About the Apartment

With burdens like language barriers and “key money”, finding an apartment in Japan is not a pleasant business. One of the blessings of the JET Program is the Contracting Organizations usually arrange housing for participants. Of course, that means we get plenty of questions about housing. My friend’s apartment is better/cheaper than mine. Contracting Organizations […]

Dealing with Bugs

The hot weather brings out some monstrous bugs. There are some pretty big bees, cockroaches, and centipedes, as well as the usual annoying ants, spiders, mosquitoes, and small flies. The best way to avoid an encounter with insects is to keep your house clean. Try not to leave dirty dishes around and clean up food […]

Technical Support

This page is a resource for troubleshooting technical problems (computer, etc.) while you are in Japan. Please add your own experiences and information to this page as you see fit! General Information If you have absolutely no clue and you are at school, consult your JTE or another teacher for help. Each school usually has […]

Immigration Offices

Whether you need to extend your period of stay or change your status of residence, at some point you will probably need to head over to one of the joint government buildings (合同庁舎) in Hyogo. You have two places to choose from: Kobe and Himeji. Osaka Immigration Bureau, Kobe Branch 大阪入国管理 局神戸支局 Hours: Weekdays 9:00-12:00, […]

Visa Renewal and Status of Residence

What is your Period of Stay? Your period of stay should be written on your alien registration card or residence card. It is the period of time that you are legally allowed to live and work in Japan. Most JETs receive a three-year period of stay. Who needs to extend? If you are staying on […]

Contracting Organizations: Explained

Although JET participants are members of the JET Programme, each JET is actually employed by a local contracting organization and not by CLAIR or the JET Programme. CLAIR and JET are the organizations who set up the framework to introduce us to our bosses. And since different JETs have different bosses, they often get different […]

School Evaluations

At the same time as the Recontracting Decision rolls around for us, our schools are also asked if they want to keep us. What will you be evaluated on? Though different schools do things differently, most likely your principal will fill out a report that looks something like this: Work Details (Attendance) 1. Tardiness: Never […]