JET Programme

The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme (外国語青年招致事業, Gaikokugo Seinen Shōchi Jigyō) or JET Programme (JETプログラム, Jetto Puroguramu) is a Japanese government initiative that brings college (university) graduates—mostly native speakers of English—to Japan as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) and Sports Education Advisors (SEAs) in Japanese elementary, junior high and high schools, or as Coordinators for International Relations (CIRs) in local governments and boards of education. JET Programme participants are collectively called JETs.

Participants come from a total of about 40 countries. As of July 1, 2006, 5,508 participants (in CIR, ALT, and SEA positions) were employed on the programme, making it the world's largest exchange teaching programme. Of that number, about half are from the United States (2808), with Canada (618), Britain (577), Australia (316), New Zealand (242), Ireland (95) and South Africa (94) for ALTS as well as China (77) and Korea (59) mostly CLRs, making up most of the remainder. Holders of Japanese passports may participate in the programme, but must renounce their Japanese citizenship to do so. In principle, participants should be under 40 years of age when hired. The focus of the program is on English language learning and teaching, so about 90% of the participants on the programme are ALTs; the remaining 10% are divided between CIRs and SEAs. The number of alumni totals over 40,000.

History and aims of the programme

The English Teaching Recruitment Programme was started in 1978 and initially was exclusively for British university graduates. This programme became known as the "British English Teachers Scheme." American teaching assistants were later added under the "Mombusho English Fellows Program." As more countries were included, the programmes were folded into a single entity, the JET Programme, in 1987. Its aims were revised to "increase mutual understanding between the people of Japan and the people of other nations, to promote internationalisation in Japan's local communities by helping to improve foreign language education, and to develop international exchange at the community level." In 2007, the Jet programme welcomed 5,119 participants from 41 countries. As of July 1, 2008, there are 4,682 participants (384 CIRs, 4,288 ALTs, and 10 SEAs). The total number of JET participants has decreased by an average of 330 people per year since 2004.

Administrative details

The programme is run by three ministries: the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in conjunction with local authorities. The programme is administered by CLAIR (the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations), and has an annual budget of over 45 billion yen (US$400 million).

Application process

1. One must:
   • hold a Bachelor's degree (in any subject);
   • be a citizen of the country where the recruitment and selection procedures take place;
   • have excellent skills in the designated language (both written and spoken). (English or for non-English speaking countries English or the principal language);
   • have a keen interest in the country and culture of Japan;
   • in principle, be under 40 years of age;
   • not have lived in Japan for 3 or more years after 2000, nor be a former participant in the programme after 1998.
2. Prospective participants must submit a detailed application including a statement of purpose and self-reported medical form, usually in November or December of the year before their departure.
3. Those who pass stage one of the process are invited to interviews which are conducted in major cities, usually in February. Although applications are accepted from people living in Japan, there are no interviews offered in-country. Applicants must interview in their home country.Interviews are conducted in English or in the language of applicant's country and, in some cases, in Japanese, by JET alumni, embassy or consulate representatives and people from the business community. Interviewees are then offered a position, rejected, or become "Alternates" (who may participate if positions become available).
4. Once offered a position, applicants must formally submit their acceptance or rejection of the offer. In addition, they must provide the results of a recent physical examination, performed by a physician within the last three months. Finally, they must submit detailed contact information so that the programme can send them materials and information as the departure date draws nearer.
5. Participants usually learn of their placement details during May through July just before their departure date of very late July (Group A) or very early August (Group B). Alternates may receive very short notice, sometimes only a few weeks, if a placement becomes available. A small group of alternates usually arrives together in late August (Group C) and other individual alternates arrive at other times throughout the fall. It should be noted that applicants who withdraw from the program after receiving placement notification are ineligible to reapply the following year. Applicants are required to depart in a group from the city in which they were interviewed, although rare exceptions are made. This is usually the Japanese embassy or consulate that serves the applicant's home town, though it could theoretically be any site in the same country that the applicant submits on his or her application. Airfare is arranged by the programme.

Participants are also required to attend pre-departure and post-arrival orientations as well as conferences, including mid-year conferences and returnee conferences, during their tenure.

Participants are placed with a local authority in Japan (the Contracting Organization) which is the employer. There are 47 prefectural governments and 12 city governments, as well as numerous individual city, town and village governments and some private schools designated as Contracting Organisations. While applicants can specify up to three preferred locations, and can request urban, semi-rural or rural placements, they may be placed anywhere in Japan, and placements may not match requests.

Participants sign a one-year contract, which can be renewed up to four times, for a maximum of five years. Some contracting organizations offer the option of contracting for a total of five years, although some contracting organizations strictly prohibit contracting beyond three years. Often the application for a fourth year is a rigourous process, including an essay and interview in Japanese detailing why the participant feels they should be allowed to continue in their position. Before 2006, participants could only contract for up to three years, with the exception of a few positions.

Participants receive 3,600,000 yen per year. In addition to this, participants may receive housing subsidies or other benefits including paid airfare to and from Japan, and city taxes paid by the Japanese government. Participants are generally forbidden to take paid work outside of their Programme duties.

Recontracting

Many JETs have elected to stay for the maximum number of contracts - a sum of four recontracting cycles (from 2007-2008) for a total of 5 years maximum ALT/CIR experience. Many stay even beyond this time because JETs are then sometimes privately hired by their contracting organizations when their tenure is finished, or take on other positions elsewhere.

Developments

Some JETs in recent years have been placed in elementary schools, reflecting MEXT's plan to raise the English ability of Japanese students. Some contracting organizations go further and have ALTs periodically work with kindergarten students teaching basic English vocabulary through games and activities. This also brings them exposure to non-Japanese people. JETs occasionally also teach in special schools.

Several prefectures have opted out of the JET Programme in recent years. Some hire individuals directly through advertising or word of recommendation while others use an intermediary dispatch company - usually one of the the big English schools such as Heart, Interac or Altia. While direct-hired employees may obtain working conditions similar to the JET Programme; those employed by dispatch companies often have very different working contracts—unpaid holidays or pay-by-the-day contracts are not uncommon. Some dispatch methods used by certain Boards of Education have even been declared illegal by Japanese labor standards authorities. See *Assistant Language Teacher

From 2007, the possible stay for some JETs has been extended from three years to five years, subject to certain stipulations. Officially, the participant who wants to stay for more than the three years must show ability in the Japanese language by passing Level 4(lowest level) of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test or by completing one official CLAIR Japanese language course.However, as in most JET matters, the application process is decided upon by the individual contracting organization.

See also

• O-yatoi gaikokujin, foreign consultants hired by the Japanese government in the late 19th century
• Coordinator for International Relations
• Assistant Language Teacher

Notable former JET participants

• American writer and TV host Bruce Feiler
• American actor / pop culturist Ggreg Snyder
• Canadian writer Will Ferguson
• American actor Yuri Lowenthal
• American Anne Cofell-Saunders - writer (24 and Battlestar Galactica) and director (Family Reunion (Eureka))
• Brad Warner, Soto Zen Buddhist monk, musician, and author of Hardcore Zen.

Further reading

• Nicholas Klar, My Mother is a Tractor: A Life in Rural Japan (2005)
• Eric Sparling Japan Diary: A year on JET (2005)
• David Kootnikoff & David Chandler, Getting Both Feet Wet: Experiences Inside The JET Program (2002)
• Richard Kramer, When the Butterfly Stings (2002)
• David L. McConnell, Importing Diversity: Inside Japan's JET Program (2000)
• Bruce Feiler, Learning to Bow: An American Teacher in a Japanese School (1991), later published as Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan

External links

Official Sites

• JET Programme official website
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs JET webpage

Other Sites

• National Association for Japan Exchange and Teaching - Association for JET Programme participants. Run by JETs for JETs.
• JET Alumni Association- allows past, present and future JET Programme participants to stay/get in touch and acquire useful info.
• JET-Programme.com - a useful JET information portal and forum.
• Open Directory Project Dmoz directory -- 60+ links to JET-related sites
• WikiJET - a wiki for the JET Programme
• JET Program page on Takipedia wiki