Hello everyone.
I am an aspiring Jet teacher who’s looking to join by 2025. I am looking to gain some insights from other jet or former jet applicants into which areas they would recommend for a future applicant such as myself.
I would like to stay away from Tokyo or big cities and prefer areas of nature and culture. I prefer somewhere that’s not too crowded or doesn’t have too many tourists but I am completely impartial as to where I go.
Do any current or prior Jets have any suggestions or favorite areas and which you’ve taught or heard about?
Again I am completely impartial as to where I go just as long as it’s not crowded or takes on too much traffic from tourists. ( I’ve worked in hospitality and retail for most of my life, so getting away from tourists and crowds would be nice 😂)
4 comments
In Japan you can choose between nature and culture or culture and not too crowded: all of the cultural spots one would like to live near (as opposed to simply visit) to visit or experience repeatedly are concentrated in urban areas and are popular.
Look to areas at the edges of or just outside major cities to get a good balance, and be sure to pay attention to transportation options. Even if you have a car, travelling in Japan, while often extraordinarily convenient, can be very slow: we recently visited family in a regional metropolis some 180 km (in a straight line) from our home, and it took us more than 5 hours to get there.
I went in ’94. A very long time ago indeed. I had two years of university Japanese, and a couple friends on the west side of Tokyo, so simply asked for Kantō to use the same accent and be near them. I got a ‘bed town’ in Saitama. Was mostly good.
Living further out in the sticks, you’ll either become much better at Japanese, or leave after the first year in frustration – or sooner. Western women find themselves much more single than they’re used to. Not few of the men find themselves in a serious relationship sooner than they’d like, or would in the cities. Inaka is old fashioned.
Prefectures with a lot of JETs, like Saitama had, aren’t tight knit. This is a bit of a shame. I fell in with the group in Gunma, and they had better group dynamics. A regional city of several hundred thousand, outside of greater Tokyo or Osaka, is best, IMO. Balances the cultural immersion without too much isolation.
Doing it all again, I’d choose a regional urban area, somewhere with better skiing and better summers than Tokyo/Osaka/Nagoya: Tohoku or Chūbu are preferable to Hokkaido, because getting to and from Hokkaido for international flights would be a PITA – and you’ll have to teach on the best powder days anyway.
You need a so-called ‘Golden Egg Placement’ (GEP). These are placements with free or almost free accommodation and an easy workload.
At one extreme you might have 30 plus lessons at multiple schools and have to pay full rent and maybe you need to pay for a car.
A GEP on the other hand would give you a workload of five lessons a week and free accommodation. In this case you should utilize your free time to study Japanese or upgrade your qualifications.
Shockingly both options pay the same salary. Now YOU decide which you want.
I just put rural on my application. During my interview, I was asked again too. I told them I didn’t have any preferences and that I’d be okay in any rural placement anywhere from Hokkaido to Okinawa. I think this flexible comment went over well with the interview panel.
FYI, I was placed in a small, rural mountain-valley town about a three-hour drive from Kyoto/Osaka (not a long distance for a Canadian). It was a ski hill town and, as a resident, I got a heavily-discounted season pass. My rent was 7000 yen per month for a large two-story house. I had to get a winter-capable car, which ended up being so good because it opened up the exploration of so many other rural areas. Another perk was that my board of education gave out education leaves to employees. During the summer break, I was able to attend Japanese language schools in Tokyo and Sapporo without taking any paid vacation days. Moreover, the board covered my tuition. I stayed for three years.
It’s good that you’re open to a rural placement. Unless you’ve a specific placement in mind, it’s perfectly okay to not have anything specific and see what happens.