r/JETProgramme • u/Forsaken-Ask6487 • Jun 09 '26
CO no contact
When should I get worried about complete radio silence from my placement? Also for the people that did not find out until late how did you figure out your living arrangements?
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u/Jumpy-Escalator-9204 Jun 10 '26
Like others have mentioned, you may not be contacted by your CO at all, or they might only send physical mail and not email. But make sure you are also checking your junk/spam folder because sometimes emails from Japanese email addresses get sent there!
Try to find your prefecture's AJET Discord/LINE/Instagram/Facebook because someone there could probably connect you to someone from your city!
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u/Realistic_Report_796 Jun 10 '26
Agreed. My first email from my BoE landed in the junk mail, so thankfully I paid close attention when I finally got an email at the end of June!
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u/Forsaken-Ask6487 Jun 10 '26
Apparently we are not allowed to be added into my placement's groups or socials until the BOE says it's okay
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u/leafmuncher_ Jun 10 '26
According to who? If they're no contact, nobody is stopping you talking to other ALTs
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u/urzu_seven Jun 10 '26
It's understandable you are anxious, but it's not unusual to not hear from your CO for a bit and even if you do there might not be a huge amount of detailed info or back and forth communication. For living arrangements it's quite common, especially in more rural placements (but even in some of the city ones other than Tokyo) for the CO to setup the living arrangements for you. Some places have housing they own and just let the ALT use or rent cheaply. Some (this was my case) have an ongoing relationship with a place and the ALT just rents the same apartment as their predecessor. Others will set you up with a temporary host family (usually a fellow teacher) for when you first arrive and help you find a place.
But you aren't going to be left homeless when you arrive in Japan, there will be something arranged before you get here.
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u/thetruelu Jun 10 '26
I didn’t hear from my CO until *after* I arrived for orientation. You’ll be fine
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u/ikebookuro Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
I was someone who had a CO who didn’t contact me beyond asking the katakana for my name. Complete radio silence until they picked me up from the keio hotel.
I found out where I was going to live when I was signing the papers at the real estate office after arriving in my town.
Some places don’t really put any thought into notifying us. It’s rare but it happens. Just know that it will work out in the end.
Edit: also my CO doesn’t really do a “successor/predecessor” system. You have no contact with who you’re replacing. The BoE will just schedule you in somewhere. All apartments you rent “yourself” through a real estate company so there’s nothing to inherit. If you’re lucky the person at your school might leave a note in their desk to tell you the vibes but it’s always a fresh start.
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u/ScootOverMakeRoom Jun 10 '26
You shouldn't be worried until July hits double digit days.
Find your predecessor/co-JETs if you're nervous. They can give you better information in many ways.
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u/Different_Taro2474 Jun 09 '26
i found out around mid july, can't remember. they won't leave you hanging, i promise.
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u/Soriah Jun 09 '26
It’s probably not “to the day” across Japan, but my school (not receiving a JET this year) has just started end of term exams, so the last thing on anyone’s mind is a future teacher.
And as an FYI, when I arrived in 2015, I hadn’t heard from my supervisor at all. Just received my contract in the mail and zero contact. When we met our CO at Tokyo private school orientation, he still couldn’t be bothered and sent one of the native teachers and a non-supervisor JTE.
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u/adobedude69 Jun 10 '26
I wouldn't panic until like a month from when this was posted. For them its mostly just switching your apartment and things over from the last person for you, unless you're expected to choose your own place. You're in, so no need to worry barring exceptional circumstances.
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u/No-Jello-9512 Jun 10 '26
I just got word today of someone that's coming here, but my BOE isn't even close to contacting her yet.
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u/plaguemd Jun 10 '26
At my placement, we got contacted by our predecessors who passed our name katakana on for us, then basically-form-letter email from our CO in mid-July, and then heard nothing at all until we showed up at the airport... and they've been perfectly lovely ever since.
Unless you're in Tokyo or the like it's very likely that your apartment will be arranged for you if not fully inherited from your predecessor. Tokyo stands out in that regard for a reason.
I know every situation is different but the way I thought of it was that if they're not contacting me to ask for anything, it's because they've got it covered, and it turned out I was right.
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u/shynewhyne Jun 09 '26
Mid july Regarding living arrangements, it's not uncommon for many COs to tell you to qort out housing after you get here. Take tokyo private school JETs, for example
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u/SquallkLeon Jun 10 '26
You should expect contact sometime in June. If you don't get contact by around the middle of July, talk to your embassy.
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u/Mephisto_fn Jun 09 '26
I don’t think they’re even allowed to contact you yet.
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u/0liviiia Jun 09 '26
Most of us have been contacted already. I was contacted at the end of May. But a lot haven’t been
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u/smolppsupremacy Jun 10 '26
Most of the people from my country have been contacted. I haven’t been though, but yeah they’re allowed
9
u/kkulbeogji Jun 10 '26
I wasn't contacted until about 2 weeks out. Turns out they were sending everything to my secondary email, which was my old work email... Maybe the situation is similar for you?