The number of international students increased in Japanese society before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, representing an essential foundation to support the aging Japanese population, which lacks an adequate workforce. Generally, international students support Japanese society as part-time workers; however, some lecturers’ personal experiences reported international students working overtime. Quantitative research, through methods such as questionnaires, has a limited ability to grasp evidence for international students to work overtime due to their more cautious approach. Moreover, data by quantitative research methods will not necessarily reveal their current working situation because some international students are hesitant to answer some questions related to a part-time job, such as working time, possibly because they could be forced to apply for a new working visa. By contrast, qualitative research through interviews with anonymous interviewees is essential to recognize international students’ working situations. In this research, the qualitative method through interviews revealed students’ weekly working hours and conditions under COVID-19 restrictions.
Ikeda et al. (2022) studied this question.