Hello all, I’ve gotten to the portion of the application where I get to put my placement requests. What are some placements off the beaten path (not Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, etc.)? Decent access to public transportation is a plus, but I’ll take any recommendations.
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If you put anything other than Tokyo osaka kyoto you will be putting “underrated placements.” It really doesn’t matter, they don’t place you according to you preferences, probably a small percent get the place they put and likely it was just coincidence. You are placed where there is a vacancy, that’s all.
It’s a meaningless question, anywhere outside of the megametropolis is underrated.
But the placement preference is so vague that you have no real way of selecting a specific area
You can check a prefecture list and compare things like population size!
There’s smaller prefectures like Tottori and Shimane that you could consider.
I’ve visited Fukuoka in the past, it was one of my top want to go places and I feel is the place I’ve enjoyed the most thus far.
You could also consider bigger prefectures like Kyoto/Osaka, but outside of the main cities into the smaller suburb or even inaka esque areas.
Honestly every prefecture offers placements with good access to public transport, it’s just a case of where you get placed within the prefecture
I am in Saga and I would really recommend it! A warmer part of the country with lots of things to see. If you get placed in a place like Saga or Kumamoto, you will have access to lots of other prefectures around you to see as well
Chiba rules.
You’re close enough to Tokyo for when you need something, but we’ve got tons more rural and lesser known stuff to explore.
I got placed in Osaka (which I love), but I’d say Fukuoka for sure. It’s like Kyushu’s Tokyo IMO. Biggish city, super pretty, great scene, and easy access to the main island, or all around Kyushu. Probably visited 6-7 times if you have any questions.
Get sent to the place next to Iwo Jima because it’s technically Tokyo. Just five hundred miles off the beaten path.
Matsuyama (Ehime) and Fukuoka
And I’ve heard great things about Niigata, Yamagata, Ishikawa (Kanazawa City in particular), Fukushima (Iwaki and Koriyama in particular), Chiba, and Ibaraki.
The only “bad” placements, as in placements I’ve heard bad things about from the people placed there are Kobe City (overwork, constantly T1 despite being told they’d be mostly T2) and Hiroshima Prefecture (overwork, strange workplace rules).
Hokkaido. Summers get hot, but the winters don’t get below 2° C
Niigata
Gunma!! Amazing place that I never would have picked if I wasn’t assigned here.
Hyogo!! Within an hour or so of Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, etc. Plus Kobe is an amazing international city with pretty mountains and the ocean/port, there are two really popular onsen resorts (kinosaki and arima), and Himeji castle is arguably the best/most well preserved castle in Japan.
Yamaguchi. You probably need a car to get around a lot of it but there’s some gorgeous attractions, plus you’re close to Kyushu and Hiroshima. You can also fly to Tokyo from Ube or take the ferry to Busan from Shimonoseki.
I was in Tokushima. Lots of rich culture and there is a ferry from Tokushima to Osaka that is pretty cheap and takes you right into the heart of Osaka. Other than the ferry everything else is pretty expensive to get off the island. Transit is mediocre, but most placements require you to have a car. Insurance, gas, etc were all pretty cheap for keicars.
Anywhere with easy shinkansen access. I’m fairly inaka but close to a shinkansen station and that really makes living here much easier
Non-JET, forever lurker here!
The Nagano prefecture is actually quite a nice place because there’s just so much nature and you’ll have access to great ski areas when it snows as everyone basically goes to Nagano to ski during winter.
Only cons are the cold/heavy snow during winter in many areas and all the schools in my area have this weird rule of maxing out the ALT’s daily schedule which means six lessons every day as they see ALTs sitting at their desks on a spare as ‘wasting time’
Gunma ( I didn’t request it but I love it), it’s fairly close to Tokyo, cheap cost of living, mix of countryside and urban life, then there’s a significant amount of foreigners here too, finally the outdoors are great. I’ve been to Nagano recently and it has a similar vibe to Gunma, though it might be colder there since it’s more mountainous.
Hi!! I don’t think it’s really “off the beaten path” as I think a lot of people end up visiting here when they come to Japan, but Hiroshima is a lovely place to live! The atmosphere of this prefecture is beautiful and the people are lovely! I was really surprised by how fast I fell in love with this place
Fukui is pretty nice. The people are friendly, food is good, and train access is easy and not terrible. Southern part of the province gets REALLY cheap too, like only 1man for rent.
Kumamoto is dope. I really like it here.
Yamaguchi. Two airports. 4 Shinkansen stations. In between Fukuoka and Hiroshima. Loved living there for the two years I was a JET. Was able to visit Taiwan like 5 times and Tokyo/Osaka just as much if not more.
If you’re okay with a bit more rural and almost definitely needing a car- Miyagi. Or really anywhere else Tohoku if the earthquakes around Miyagi are a little too spooky.
But I’m a big winter person so this may be biased.
Miyazaki is super underrated. Really far from any big city (Fukuoka is multiple hours away and Kagoshima doesn’t really count as a big city imo) but the nature in Miyazaki is beautiful. Only recommend if you’re okay living life at slower pace. The vibe is really different even from other prefectures in Kyushu
If you like small city but you still have access to larger cities and the bullet train I recommend Okayama. The garden and castle are beautiful its also close to Hiroshima, Himeji and not too far from other islands connected to Honshu.
I left all my preferences blank. I said I was happy to be placed anywhere and I’d happily adapt. Big city, I’d enjoy culture. Inaka, I’d really get into the community. For some reason, they put me in Kyoto. I couldn’t be happier, but the logic of who gets put where is an enigma. Go with the flow baby.