The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme invites young college and university graduates from overseas to participate in international exchange and foreign language education throughout Japan. Established in 1987, the programme has earned a high reputation, both in Japan and overseas, for its efforts in human and cultural exchanges, and has become one of the largest cultural exchange programmes in the world.

The program offers college and university graduates the opportunity to serve in local government organizations as well as public and private junior and senior high schools.

 

How JET Works?

 

a) Contracting Organizations
JET participants are placed in a total of over 2,000 contracting organizations (local boards of education, local governments, etc.) based on the requests received from contracting organizations and successful applicants. Placement requests cannot be guaranteed, however, and alternative postings will not be offered.

 

b) Orientation, Training and Counseling
All JET participants are required to attend the Pre-Departure Orientation before departing for Japan. The orientation is conducted by the Japanese Embassies and Consulates of participants' countries.
Upon arrival in Tokyo, a general Post-Arrival Orientation is conducted for all JET participants, followed by mid-year seminars in each prefecture.

 

Specialized training of Coordinators for International Relations (CIRs) is provided by CLAIR, while the Ministry of Education provides guidance and specialized training to Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs), as well as counseling in education-related matters throughout the year.

CLAIR also provides a counseling/ information service for JET participants during their tenure in the JET Programme.

 

 

Assistant Language Teacher (ALT)

This position is by far the most numerous, with over 90% of the Program's total participants working in this type of position. ALTs are placed mainly in local boards of education or publicly run junior and senior high schools and are engaged in language instruction under the guidance of Language Teachers Consultants or Japanese teachers of foreign languages. In a very limited number of cases, participants are placed in private junior and senior high schools through prefectural or designated city offices.

 

General Information:

Please be aware that not all conutries are recruiting participants for the JET Programme. This is primarily because the decision as to how many participants to be recruited in which country depends mainly upon the request of the local governments in Japan. If you are interested in participating in the Programme, you are advised to contact the Embassy of Japan in your home country to find out if your country is on the list of countries where recruitment is expected.

 

Eligibility

 

All applicants must:

• hold a Bachelor's degree, preferably in English Language, Literature, Education and/or TESOL;
• 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). (For English-speaking countries this is English, and for non-English speaking countries it is English or the principal language);
• have a keen interest in the country and culture of Japan;
• not have lived in Japan for 6 or more years since 2008, nor be a former participant in the programme since 2015. Also, not having more than 5 years of JET experience in the past.

For ALT applicants in English-speaking countries:

• TEFL qualification is helpful, but not required.

How to apply for the 2018 JET programme

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recruits via the embassies and consulates of Japan participants of the JET Programme. For detailed information on the application for the JET Programme, please contact the embassy or consulate of Japan in the country of your nationality.

About further details, please make any inquiries to the Japanese Embassy.

 

 You can also find further information JET web-site.

 

Japanese Language Learning for JETs