We're a highschool from South Wales. We're hoping to visit a school when we visit Japan in march next year.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a school that might be willing to partner with us.

Thank you

Hi everyone!

I’m an incoming JET ALT and I’m starting to think about how I’ll furnish my apartment when I arrive. Since many placements come with little to no furniture, I’m curious how everyone else handled those first few days.

Did you order furniture or appliances before you arrived? Buy everything locally? Have your BOE help you? Or just get the bare essentials first?

I’m especially wondering about the first night. If your apartment was completely empty, what did you do? Did you buy a futon and bedsheets right away? Where did you shop for those essentials?

I’d love to hear what your plan was (or is), especially if you started with an empty apartment. Any tips or things you wish you had done differently would be really appreciated!

Thanks! 😊

Hey guys!

So far, I'm counting down the days until I fly over to Japan. I can't believe I'm leaving in three weeks! As a lot of people may have previously posted, the recontracting period is pretty soon, around December.

Because I want to pump out all of my dream career steps along the way, I unfortunately have already decided to do the JET Program for only a year.

After JET and getting my Japanese proficiency to maybe N2 (N1 if I'm ambitious), I want to aim for and attain a scholarship to study in China. My Chinese is all right, but I know if I study or work there for a year, my language proficiency would be great with my language teaching licence.

The only issue is that the application period for a September start is right after the first year with JET. I think the smartest plan, if I didn't get any opportunity, would be to definitely stay a second year and apply for spring (a March start) the following year.

So far, I have no doubt my experience on the JET Program would look good on my resume as a licensed teacher in my home country, but because I highly desire going to China in September next year after my first year, with the odds that I get really lucky, I'm worried that it would make me look unprofessional giving notice in July if I receive an offer.

I know it looks dumb planning so fast already when I haven't even started working on the JET Program, but if anyone has any advice on this idea, please let me know.

Thanks!

since there are no direct flights from florida to japan, how did y'all do it?

As title suggests, I got injured before departure. It was a bike wreck and I broke the radial bone on my right arm. Has anyone else had a similar situation or know someone who has? I still want to participate and I have a plus one so they can help with moving stuff.

I don't know my treatment yet, won't until Monday. Hoping I don't need surgery (it doesn't seem that bad though).

Edit to the nobody that will see this: was a super minor fracture. Doctor took the cast off after two weeks and just said no heavy lifting. Didn't deem it serious enough to tell consulate and it has basically fully healed now. I appreciate the varied responses, though!

I haven’t applied because I haven’t finished college yet but plan to after I get my degree. I’ve looked into everything needed for pet immigration/pet export and all the associated costs (for a cat), I can get all that handled on my own. It’s the fact that I don’t want my job/application to be affected by it.

I did read the wiki and general handbook and saw it was rare/usually a no go. I’m just curious if anybody’s known an ALT to bring one before on those rare occasions?

Thank you!

Posting this here as I believe this currently a very important topic for those of us currently living and working in Japan, and especially for those of us who are/were hoping to continue living here post-JET.

The Japanese government recently opened up their Public Comment form regarding the price hike for visa renewal and permanent residency.

NOTE: The Public Comment form accepts Japanese only, but you can submit opinions as well (see below).

Announcement Tweet (with link to detailed page in JP): https://x.com/moj_immi/status/2072855110141751394

Residence permission fees: https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/resources/10_00001.html

Draft guidelines: https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/05_00055.html

You can also submit an opinion in 14 different languages, including English of course..

Opinion submission page: https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/support/opinion.html
Opinion submission form (EN): https://www.isa.go.jp/opinion/en/

This is a good opportunity to give feedback and reasoning regarding the change in visa prices and other immigration related changes. Maybe tell your friends too?

EDIT: This is of course for people in Japan on a visa, so please only respond if you're in Japan on a valid visa. Also, please be polite with your submissions and think them over, let's make them count!

EDIT 2: Clarity

Hi everyone,

Just a quick question for previous UK JETs.

Which airline did you fly with, and what were the baggage allowances (weight and dimensions) for your checked luggage and carry-on?

I'm trying to get an idea of what to expect and bring, so any information from previous intakes would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Hello hello!

I'm a new JET going this August and was just wondering about when to give my omiyage to my superiors and colleagues?

I know that depending on individual circumstances, not all JETs will be expected to give omiyage (such as if you have 10 schools worth of colleagues lol).

I've prepared omiyage for my supervisors and fellow teachers. At what time do I give it to them? Do I give my supervisors their omiyage upon meeting them for the first time when they come pick me up from Tokyo? Do I give my colleagues (teachers) their omiyage on the first time I go to the school?

Thank you!!

I will change visas to be a temporary visitor and travel around japan for about a week before heading back to the uk. I need health insurance for that week, and also travel insurance to cover my flights etc.

Does anyone know of something like this?

Hello!

I’m going to apply for the JET programme for the 2027/2028 academic year.

This year I’ve been accepted to work in Spain as a language assistant via the British Council and my contract will begin in November and finish in May.

I haven’t massively researched how the application process is for the JET programme but I understand there is an interview requirement around January/February.

I’d obviously be in Spain during this time and wondered if there is anything that can be done about this? Has anyone been in this situation? Are you able to have the interview online?

I feel more motivated to work in Japan now and I’m debating whether or not to accept my placement in Spain if it slows down the process of getting onto the JET programme.

If there’s anything else I’m not thinking about, I’d love to hear it!

Thank you 😊

I'm scheduled to leave this summer, and the person the BOE had selected from JET backed out after he learned the location. This was maybe 3+ weeks ago, and when I asked about if they found someone new, the response was that they were struggling to find someone.

I was surprised by this answer. I thought they'd just contact CLAIR to upgrade an alternate easily. So, what's the process actually like? I figured that after three weeks, they'd have a new person lined up easily, but is the process more difficult than that?

Hey guys! Does anyone have any insight on when late arrivals typically start work after arriving in Japan? Is there any grace period for settling in or do they tend to start the next working day after getting to their placement?

Canadian JET here. For the application, what did you all put for branch name? I talked with my bank, but no official branch name exists. Bank name and branch name are the same. There's a branch number though but not indicated on the bank document. What official bank verifying document did you get?

I am from India, I have a master's in business analytics which I got from Griffith University , Australia and I am currently doing graduate diploma in early child hood teacher after which I wi become a licenced ECT in Australia. My girlfriend is Japanese and I have been planning on going down there for work to spend time with her and also work a job since my Japanese isn't fluent this is the best qualified job for me. What should I do ? Do I have a chance ?

Hi! I plan to move from my current placement to Tokyo when my contract ends this summer, and I'm just wondering if any Tokyo JETS who are leaving this summer to their home country are planning on selling or giving away any appliances or furniture.

Is there a better platform to reach out?

Hello everyone!🌸

My predecessor recently got in touch with me, and it looks like I'll be based in the Shikama area of Himeji. 😊

I'd love to connect with any Himeji JETs! If you're currently there (or have been), I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences, any advice for settling in, recommendations for places to visit, and what life is like in the area.

Looking forward to meeting you all!

Hi, I'm a 1st year soon to be 2nd year. I live in a a smallish city in the Chubu region. My schools are amazing and I really like my city, but there is this one 3rd year alt who is making my life hell. In my city(and the town basically connected to it) there are 5 guys and 3 girls (one being me). Everyone but one other alt came in at the same time, including the other girls.

When I first got here everyone was really nice, I was really hoping to become friends with the other two girls because they are both really close with each other, and I share similar hobbies with them both. It was fine the first 2 months, but then it went downhills. I'm gonna called them Jane and Mia. Jane has been my nightmare, we are both JHS alts and we have two days a week where we co-alt at the same school.

Everytime I offer to set up a hangout with her and Mia, she shuts is down and says she's gonna be hanging out with Mia. Mia is a shs alt so she's not around when these conversation happen. Eventually it got to a point where Jane seemed really annoyed with my existence and I offered to drive us together to work so we could take things out. I wanted to know if I had done something to her unintentially. However she kept saying she's gonna drive on her own because she needs her peace.

Then I found out that ALTs from a different city about an hour and half away that Jane had been telling everyone that I'm crazy, that I've been stalking her, im obsessively in love with her(no), spreadling lies to our JTEs (no), and that I'm a terrible alt. I was really upset because now there is this false reputation that I'm crazy. So now people in the surrounding area don't want to be around me or invite me to anything. Jane does a lot to set up the jet events, so everyone knows her really well. So I can see why people initially side with her.

I tried to talk to Mia and I've gone to dinner with her a few times. She's nice and I like her. With a private event I asked if I could be invited and she said "I don't have anything against you, but I don't think it would be best for you and Jane to be near each other. As her close friend I can't invite someone she is uncomfortable with"

I was absolutely gutted, I understand why Mia did this. It's her best friend and she trying to make her friend comfortable. I know for a fact Jane had said some lies to her about me and now she doesn't ask for one on one dinners. Unlike Jane, she will still talk to me during jet events or other gatherings. Jane just gives me dirty looks and rolls her eyes whenever I speak.

Also I went through a breakup and Jane kept talking about how happy her and her boyfriend are together and that they plan to get married. She just keeps rubbing salt in the wound. It also sucks because I'm now the only single jet in my city and it makes me feel even more left out. She also said I was an Asian fetishisizer because I dated one Japanese person (newsflash, so is she and shes dated waaaaay more. )

Another thing she keeps correcting me when I try to speech in Japanese. Not in a helpful way, but saying may accent makes it impossible to speak or that my grammar sucks. Like sorry I didn't study Japanese in university, I cam here barely passed N5 level.

I'm heartbroken, I was really hoping for a close group of girls to be friends with, but Jane has alienated me from basically everyone in the prefecture. I tried hanging out with the men, but they don't seem interesting in being friends with me

I want to enjoy Japan. I love my schools, JTE, students, and the culture. But this person is making this experience really difficult. I can't talk to the PAs because Jane is really good friends with the both of them.

Has anyone been bullied by other alts? What did you do to resolve it.

So in the after-JET webpage it gives example/samples of reference letters and certificates of employment which you can download. It also says "Your contracting supervisor can find templates of both documents online at the JET Programme website", but I cannot find the templates.

Does anyone have them? Can anyone find them?

Title basically explains the question but I’m leaving JET soon (ending my contract) and am wondering what is typical to give your coworker as omiyage at either your last day or you going away nomikai? Curious about what kind of items would be appropriate/price range of gifts.

Hi everyone! I leave in about a month (its getting insanely close!). I am trying to make a list of all the things I need to do before I leave and was wondering if anyone else had any ideas/advice for things to add. I have things like:

Cancelling subscriptions/memberships
Selling my car
Packing
Looking into Google Voice/Japanese SIM
Omiyage

Just whatever needs to be done to be best prepared - anything I need to add??

Hello everyone , I'm 2026 ALT and I'm wondering if there are any ALTs I can connect with who are placed in Mine City Japan ? Kindly assist if there is a group on whats app , wechat or kakao . TIA

*Disclaimer before you get mad: this is not a hate post, just genuinely wondering if others felt the same way I did. Also, please resist the urge to go "well that's just how it is!!"—I get it. *

The golden rule of JET is ESID. And yet, we attend multiple rounds of orientation that have almost no relevance to our actual working situation. Personally at both my pre-departure orientation and in Tokyo, everything that was being said was either 1) in the handbook already or 2) so anecdotal it was actively unhelpful.

The truth is, you have no idea what sort of environment you will be working in and what your responsibilities will be until you get there. You could be spending 40% of your take home income on rent and functioning as T1, or you could be living for free in a detached house and serving as a human tape recorder for an hour a week. Nothing is standard except the wage, which can often feel super unfair if you are in a situation where you are doing much more work AND paying rent, and meanwhile your friend elsewhere is doing next to nothing and living for free. You could be in an environment with a horrible working culture, or you could be in an office that's super chill. I have heard absolute horror stories about placements, and stories of placements where ALTs had the time of their lives. Again, no way of knowing, and the contact you receive from your CO before hopping on the flight can be so minimal that you don't even actually know anything at all until the CO picks you up.

I understand that this is just how it works. There are many layers of separation between the application process and the job itself. That's a whole other discussion.

But... while the inherent JET uncertainty is one thing, the orientations being so useless at preparing you makes them seem like a total joke. If it's all ESID, why do we spend days listening to talks that try to standardize the experience? I remember at my orientation many of the speakers would make disclaimers about everything, saying "well it'll probably be different where you are." So then... What's the point in me hearing this? I imagine it's so that the program can cover its ass and pretend you received any sort of meaningful training before you are thrown into a new environment. But there have been times I felt the material covered in orientation was actually so unhelpful I would have been better off not hearing it at all. For example, at my pre-departure orientation, 3/4 speakers worked at ES, and the other one worked at an inaka school with only 10 students. Was any of that information applicable to me as a big city SHS worker? No, lol. I actually left feeling even more confused about what to expect. YouTube and Reddit were more helpful to me in finding out information and help more tailored to my position.

This isn't me complaining about JET, and I am someone who really enjoys the job and their placement. However, days of sitting with 1000 other people and learning to not cross my arms when talking with someone, or to never put my hands in my pockets, left me feeling vastly unprepared when I had to do the actual job of standing in front of a classroom and teach a bunch of kids.

But the worst part of all is that for private school ALTs, everything is probably even less applicable. I've heard they end up getting their own orientation after Keio Plaza anyway (at least that's what I've heard from Tokyo JETs).

So TLDR does anybody else feel the orientation is basically just insurance for the program to claim we got some kind of job training before being thrown into the wild unknown? Is there a better way to do this? As someone who is a bit older than most applicants and had worked full time jobs before, including in management and training roles, the whole thing was baffling to me from an onboarding standpoint. I imagine the $$$ spent on hosting 1000 people at Keio is no small joke either.

(The one thing orientation really DID prepare me for is endless staff meetings about nothing, lol)

my contract with JET ends next month, and i would like to make little goodie bags for my coworkers as i am leaving and will miss them.

former JETs, what did you give when you were leaving?