As we readily await our JET location placements, I thought it’d be fun to talk about why we requested the prefectures we short-listers did! I should state first, that being able to go to Japan in general with the JET program has been a dream of mine, and I’ll be happy no matter where I am in this amazing country, and each and every prefecture has some amazing and unique attributes.
And if you are a current JET, what particular things do you love the most about your prefecture placement? I’m both really curious and really excited about meeting some of you once we fly over!
Personally, I was interested in Ehime Prefecture, for its more traditional culture (at least from my understanding). I was also interested in Shiga because of its proximity to Lake Biwa, central location in Japan, and the fact that I was going to live in this prefecture for a short time before the pandemic began.
Let me hear your thoughts!
26 comments
I had no preference for urban, rural or island but did put down Yamagata (as my towns sister city Tendo is there), Nara and Chiba as preference locations, with no particularly strong reason for the last two, they just seemed neat! I’m honestly not bothered where I end up overall, though I kind of hope I don’t get Tokyo due to the extra cost. I just want us to get our placements soon, the anticipation is driving me nuts haha
I never requested a prefecture. I was happy to go where-ever.
I’m down in Kyushu, and not in the big cities (Fukuoka, Kumamoto or Nagasaki) which I personally prefer. The people here are all lovely and welcoming, but TBH not used to foreigners. [eg. I’ve been to other small towns then mine and blatantly get stared (like let’s stop the car and stare)]
It’s not crowded, the nature is beautiful, and it’s not full of tourists. But Kyushu is more connected than ever because of the Shinkansen lines. Flights out of major airports to other parts of Japan are relatively cheap so I am able to see other parts of Japan too.
My cost of living is cheap. I never worry about my paychecks making it through the month (I do my own cooking though and don’t travel too much). The BOE subsidises the rent too.
I studied Japanese before coming to Japan, so I get to use a lot of it which is a positive for me.
We are expecting quiet a few ALTs to our area this year. I do think they’ll be disappointed when they find out its Kyushu countryside but if you find out you’re down here I think you are lucky. (But please study Japanese before you come).
Also, I think your own attitude is the most important factor to enjoying your time. You will always get “nihongo jozu’ed” or looked at a little funny or the casher didn’t even try to greet you. But you shouldn’t let that bother you. Most of the time (even the starers) don’t mean poorly. You get good at the small positives in the day-to-day life like the students saying “Hi” at the train station or the old retired guy that’s the primary school crossing-guard greeting you in English or the teacher that gives you a sweet. I’m thankful for the little interactions.
I put Kobe because I did a home stay with a family there after I graduated high school 18 years ago. I loved it there and I still keep in touch with my host family😊. I did tell my interviewers however, that I am open to be placed anywhere because going to Japan again is going to be an amazing experience. I can’t wait to see and learn more about wherever I go!
My requests:
Niigata, Akita, and Miyagi with a preference for rural. Niigata and Akita because I studied abroad there, Miyagi because I liked visiting there. My cousin lives in Hokkaido so the interviewers suggested I change it, but Hokkaido is a big prefecture and COLD so I didn’t want to risk being somewhere still far from my cousin with awful weather. I grew up on a farm so rural sounded fine to me. Plus people would always say “oh this is so inaka!” in my study abroad town, but we could still walk to the grocery store. As an American from a rural place, that felt extremely luxurious 😂.
Now, here’s where I actually got:
Niigata, my first choice prefecture, and rural. But extremely rural. The only people I’ve met more rural than me are on islands. There is a conbini, grocery store, home center, and pharmacy about 5km away but after that is a 20km dead zone in every direction until anything but a village. I teach every kid age 6-15, of which there are less than 200 despite pulling kids from 35+ villages with 6 bus routes. It’s an hour drive on the highway (40km) to the closest city, McDonalds, or other ALTs.
My opinions:
As much as I love rural places, I was really frustrated at first with how rural it is. Living super far from other ALTs with no one willing to brave the winter roads was hard. However, 1.5 years in, I’m really loving it. Because I’m in such an extremely rural place, everyone knows me. This means no staring, no fear, lots of waving, learning all the kiddos names, receiving vegetables, getting help from the community, low cost of living, and a condo (don’t share a wall with anyone). People here watch out for me. For example, the people I rent my car from bring it to the station when I arrive home from the US. Much better than lugging my stuff over a kilometer home. There was a big hornet in my house, so I ran to the neighbor’s house and the neighbor came over and killed it for me. My coworkers also make an effort to accommodate my food allergies, which is awesome.
Conclusion:
This isn’t exactly what I wanted and I need to drive a lot to get places, but the amount of acceptance I feel here is incredible. The space, detached house, and peacefulness of where I live is really great too. My schools are within 10min of my house so the commute is short too. It took some practicing gratitude at first, but now I appreciate everything I have. Overall, I’m very happy with where I ended up and hope I can find similar community in future.
I put Osaka Prefecture, Shikoku, and Kyushu as my preferences, with a preference for urban, so generally pretty broad preferences.
I put Osaka prefecture first as I have a few friends in that area so would have appreciated coming into the ready made support network. It’s also a major transport hub so good for travelling around Japan as well.
Shikoku and Kyushu I put because of the, on average, warmer weather, as well as a desire to get to know a region of Japan I’d never visited. I cannot cope with cold weather at all because of my eczema so Hokkaido or Tohoku would have been a major struggle for me.
I got placed in Nagasaki prefecture, just outside the prefectural capital and I honestly could not be happier here. I’m super close to the city so can go in whenever for shopping and a social life. I also love my two schools and have some absolutely amazing colleagues who have made me feel nothing but welcomed and appreciated. I also love my kids so much. They’re all super genki and even those who aren’t as into English or as good at it say they look forward to having me in their lessons.
There’s also so much history here in Nagasaki so is a fascinating place to live.
I consider myself incredibly privileged to have been placed where I have. It couldn’t be more perfect for me.
I have requested Hyogo, Hiroshima & Nara prefectures in that order ☺️ Part of me was very tempted to leave it blank as I’ll be very happy wherever I go, but I listed areas of Japan I’ve never been to so it’ll be an adventure either way!
I requested Hokkaido and Aomori because I like cold weather. I was placed in a rural town and I love how close to nature I am now. Except for the scary bugs, this place is amazing and something I probably would never have experienced otherwise.
Requested Tohoku, Shizuoka, and Osaka in that order.
I wanted to do some volunteer work in my spare time in Tohoku. My reason for requesting Shizuoka was its proximity to Mt. Fuji (which I’m pretty obsessed with lol). And I fell head over heels in love with Osaka when I visited.
I got placed in Maebashi the prefectural capital of Gunma. I was kind of bummed at first. Now, I’m trying to think of a way to stay here after JET if I can lol.
It’s a suburban placement. So all the modern conveniences of an urban placement but none of the cool things to do. And none of the subsidies and perks of a rural placement.
I love it here though. I’m within an hour of Tokyo by shinkansen. I can be in the deep mountains in less than 30 mins by car. There are so many opportunities to meet both Japanese people and foreigners. There are quite a large number of us here in Gunma, especially Maebashi/Takasaki.
So, don’t stress too much about your placement. One guy in my cohort got placed on the northern most island of Japan north of Hokkaido. He’s loving it. Most JETs love their placements.
I chose Shimane. I had visited there previously, and I thought it was one of the most beautiful places on the planet. I was told back in the day, to choose somewhere that few people would want to go. And I was pretty sure that few people had heard about Shimane. So I chose a small town near Matsue. I ended up living in Tamayu for 2 years. Pretty great memories after all these years.
Sendai – seemed like the perfect fit for me. Lots of history and culture. Very suburban and not just metropolitan but still a large city.
Chiba – my sister city. Wanted to foster a closer relationship between the two.
Ibaraki – my Japanese professor’s home prefecture. I thought itd be cool to experience what she grew up in. A semi shared experience sort of deal.
Tottori – where I ended up being placed. Love it. The least populated prefecture but I’m lucky and got placed in one of the two major cities here. Very similar to my hometown in terms of climate, how spreadout things are, having to crossthrough the inaka all the time, and the suburban feel of the “city”.
I requested Chiba, kanagawa and Kitakyushu city as I’ve lived in those places before and have a bunch of friends there still so it would be nice to be near by!
To be honest I’m not fussed if I don’t get any of the places I requested. I’m just happy to be going back!
First of all, I hope that you get a preference placement. But I think many JETs fall in love with their placements. I didn’t have any preference on my app since I had never visited Japan before being accepted. My placement was said to be countryside but it really isn’t at all. Lots of farm areas but we have many shops and things so it’s really nice. Mostly glad that it isn’t a very cold place since I’m not a fan of winter. At this point I think the weather is one of the hardest things for me, so I’m glad I was placed in a warm ish place. Though the humid summers really suck too. Weather was not something I was thinking of at all before I came.
No matter where you are placed, I hope you will give your city a chance! It may take some time to get used to it and feel like home. I think it’s good to be open and to go out and try new things and visit places. I’m sure you’ll feel culture shock when first arrive or after a few months. Don’t give up and make new friends!
Requested Shimane because I didn’t know anything about Japan really and my friend was from there.
Got Saga and was very disappointed. Google only pulled up balloons, beef, and pottery. Resolved myself to do the year and tough it out. I wound up doing the full five years. It’s a great prefecture and really connected so easy to travel from when I did want to get out of the countryside. Few tourists visit, so I felt really welcomed and appreciated. I was able to take part in meaningful events and got to know the mayor of my town. I also learned Japanese which helped immensely while I was there. If you ever catch yourself wanting to go to southern Japan in the fall, definitely check out Karatsu kunchi and the Saga International Balloon festival.
I chose Tochigi prefecture because I lived there with a Japanese host family for a year in highschool.
I chose Nagano for choice #2 because it is the sister prefecture to my home state.
I chose Toyama because it is the sister city to my college town.
Didn’t select any specific prefectures but indicated that I did not want to be placed in any big cities. I just don’t like the hustle and bustle of cities..
Got placed in Ehime in the inaka but not too inaka. Perfect placement for me as everything is easily accessible but I’m far enough from the city that I can relax.
Requested Tokyo because I has some friends from my summer research program there, and two other prefectures at random because I didn’t care where I was put.
Actually placed in southern Hyogo and that ended up being exactly where was best for me. Right between two major cities in a cute little suburban area, 15 min walk to a major train line, and about 30-55 mins from major airports, super affordable and with the friendliest people and neighbors you could imagine.
If you wanted to go to nature, however, you could bop up into northern Kobe or Northern Hyogo where, as they said in my acceptance email way back in the day, “the rolling hills of summer are glistening and green.”
Frickin love Hyogo 😍 but all Japan is jaw dropping imo
I requested Aichi (studied there), Gifu (friends there), and Kanagawa (friends there). Got Tokyo.
I requested Sapporo, Sendai, and Hokkaido because I like cold weather and large cities. Ended up getting rural Hokkaido. I love how tight knit the community is and how relaxed and casual things are. I had a lot of fears about “cold, strict, formal Japanese work culture,” so coming to my very relaxed and casual country boe was a huge relief
If I remember correctly, I requested Osaka, Kyoto, and Okinawa. My placement is in Shizuoka, and I’m very happy! There are kind people, nice food, and arguably some of the tamest weather in Japan.
In my experience, there are not as many English speakers in Shizuoka as there are in larger tourist cities. Which honestly, is a plus for me since I wanted to challenge myself to listen and speak in Japanese more. I have met some very kind hearted locals by trying my best with Japanese, and has been a very gratifying experience!
I also love Shizuoka because of its location in Japan. It is basically is the halfway mark between Osaka and Tokyo, so going to either big city doesnt crush your time or your funds too badly.
My little city is a nice suburb with enough fun things to do, all within biking distance! One of my favorite past times is to bike blindly around my neighborhood and to find something else cool and new about it. I slowly learn my city’s geography that way, too.
I love my location, my schools, and my kids! If you get Shizuoka, youre lucky in my opinion. (Though beware, Shizuoka is one of the most conservative prefectures. Not very slay of them I think, as a fellow gay.)
I requested Osaka, Chiba and Hiroshima Prefectures. Ended up getting placed in Hiroshima Prefecture in Hiroshima City. Can’t complain. It’s peaceful and there’s always something going on. Good luck!
I has requested Osaka, Miyagi and Hiroshima and I now live in Yamanashi. It’s very rural, and I was places in its most rural corner 😅
The people are very laid back and super friendly, and being surrounded by forests and mountains is just amazing. I come from a big city so that’s where I wanted to be placed, but it turned out to be a great change of pace. Yamanashi is great for hiking and sightseeing (there’s Fuji of course, with the five lakes too) and orchards!!
The fact there’s not that many JETs in the prefecture helps build a community too, we have a lot of events and all know each other!
I requested Ibaraki, Kumamoto, and Ehime prefectures!
Ibaraki was my first request because I have a friend that lives there, as well as a friend that lives in Tokyo. Therefore, it would be easy to meet up with them for weekend trips and vacations.
Kumamoto was my second request because I did some research into where my family immigrated from before they arrived in Hawaii, and found a document that stated that my great grandpa lived in Kumamoto City, Kumamoto prior to becoming a US citizen. I thought it would be really cool to do some research within the city and see if I have any family that I can reconnect with.
Ehime was my last request and I solely chose this prefecture because of the natural beauty. I figured I could go on some hikes and discover some really amazing spots for sightseeing on my time off.
I requested:
1. A block (do they still do blocks? basically the greater Kanto area, not necessarily Tokyo, but all around there like Gunma, Saitama, Kanagawa, etc.) Requested it because I studied abroad in Tokyo and still have many friends and connections there, and it would have made post-JET job hunting MUCH easier.
2. Shiga-ken: I love lakes, so why not try to get placed by the biggest one in the country? Proximity to Kyoto/Osaka/the rest of Kansai would have been lovely as well.
3. Hokkaido: Bit of a no-brainer, as someone who really doesn’t like heat and grew up in a pretty snowy region. I ended up getting placed in a medium (for the area) town of around 9000 people in East Hokkaido. At first I was a bit bummed because it’s *crazy* far to Sapporo/Hakodate/Niseko etc. (It’s actually faster for me to take a plane to Tokyo)
What do I love about Hokkaido… hmm… Seicomart? Our local convenience store chain is very good and quite cheap (massive onigiri for like 150 yen, fresh-made katsu curry for 500 yen, store-brand drinks for like 80 yen). The actual food is also super delicious.
Also, the nature is absolutely stunning. I ended up driving some 8000 kilometers across the entire prefecture to see all of our road stations and the whole island is just beautiful. I especially love driving around the coast because for the most part it’s just… not developed at all outside of the occasional tiny fishing hamlet, so it’s just you and the ocean.
I requested Akita prefecture, block one (Hokkaido and Tohoku), and Kansai (a curve ball lol). I got Akita for early departure this April. So that was exciting. I wanted more rural, northern Japan. I really wanted a cooler climate haha. Akita prefecture seems to get a fair amount of early departures, so there were open spots, and I had requested it (not many people do), so the odds were in my favor to get my first choice! I also can drive, which meant I was able to be placed in Akita outside of the city.
I love Akita inu so seeing them everywhere is great! I mostly just see drawings and stuff, but every once in a while I’ll see a real one lol. The nature is beautiful, and I’m happy to be in a place that is not too rural but not big city at all. I think my favorite part is that being placed here has made everything so much less overwhelming for me. It’s still familiar enough to where I’m from that I was comfortable right away.
Hokkaido because of the snow and nature
Sendai because a friend lived there and always talked it up
Can’t actually remember my 3rd choice at this point but I think it was islands
I put down:
Kyoto Prefecture
Okayama Prefecture
Aomori Prefecture
All vague, in my head increasing my chance of getting selected.
Reasons were:
Kyoto – Love Kyoto, will never get tired of Kyoto. Probably favorite city in the world at this point. It’s near Osaka where I have several friends, and even extended family. And my host family from university is around Kyoto.
Okayama – One of my Japanese teachers at college was from that area, so I had a few stories of the place. Visited once as well and thought it was a beautiful, quaint city and area.
Aomori – Gonna be honest, knew literally nothing about Aomori at that time. All I had was a post card from the JR East / Tohoku travel and tourism authority that I got on a Shinkansen trip during my first time visiting Japan ever, years back. Sakura, on some river/lakeside; it was beautiful. And I never been Northeast of Tokyo at all so, why not? Seems like a beautiful place.
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I got placed in Okayama Prefecture, and I live in the city. I like the proximity to several interesting and fun places. We are right in between Hiroshima, Osaka, and the island of Shikoku. Denim is great. If you appreciate hardcore (typically Japanese) denim and jeans, this is the a denim fan’s Mecca. The big city is big enough that you don’t feel like it could use more, and yet it also isn’t sensory overload like Tokyo. The slower paced and cheery countryside is also, pretty much right next door so depending on if you want to enjoy city life or the countryside you are not farther than a an hour-long train ride (at most) away.
Osaka, Kyoto, and Hiroshima are close enough to do day trips from my location. Kyoto/Osaka is only 2-2.5 hours away (local train, not the Shinkansen – that would cut the travel down to ~1 hour), and Hiroshima is about 3 hours away.
Variety for whatever suits my mood and what I want to do, and accessibility to major points of interest in Western Japan is great!