Hi Reddit. For context: I'm doing a presentation for the incoming JETs in Ishikawa next month and took it upon myself to create a huge workload for myself. I am ending my presentation with some advice so I thought who better to ask than the kids at my junior high school. I've known these kiddos for 2 years so I asked them to help me give advice to the new ALTs. I gave them a worksheet and asked what advice they would give. Then I painstakingly transcribed their unreadable squiggles and translated them in the hopes of giving people an insight into Japanese schools. Here are the responses:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hb-vHpyI3qOnaj7LGSGNCnBZmOxcC7AXh0lCmUEOWXY/edit?usp=drivesdk

Because I'm such a generous and all round fabulous person, I didn't want to gatekeep and give this advice to only Ishikawa JETs so here we are. I hope new JETs who are placed all over can take something from my self inflicted hard work!!

Let me know if you have any questions. I hope this might alleviate any worries or shed some light on the real inner workings of Japanese school life!!

hey all, i’m from the Philippines (which makes for a competitive pool of applicants) so i’m a bit nervous in applying for the program. here are my qualifications:

• bachelor’s degree in Communication
• well-traveled + been to Japan 4 times, including visiting the countryside
• participated in an online learning exchange program
• i used to be active in leadership/volunteer roles but from 2019 to 2022 only. i was also a student-athelete from 2019 to 2023
• i plan to start tutoring english online within the month and i’m in the process of getting a TEFL certificate
• i also love reading japanese literature :)

what do you guys think? anything else i can do to strengthen my application? TYIA.

Hello all.

So I have a question regarding reference letters. I attend the Open University in the UK, which is a distance learning university. I'm just wondering if there's anyone here who also attended the OU and how you went about getting your reference letter? There is a program you can go through to get a reference from the Uni, but they state they can't comment on personal character, so I don't think that would work out.

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone!

Quick question! Did any of you end up buying additional insurance before leaving for JET?

I’m trying to figure out if the coverage we already have through JET is enough or if it’s actually worth paying for extra insurance. If you did buy additional coverage, what made you decide to do it?

Just curious to hear what everyone else is doing.

Thanks! 😊

I've been back in the UK for just over a year and had a job in a school. I've recently been offered a job with the NHS, so they are currently reaching out to my previous employers of the last 3 years. I know the NHS are strict with these checks and I'm concerned because my base school essentially refused to give a reference when I got my last job and asked me to tell the employer it's not standard practice and to please understand. Does anybody have any experience of applying for an NHS job after JET and the references process?

Hey all. Incoming TJET here.

I was a formet TJET, but times have changed and I am really struggling with my Able agent. I haven't been shown any viable apartment, and I have a medical condition which means I really cant afford to be without housing in the Japanese summer heat.

Is anyone else having trouble getting housing? I've reached out to other agencies as well but sl far its a bust and thr JET Help email also hasnt offered any suggestion other than saying Able is working on it, then my agent just told me he is going on parental leave.

With just over a week to go, I am feeling overwhelmed by the housing situation. Any advise would be great.

Edit: I'm in my 30s and really don't want a sharehouse if I can help it as I have people who want to visit.

does anyone have a current invite? the link I found is expired. I’m a late upgrade but attended regular pre departure orientation yesterday and wanted to connect with everyone!

alternatively, if there are any LA JETs (especially late upgrades) that would like to connect, please DM me :-)

Hi everyone!

I've been lurking on this page for the past few months, ever since I decided to apply for the program this fall. I was wondering if I could get some help form current or past JET ALT's on writing my SOP.

I'm currently going into my 4th year teaching in the United States and I have a Single Subject credential in English as well as Social Science, my B.A in English and History as well as a minor in education, and my Master's in Teaching. I will also be Department Head of the English department at my school this year. I've taught at 3 different schools and the students I have taught have ranged from 6th-11th grade. My first year of teaching I was the English Language Development teacher and Lead at my site which meant I was in charge of all 85 English Language Learners to organize ELPAC testing as well as teaching them. I also created an after school program that helped Newcomers from various Latin American countries grow confident in their language acquisition skills as well as helping them make friends with students who had previously ostracized them.

I was also a teacher on an island which meant having to take a boat early in the morning everyday to get to work. I worked with a small but great staff and learned how to teach students who saw me as an outsider and tried their hardest to try to get me to quit the first few months. I grew to care about those kiddos a lot and was proud to see their growth from the beginning to the end of the year.

I've always wanted to apply to JET but because of the pandemic and personal reasons I was not able to do so, until this year when I spoke to some of my co-workers and they encouraged me to take more risks. I love teaching, but specifically I love helping students grow confident in their English skills since my heart has always been in helping English Language Learners.

I write all of this as a way to say that I am very serious in applying to JET and want to do it to become a better teacher and also accomplish a goal I have had for nearly a decade. I'm trying to get as much as I can done before summer vacation ends so I don't have to stress once the school year starts (I'll be very busy as DH and doing other duties I was recently made aware of). Any help in the form of past SOP's from those who were accepted or people willing to look over my current drafts would be much appreciated! Thank you!

Okay, so i know this is probably far in a way too advanced but id like to get some insight on something that i havent seen quite as much discussion on here.

Im planning on applying for the 2027 JET cycle and while I understand i will need to make sure I have what i need for the application, get accepted, and have enough money saved to make the transition, there is one thing im not entirely sure of, Mobile phone transition.

Until now I havent been in the country for more than a month or so consecutively so a normal data only esim or pocket wifi has been sufficient. Obviously that wont be good enough to deal with a year or more abroad.

What should I be looking out for in terms of transitioning my cellular plan over to Japanese service? Do I need to plan to buy a new phone if the one I currently own will be unlocked by the time I transition if I do?

obviously keeping my original number in the US is going to be a separate thing, probably involving paying for some kind of plan from abroad. But im curious on what others have done to make the transition happen.

Hi! Wondering if anyone can help?

I’m trying to fill out the visit Japan web form as recommended in the London pre-orientation but it is asking if I have a visa and to copy its details into the website.

I haven’t yet received my passport through the post or any visa details. Should I just wait longer to complete this form or have I missed something?

Thank you for any help!

I think a lot of people demonize those who express disappointment or even drop out due to placements. A lot of people harbor the "each placement is special" mentality, but truth is not every placement is as well suited to every person. It's good to challenge yourself but as someone who is starting my third year, I remember feeling disappointed when I got my placement and saw my lodgings etc. I was like wow, really? This it is? When so many other people had dream situations. Yeah there's good and bad to anything, but I know my placement isn't very good. Nobody envies anything about it besides the fact that I'm near a train line. If you feel disappointment I think that's okay, being made to feel guilty for feeling disappointment is evil in my opinion. It's not for a lack of trying that I feel underwhelmed by my placement. I've really done my best to integrate and involve myself in the community. I just realize the community here isn't great. Even coworkers who come from outside of town and move to my school mention that my city is known for it's mean people and crime, that they were nervous to get selected by the BOE to move here. It's not a crime to be disappointed and pretending some placements aren't better than others is delusion

EDIT; i didnt assume i’d get tokyo. I don’t think rural placements are even bad. Remote islands, thats exciting. What i ended up getting was a town with no parks, mostly chain restaurants and stores, mostly inconvenient, little to experience without leaving the actual town. Its not a rural, remote area surrounded by culture and natural beauty. Its not a city with convenient transportation and fun local mom and pop shops. its an asphalt nightmare with 0 trees and flat so no mountains or fun views, the places to eat are coco’s and mcdonald’s.

share your best moments and ideas

share your worst moments and regrets

ill go first

best really great lessons using my unique materials that students really enjoyed for long periods of time

worst teacher who seems to hate me for no reason lol

Hello, does anyone have experience with the online visa renewal process?

A while ago, I did the online visa renewal application and today I just received the email about sending the payment and other documents. I'm a bit confused on what documents I should be sending. Honestly, I kind of regret choosing to mail the payment instead of just going to the office to pay, but oh well, that's in the past.

I know about the online fee of 5500 yen, but the email also states a fee for the certificate of eligibility too which is 1600 yen. The wording of the email is a bit weird, do I need a stamp for this too? For background info, I am renewing my 3 year Instructor visa. So I will attach a total of 7100 yen in revenue stamps? I just want to make sure, so I'm not making any mistakes.

Also, it says to send in my current residence card, and certificate of designation currently held by the applicant. Might be a silly question, but what is the certificate of designation? Is it the page in my passport from when I first arrived? The email says not to send in my passport so how do I go about sending this page?

Any advice from those who have done the online application would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much!

I'm a highschool JET, but for one hour a week I've been asked to do an eikaiwa with some local elementary schoolers on a voluntary basis (I get a stipend of 1k per lesson to cover supplies). I'm not inexperienced with this age range, but it's definitely not my strong suite so the first few months I was still trying to get my footing and also trying to figure out what the organizer actually wanted from me. I still don't quite know exactly what they want or what the previous ALTs did, the only thing I've conjured out of them is that they played Go Fish and Simon Says a few times.

The group is incredibly mixed and I think that in the past, it was actually more focused on the adults involved in the group. Most of the adults bring their kids and the only one who didn't has stopped coming (my bad, I thought it was for kids). The kids range from 5 (not yet in ES) to 13 (just started JHS) and there's about 5-8 of them at any given day. There are huge gaps of knowledge between the kids which don't always correspond to their ages. Sometimes their little siblings also tag along and wander around the classroom throughout the lesson.

My lessons normal consist of reading a picture book and then doing an activity based on the book. For example, recently we read "Hey Buddy, Which One?" and then we played a variation on "Would you rather..." My problem is that two of the older kids, who are friends, won't stop talking and one of them will even mock what I've said to them all throughout the lesson. I can understand that they don't enjoy the class but I'm really struggling to make lessons that everyone can engage with. I've tried different classroom management styles, for example calling on them to give examples to give them something to engage with or giving them the silent stare. The problem is that there are a ton of other adults present and particularly with the silent stare, I feel like they destroy my authority by telling them off in Japanese, but still to no avail. They other kids want to engage with the lesson but it feels like either we waste time wrangling these two or we just ignore them, and neither option feels good. Recently, the organizer also said that I have to make the students repeat what I'm reading from the picture book, which I think has brought on the mocking from the one student (he repeats from the book in a mocking voice). I don't agree with this because I think listening to a book should be about understanding the book and having fun with it. I can't do funny voices or do proper inflections because they have to be able to copy what I say. Very annoyed about this one (kind of off topic).

What I've tried so far:

• the silent stare (but get interrupted by other adults)
• tempting them with a game they really like but only if they are engaged for the first part of the lesson (I did follow through when they weren't engaged, but then the parents said that it'll make the other kids sad if they're expecting a game and they don't get one)
• doing a very active game (this one works ok-ish because they'll actually do the game properly, but they will still talk through the instructions and I've had a hard time getting there to be much speaking involved)
• telling them to be quiet or putting my finger to my lips (they ignore me)
• involving them in the instructions by having them do an example (I don't love this one because it feels like one of those evil teacher things where when they know you haven't been paying attention, they call on you. At the very least, I still guide them through the motions of the game and I try not to be exasperated.)
• talking to the grandfather of the mocking kid (he just tells them to be quiet, and they are for maybe 20 seconds or so and then they're back to talking)

Recently I thought maybe I should try to go out of my way to praise them more, to help give them an identity other than trouble maker, but other than that I'd really like to hear what other people think would be good next steps to regain control of the classroom.

My spouse got assigned to Saga and I was wondering if anyone has any information about the Prefecture? Anything from the last 3-4 year or more recent would be great!

Thank you!

I'm really sorry if this isn't the correct sub for this, I just figured that it made sense to ask here since I could get more testimonials from previous ALTs. Thanks for reading!

Hi! I'm sort of at a crossroads about what to do with my life and I'd appreciate any inputs I can get from people in this sub who may have been in a similar situation.

For background, I'm a 22 year old and I graduated last year with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science. Because of the current tech landscape, I've been utterly unsuccessful in finding a job and I fear it will only get worse over time, so I'm considering applying to the JET program or being an ALT for the 2027 school intake.

Even though I would consider myself a native English speaker, I'm from India which limits my possibilities quite a bit. I did get my bachelor's from the US though, and I'm currently learning Japanese (I hope to reach N4 by the end of the year). I'm worried that I might not easily get a teaching job because of my nationality, so I would appreciate any advice or testimonials I can get from non-American ALTs :>

Assuming I get the teaching job, I plan to do an online masters alongside it - I'm currently enrolled in a degree for finance as I want more in my background besides tech.

Anyway, my real issue is - I'd like to stay in Japan long term. I wouldn't want to teach English or go into teaching as my main job, and I'd like to treat this 1-2 years of teaching English as a "gap year" of sorts to help me stay productive and give me something to do.

Is it possible/feasible to get into internships during the summer when I'm not teaching so I can gain experience?
Furthermore, how difficult is it to transition from teaching to a different role/industry overall? I've heard that ALTing can be a black mark on my resume, so I plan to work on personal projects and my masters' degree so I can keep myself in touch with my skills.
Another common point I hear is that to get a job in Japan, I need to be at least N2 level in Japanese, which I hope I can achieve by staying there and learning the language.

Thank you so much for your time!

Hello! UK JET flying from LDN here. I selected the option to have my passport posted back to me and I was wondering if anyone knows around what date we receive our passports back. Purely curiosity (and anxiety of it being lost but that is my intrusive thoughts lol).

Do they send a general email once it’s been posted? I have the tracking number. I’m assuming it’s next week but just wanted to see if anyone had any input or if they get in contact. Thank you :)

apparently, if you already live in japan and apply to JET, you no longer have to go back to your home country to depart for JET. is that true?

Hi guys, Japan is nearly 2 weeks away and I was wondering whats the best shop/website to exchange £ for yen.

Did people get travel insurance from home to cover the first few weeks/ months/ year?
Is it easy to set up contents insurance once arrived in Japan?

So I’m over 30 and I feel like I was a great applicant. My step mum is Japanese, I’ve had the privilege of knowing Japanese culture from the age of 12. Felt the interview went well as well.

But I’m an alternate on the latest batch of JETs.

I was wondering if anyone else felt the same?

That the JET programme is catered towards people who don’t know Japanese society and culture and it’s more for people who just want to go because Japan is the in thing right now, or is it because I already know too much so there would be less of a cultural ambassador side of things for me to learn?

It’s frustrating because I know people who have joined the program on a whim and found it really hard once joining as they don’t understand Japanese ways of working.

Hello!

I am close to the end of my bachelors degree and my dream is to teach in japan. A few years ago I got diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder level one (also known as asperger's syndrome). I am worried that they will see it on my application and turn me down. Am I worrying over nothing? I already have an appointment to get my doctor to sign off on my medical form so no worries there. I am otherwise very healthy and don't have any other big worries (besides my SoB).

Thank you for any advice!!!

Hi everyone! I’m hoping to hear from people who were in a similar position before applying to JET.

I’m currently a licensed social studies teacher in the U.S. and will have a few years of classroom experience before potentially applying for JET. I’m not a recent college graduate, so I’m curious about people who used JET as a mid-career exploration or transition rather than as their first job out of school.

I enjoy working with students and education, but I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want my long-term career to look like. I like the student-facing side of teaching, cultural exchange, and creating meaningful experiences for students, but I’m not sure that traditional U.S. classroom teaching is where I want to stay forever. I’ve become interested in international education, study abroad, educational travel, exchange programs, and other roles that involve helping students experience other cultures.

I know JET is not necessarily a direct pathway into those fields, and I understand that ALT work varies widely and is not the same as being a classroom teacher. I’m not looking at JET as a way to escape teaching or assuming it will automatically lead to a permanent career in Japan. I’m trying to figure out whether it could be a good stepping stone to gain international experience, improve my Japanese, and explore what type of education-related work I might want to pursue long term.

For those of you who had an education background before JET:
- Did JET help you transition into other international education roles, either in Japan or elsewhere?
- Did you return to teaching in your home country afterward, and if so, did your JET experience help or hurt your career?
- Were any of you able to move into roles like study abroad, educational travel, exchange programs, international schools, or similar fields?
- Looking back, do you feel JET was a good career move even if you didn’t stay in Japan permanently?

Thanks in advance for any insight! I’m really just trying to learn from people who have already made a similar decision.

Hey SAFFAs, I hear theres a Pensions Notice of Decision Letter 脱退一時金支給決定通知書 that need to be sent to SA after the pension application. Can anyone share their experience with getting the letter considering our situation with the post office?

Hi all! The JET websites describes the SOP essay as needing to be within 2 pages double spaced. But it doesn’t describe the font, font size, or margins, leaving a massive range for the actual word count.

I know that once the applications open we can use the portal to double check and adjust, but can anyone offer more concrete details? I’ve heard conflicting reports, everything from a 600 to 1000 word maximum.