I sadly didn’t get in this year but I was thinking of applying next year to give it another shot. When I last applied I wasn’t really sure of my future and had recently moved back home out of the city with no job so I saw this as an opportunity for growth but now I’m more settled and I’m back living in the city with a decent job and I love it here. I’m just worried about being placed in a more remote location like an island/the countryside. Any current/former jets have this occur and if so what was your experience? And if so, how did you cope with boredom and loneliness in such a remote area?
by EZSkrub
14 comments
Most JET’s get rural placements. It’s what you make of it.
I hear they don’t even have colour TV in the countryside.
Me. I specifically talked in my interview about how my problem with depression is isolating myself, and how I would like to be in at least a decently-sized place (not huge, mind you—I’d feel a lot more secure if I was in a town of like…10k, which isn’t much), or at a place with other ALTs, or at least things to occupy myself.
I got a 4000 person town, closest other ALT is an hour and a half away by train, though we do have a CIR starting in 2024. Last train back is also 9:30, so I am obviously not doing any after work activities with the ALTs in that town.
Obviously I’m not there yet, and I’m going to try my best to make it work. That doesn’t make me any less nervous, of course, especially when this was all well-established information as to why something a tiny bit more urban would have helped. But alas. It’s not as if you can change it unless you have medical reasons, get married, or need to care for family in Japan. You just have to roll with it, and even if you CAN transfer, you still have to roll with it for a year. You just gotta make the choice to either try and make it work regardless, or withdraw.
Most of Japan is connected pretty well by train. Even if you are countryside, you probably won’t be more than a 2 hour train rider from a major city.
Also, you’ll get some info on your placement before you leave. If it is really concerning to you, you can decline.
I was placed in a very remote area, and had the best experience. All of the towns people talk to you and try to help you, unlike the city. They bring you food, they help you with your car and they lend you things that you need. You also become very close with the other JETs who live in the area, because they’re your only foreign support system. I made life long friends there.
I think a lot of people try to make you feel bad/guilty for having these feelings (as in you should just be grateful) but its very valid. I am a city person who was placed in the countryside and at the beginning I was upset, I think it can be very difficult (especially if you don’t have other foreigners or friends around you, or you just don’t get along with your co-JETS) but it can also be very rewarding.
My placement/school/BOE is great, and I can save up enough to travel multiple times a year if I wanted to. Getting around Japan is very easy (although it can be expensive) but theres options for staying connected either way. I know plenty of people who stayed in remote placements for a year and moved to a bigger city, or others who ended up loving it so much they stayed 4+ years (I’m on my third year now). You won’t know until you arrive, but if its absolutely somewhere you think you won’t be able to survive (like a tiny isolated island or town with 1000 people) then rather decline cause its not the big deal some redditors try to make it appear and you don’t want to come here and be miserable.
Given the nature of the programme, it’s a fair bet that at the very least, you will be in a “smaller” city, 50-100K (which can be spread out around a wide area), so if you don’t think you’ll like it in a place like that (or potentially MUCH smaller), then it’s absolutely a factor in applying.
I was never in a big city but I was in a small town (one off-brand conbeni) and later a more regular sized small city (3 McDonald’s!!) and I probably had closer relationships in the first town in terms of doing activities regularly with people. The second city was less regular activities but more activities kind of in general.
What WILL be a factor is connectivity in terms of transport. If you can’t/won’t drive and don’t have access to easy public transport, it can be brutal.
If you’re at a good place in your life, I would not suggest that you give that up for JET. This programme provides some form of support for you to come live in Japan, but depending on your placement, that support is extremely limited and you might frequently find yourself being left to figure too many things out for yourself (both by the teachers and the BOE).
Everything is too heavily placement-dependent.
Also, not many people talk about how unclear the guidelines are surrounding the actual job scope of ALTs. It varies so wildly that it’s literally like a shot in the dark where you might land and what you’ll be expected to do (assist or lead the class as a T1, marking papers etc with zero help from Japanese teachers everyday while they sleep in the staff room).
I’m a city person and thought I’d be fine in a rural town.
I got posted to a small-ish place and was discouraged from getting a car and encouraged to live near the school.
In spite of my best efforts to connect with people, try to travel, join classes etc, I am struggling.
Between the infrequent (and often late) arrivals of public transport, the lack of access to anything around me and a more than heavy workload at school, I regret not leaving earlier. I did not re-contract, and I’m glad to be heading home.
If youre doing well for yourself, dont uproot to come here. Just take a vacation. Now, if you also are so worried about placement then you should also NOT come here. Thats the least of the things that should worry you and if its such a big thing for you then better just stay put, continue with your career and just travel to japan when you can. thats my advice.
If you love where you live, don’t move. That sense of comfort is hard to find, and you’ll regret leaving. Stay there, save some money, come to Japan for a vacation.
Most placements are rural. If the prospect of rural living bothers you then it’s probably not a great programme to sign up for.
Rural living doesn’t bother me because I don’t get bored, you have to be proactive about finding stuff to so and meeting people. The main differences from city living basically come down to
1. Lack of convenience. Stuff isn’t close by and you have limited options. So you have to take what you’ve got and make the most of it.
2. Travel distance. You can still do all the fun city stuff you wanna do but you’ve got to make plans and do it on the weekend. If the idea of a five or six hour drive to go to the city turns you off maybe you aren’t going to be happy.
Plus side to rural living is its generally less crowded.and stressful and you are much closer to natural stuff you’d have to travel to if you lived in the city. But basically it’s the country mouse and the city mouse sort of situation and if you are one type you’ll not like the other.
I got a pretty remote placement. On weekends, I maybe see 10 people the whole weekend when I go out and take a walk. But there’s this thing called the internet so I’m never bored nor lonely lol
But on a seriously note, if you’re thinking about applying to JET you’re somehow thinking of doing something different in your life, so why not try the rural lifestyle for a year? If you don’t like it, you can leave after. It’s not like you’re signing your life away. I have never lived in a city with less than 1 million population my whole life yet I’ve had a lot of fun and the people you meet in such rural places will be remembered for the rest of your life.
If you go in with the fact that you only want urban and you’d basically die if you got a rural placement, then you won’t have a great time from the get go.
But you can always just apply and see what happens. You can always just decline if you get a rural placement I guess
if you want a better chance at a more urban placement, say you don’t /can’t drive or you can but you really don’t want to. if you don’t drive, you can’t do most rural placements
Former ALT. I grew up in a large city and attended university in one. However, when I applied for JET, I specifically asked for a rural placement as I wanted to try something different.
I was placed in a small, mountain-valley town that was home to a ski resort. Having a car was a requirement and my supervisor took me out shopping for one soon after my arrival. Not only was a car required for work, it was essential for my sense of freedom/independence.
When in my town, I’d do things like skiing/snowboarding in the winter. My JHS also set up a cross-country ski trail across their field. In summer, the skill hill and surroundings became hiking trails and campgrounds. We had a golf course and driving range near us so I’d use that too. As I got to know others in town, I’d be invited to dinner or to join other community events. However, the town skewed old, with few people in their 20’s.
With my car, I often drove the 30-40 minutes into the nearest small city to meet friends, do shopping, and other things. I joined the city’s community gym and played basketball, volleyball and tennis in the evenings and weekends. I made so many Japanese friends this way.
Although I lived in the inaka, I never felt that lonely because I always had something to do or someone to meet. In a similar way, I’ve heard people who live in big cities say how, ironically, lonely the experience can be: surrounded by people, but not connected to any. So, if you’re outgoing and the type to keep yourself busy, you should be fine even in a rural placement imo. Good luck!