JET Stories

"One of the biggest obstacles I, and the foreigners around me faced while living in Japan was the inability to be recognized as part of the Japanese society. Regardless of how much we studied the language and culture, regardless of how hard we tried to conform to the Japanese way of life, regardless of how well we adhered to Japanese etiquette and manners, regardless of how "Japanese" we became, we were always assigned a position "outside" of the Japanese population....

Quick summary: I'm a first-year JET in a big city. I was arrested on a false charge of shoplifting and put in jail for six days. I was advised/ordered to sign a confession, which I eventually did; then I was released. Though they knew the truth (I am innocent) the Board of Education fired me, for reasons no one knows, but it's likely that it was to save face in one way or another....

I recently experienced the leisurely delights of a Japanese style 'Love Hotel'. I assure you, my main purpose for the visit was strictly an investigative one, after hearing many stories from fellow foreigners and of course after perusing the mass of literature on the curious phenomenon that is the Japanese 'Love Hotel'....

I remember the orientation in Tokyo. A newly found British friend and I, brought closer by several G&Ts at the British Consul, where discussing the merits of the Japanese....

Ok, so it's technically not a story. It's an article. But I thought readers would be interested in the health care system in Japan so I figured I'd share this one. Here goes...

Many people ask me, "How do you do it?" Frankly, I don't know. But it can be done!

I am a 2nd year JET who moved here from Canada in August 2001. My daughter was 2 years old when I arrived here in the Kansai region....

It is always in vogue to complain about the high prices of things in Japan. I've heard my foreign friends trade price quotes like old war stories.....

I'm not a JET. But my wife is. I can thank her for our being here in Japan in the first place. Unfortunately, though, she isn't going to be a JET much longer....

The year: 1988. The place: Japan. The cast: the largest invasion of Gaijin since 1945.

I thought that I would finally put fingers to keyboard and submit a story to BigDaikon. I have actually talked about these events before on the discussion board so some of you may have heard it all before.

Today, a third year, female student turns up at the junior high school teacher's room with a blackish-blue eye and eight small stitches over her left eyebrow.

In the ALT vocation; My motivation; Is the internationalization; Of this Japanese nation....

I spent two years as a CIR at a City Hall in a city of about 100,000 people in a fairly rural prefecture. I enjoyed my job and I liked the people I was working with but things changed dramatically when I tried to renew for a second time half way through my second year.

The desk that I was given, when I first arrived, was, as I was told it would be, off in the far corner, with the desks of the part-time and temporary teachers. "In Siberia," I would joke; but actually, I kind of liked it. It was close to both the computers and the tiny little lounge/sofa area, so if I didn't feel like working, it was easy to discreetly do something else.

Housing in the JET program can be your worst nightmare. Although a few somehow manage to obtain a comfortable flat, most AETs are condemned to substandard housing, even by abysmal Japanese standards.

The foreshadowing of this reality of the JET program occured during orientation in Tokyo, and in the provincial orientation. All the lectures and speeches concerned how to get along with your Japanese coworkers, how to avoid culture shock, and what to do if you become suicidal.

One point emphasized in provincial orientation was that we would be required to make a self introduction to many classes in the schools where we were assigned. We had full control over the content of this lesson, could teach it solo and should start thinking about it now. we could show pictures, play guitar, anything.

After three years in Japan and two years on the JET Programme, (I'll explain the discrepancy in years later) the time has finally come that I can sit down and write out an honest evaluation of my time here. I do this mainly for myself, but also for those who might be interested in what an ex-JET has to say about her overall experiences here.

This is the speech I presented at my going away talk given to the Yawata city board of education, in Kyoto-fu. The event involved bringing a number of teachers and a few administrators over to the Kyoikukenkyusho to watch a JET recruitment film. We then discussed the program as it actually operated in Yawata. My speech was translated into Japanese in both written and spoken form.

Recently a group of 16 JETs and extras gleefully set off to experience the wonder that is Fuji. We left early on Saturday morning for a long bus ride. Our spirits were high. We laughed , we joked, we bought our Onigiri and Pocky's at the truck stops. Life was looking swell.