There are a number of babysitting companies and domestic help agencies specialising in childcare. Most are Japanese but there are some foreigner friendly services like Chez Vous and Poppins. Sitter credentials vary from trained childcare professionals to bubbly young adults (with childcare experience). The going rate is just under ¥2,000 an hour. However, factors like time of day, additional services such as pick-up from school, the age of the child and whether or not you need a regular service or just someone for the odd day affects the price. Agencies normally charge a registration fee (which can be anything from ¥5,000 to ¥50,000) and an annual fee (usually around ¥10,000).

Tokyo New Mothers (www.phpbbplanet.com/tokyonewmothers) is a support group and a great forum for finding out useful information. You can also ask at your local school whether any of the teaching assistants are looking for extra work – check with the principal first though rather than directly approaching a teacher. Hotels like the New Otani (www.newotani.co.jp) and Grand Hyatt (http://tokyo.grand.hyatt.com) also provide babysitting services for guests.