You can use our laundry room freely.

Free Parties: Get free entrance for the best parties in town.

Free Events: Get free entrance for the best events in town.

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

Over 20 years old

Welcomes solo volunteers, couples, and partners of volunteers

Travel insurance

What's not included

Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa

Program Details

Our little spot in Kobe is centered around the popular bar "Alchemy" located in the trendy and eclectic Motomachi area of Kobe. The bar has a connected sharehouse & guesthouse, as well as our open-air rooftop bar! We house long termers, short termers, volunteers, artists, travellers, and more, and have grown into a fantastic community over the past 10 years.

We are currently welcoming volunteers to help with keeping the sharehouse neat and clean through simple cleaning tasks and chores (taking out the garbage, cleaning shower, vacuuming hallways, etc.), in addition to various little "oddjob" tasks & projects (for example decorating hallways for Halloween, caring for plants, helping with promotions, etc.) Your skills can help dicate your tasks, so tell us if you have any ideas!

We offer a fair and flexible schedule, and in exchange you get free accommodation in one of our cozy dorms or potentially private rooms in the house, as well as access to a very welcoming and exciting community with people from all over the world, great artists, and more. Plus discounts in the bar, and free or discounted entry to live shows and other events!

Check out our Google reviews for insight into our community perception!

Activities & Shift

As a basic plan we require about 16 hours of work per week, which could be spread across 4 days. Daily tasks include cleaning & tidying of shared areas which include the common room, bathrooms, hallways, dormitories. Changing beddings in the dorms after guests leave.
Other tasks will depend on season and what projects are going on in the bar/sharehouse.
If you wish to change the schedule we can be flexible.

In general we are very flexible in how we approach the work/reward balance, and we can discuss the best option for you regarding wether or not you need a private room, included meals, etc. Let‘s talk about it!

Rules

Simple house rules apply:
- No smoking indoors (smoking area ourside and on rooftop)
- No drugs tolerated
- No harrassment / criminal activities
- Stay respectful of tenants & guests privacy
- Don‘t be loud inside the sharehouse during quiet hours

NOTE: We do require a fully refundable damage deposit for all short and long term residents, and this extends to volunteers.

To best promote an open communication, we ask that any questions, comments, criticisms or concerns be directed to ownership & management at the volunteers‘ earliest possible convenience.