How old is your kid, roughly? (Would your kid be in pre-school or grade school?) Do you have any experience living in Japan/speaking Japanese, or any family/friends who live in Japan?
My sister went to JET with two children, ages 1 and 3. I spent last summer in Hokkaido with my son, and now I’m leaving in August to my JET position with him. I’m married, but my husband isn’t joining us right away.
I’m not sure specifically what you’re looking for, but from my sister’s experience and the time I spent last year in Japan with my kid, communities are super friendly and welcoming of families. Public schools are high quality, towns are safe, etc. Not sure what country you’re coming from, but this is true compared to many places. You also get a payment from the government as a resident for each kid you have—it’s paid out quarterly or monthly I think, and it’s higher if you’re a single parent. My CO is helping me navigate enrolling my son in school, which helps a lot since I don’t speak much Japanese. Overall, I’d say it’s a great option for families, regardless of whether or not it’s a two-parent household. However, you will need help in the beginning as you won’t really have access to childcare in Tokyo for orientation, and it’s really useful to have someone around to help with the kids when you need to attend work events and such. My sister and I both had/are having our mother bring our kid(s) over a week later and stay with us for the first couple months while we get settled.
My general advice is go for it, my kid loves it there and everyone we encountered was super friendly to us. I don’t speak much Japanese, and I would go out of my way to take my son with me when I had to do something language-wise because people were so happy to help us. He literally had the grocery store cashiers clapping when he said a single word in Japanese. We spent last summer in a small town, so maybe our experience was a little isolated, but it was a lot easier (and more pleasant) being a parent in Japan than it is in the US.
If your kid is preschool aged, this is an area where being in the inaka can actually be a huge boon. Nursery school places are hard to come by in the city, but in small towns nursery schools are often under capacity. In my experience at least, they’re usually high quality since small towns are willing to invest in nursery schools in order to entice young families to move there.
If your kid is school aged, it becomes more of a mixed bag. You can’t afford international school tuition on a JET salary and most areas don’t have any sort of Japanese as a Second Language programs. You’ll need to work with the school directly to figure out a solution based on your child’s age and how long you plan to be in Japan.
For example, I know one family who has their kids enrolled in the local ES/JHS. They do core subjects online in a separate room using the cirriculum from their home country and the kids join their Japanese classmates for non-academic subjects. This is a good solution if you’re planning to only be in Japan for a few years. It’s not a great solution if you’re planning a permanent move since the kids won’t have the required credits to enroll in a Japanese high school. You’ll want to work with the school to find the right solution for your family
[deleted]
Man, I cant imagine doing JET as a single mom. Part of JET was meeting new people, hanging out with friends, going drinking on Friday nights/weekends etc. You cant do that as a mom, gotta watch the kid all the time. Gonna be lonely
5 comments
How old is your kid, roughly? (Would your kid be in pre-school or grade school?) Do you have any experience living in Japan/speaking Japanese, or any family/friends who live in Japan?
My sister went to JET with two children, ages 1 and 3. I spent last summer in Hokkaido with my son, and now I’m leaving in August to my JET position with him. I’m married, but my husband isn’t joining us right away.
I’m not sure specifically what you’re looking for, but from my sister’s experience and the time I spent last year in Japan with my kid, communities are super friendly and welcoming of families. Public schools are high quality, towns are safe, etc. Not sure what country you’re coming from, but this is true compared to many places. You also get a payment from the government as a resident for each kid you have—it’s paid out quarterly or monthly I think, and it’s higher if you’re a single parent. My CO is helping me navigate enrolling my son in school, which helps a lot since I don’t speak much Japanese. Overall, I’d say it’s a great option for families, regardless of whether or not it’s a two-parent household. However, you will need help in the beginning as you won’t really have access to childcare in Tokyo for orientation, and it’s really useful to have someone around to help with the kids when you need to attend work events and such. My sister and I both had/are having our mother bring our kid(s) over a week later and stay with us for the first couple months while we get settled.
My general advice is go for it, my kid loves it there and everyone we encountered was super friendly to us. I don’t speak much Japanese, and I would go out of my way to take my son with me when I had to do something language-wise because people were so happy to help us. He literally had the grocery store cashiers clapping when he said a single word in Japanese. We spent last summer in a small town, so maybe our experience was a little isolated, but it was a lot easier (and more pleasant) being a parent in Japan than it is in the US.
If your kid is preschool aged, this is an area where being in the inaka can actually be a huge boon. Nursery school places are hard to come by in the city, but in small towns nursery schools are often under capacity. In my experience at least, they’re usually high quality since small towns are willing to invest in nursery schools in order to entice young families to move there.
If your kid is school aged, it becomes more of a mixed bag. You can’t afford international school tuition on a JET salary and most areas don’t have any sort of Japanese as a Second Language programs. You’ll need to work with the school directly to figure out a solution based on your child’s age and how long you plan to be in Japan.
For example, I know one family who has their kids enrolled in the local ES/JHS. They do core subjects online in a separate room using the cirriculum from their home country and the kids join their Japanese classmates for non-academic subjects. This is a good solution if you’re planning to only be in Japan for a few years. It’s not a great solution if you’re planning a permanent move since the kids won’t have the required credits to enroll in a Japanese high school. You’ll want to work with the school to find the right solution for your family
[deleted]
Man, I cant imagine doing JET as a single mom. Part of JET was meeting new people, hanging out with friends, going drinking on Friday nights/weekends etc. You cant do that as a mom, gotta watch the kid all the time. Gonna be lonely