Since all the new JETS are coming, I just wanted to remind everyone to make sure you’re showering everyday, brushing your teeth, and putting on clean clothes and deodorant.
The number of JETs I’ve met with just rank BO and poor personal hygiene is shocking.
Don’t worry too much about suits, or your Japanese level, or what you’ll be teaching etc. etc.
Start with the basics. Keep yourself clean, keep your desk clean, take your garbage out….
26 comments
The ones who come over here with poor personal hygiene aren’t likely to hear that. You *certainly can’t mean* ***them!***
This is not a con, please bathe. in fact I am willing to bet you have a bath. try it once. 😛 im 6′ and I don’t fit in my bath, but i still tried. Human soup is amazing!
This has to be stated?!?
In Japan the acceptable smell at work is no smell. If I can smell you from across the room, that’s a problem. If I can smell your car from 3 meters away, that’s a problem.
The JCJ posts write themselves.
This is JCJ bait.
edit: Forreal is a post like this even necessary? It’s infantilizing to everyone here. Ya’ll made it out of university and are adults. If someone seriously needed to be told this then they probably were never going to fix it to begin with. Imagine you get a notice from your employer reminding all employees they need to bathe. It’s insulting. Worry about yourself.
The fact this has to be said sums up JET.
Me not meeting a single stinky JET 😮
I mean JETs can be weirdos but things must have changed since I was a JET, I don’t remember anyone with poor hygiene
I’d like to use this very negative post (why ya gotta be so mean dude lol) as a public service announcement for incoming JETs
Pack. Deodorant. Lots.
Seriously. I just took one from home with me thinking oh yup that’ll last a few weeks and Japan has deodorant so I’ll buy one there. I had read the deodorant is less common over there etc but I didn’t fully understand
Within a day of wearing Japanese deodorant my arm pits ponged. Literally worse than having worn none. Something about the material of my clothes with whatever was in their deodorant just didn’t go well. I was so paranoid people would think it was my “hygiene” as this person has described.
Problem was solved once I managed a western brand of deodorant sent to me off iherb
So yeah keep that in mind 🙂
Come to think of it, I do remember an ALT buddy who was refused recontract because of his funky aroma. It wasn’t BO though, he’d come in several days a week smelling like a brewery. This is especially potent in summer.
The bar for this program moves lower every year
Maybe the salary has been so low over there that the JETS cant afford to get the expensive western deodorant shipped in?
Let’s be honest, most JETs are perfectly fine in the personal hygiene department, but a post on this topic with actual useful information gets relegated to “this has been asked before/Google it”.
Maybe let’s remember that a lot of people have never been to Japan before (or lived abroad) and will probably be caught off guard on a few things. So let’s post some useful stuff to hopefully help with that.
* deodorant exists in Japan, but is significantly less common.
* people from colder climates (my fellow UK peeps)… The heat & humidity will probably be much worse than you anticipated (depending on where you go).
* if AIRISM isn’t your friend, it’s your saviour.
* there’s never any soap or paper towels/hand dryers (in the school toilets), so maybe get a towel/flannel. This is a bit different since covid, since alcohol spray is *everywhere*.
* wearing and undershirt will save you both in summer an winter
* keep deodorant and a spare shirt in your work locker in case it’s particularly hot/humid, you get asked to help paint for bunkasai or any tomato soup related accidents.
* keep a bottle of stain removing spray in your work locker to help with tomato soup related accidents OR become and instant hero to your co-worker who had a tomato soup related to accident.
* spare socks for rainy season! Also, wellies/water boots or whatever you call them in your country. You can get a decent cheap pair from Amazon!
* A desk fan will help keep you cool and turn desk warming into desk *cooling*. The blowing also repels insects, and you can offer it to your adjacent co-worker when you’re about to go to class and they will love you.
About all I got from the top of my head. Feel free to reply with more hot tips (pun intended).
Why aren’t you wearing your mask!?
Just a heads up for all you unkempt bachelors; smegma smells too.
Now that you’ve mastered deodorant it’s time to learn the difference between everyday and every day
People on here shocked that this has to be said yet I had to specifically tell two other JETs to shower after day 4 of a trip together and they looked at me like they didn’t even realise that was a thing. Neither of them were interested in doing any laundry either and didn’t change their clothes.
why do you repeatedly post about this?
As someone who previously worked in East Asia in the summer, a key to success I think is to remember to dry clean your business attire. You can be the cleanest soapiest person, but if your nasty sweaty clothes leave you smelling sour, that cleanliness wont mean anything.
The fact we have to tell each other is bathe is concerning me
To all the incoming JETs, I recommend Attack Zero laundry detergent to actually get your clothes clean. I also throw in color safe bleach with my undergarments as well. Washing machines only have cold water here, so takes more to get all the sweat and stink out of your clothes. Also, skip out on the fabric softener. For some reason using it doesn’t get all the dirt out of your clothes here.
I came to this forum years ago to try to help mentor future JETs and new JETs, stayed for the entertainment.
When I was an ALT most of the young Japanese male teachers smelled way worse than any other ALT I ever met.
First you gotta make sure you BRING enough deodorant. Had to get some shipped from home cause whatever I could find, if I found anything, definitely did not cut it.
Use vinegar to kill that mildew smell if your clothes and towels dry improperly.