Are the teach English in Japan programs legitimate?
If he’s looking to spend a few years teaching English in Japan, there are only two reasons for him not to pick the JET program over others: a) He hates kids. b) He’d go stir crazy if he lived out in the country. JET has a few huge advantages because it’s sponsored by the Japanese government, which wants returners from the JET program to spread good PR about Japan when they return to their home countries. On JET, he is far less likely to be jerked around by his employer as far as pay and benefits are concerned; in the vast majority of cases, you can look over your contract a few months before you start the job. I’ve also been told that JET looks better on paper (and not just by JET/Japanese government employees). JET subsidizes a lot of expenses, too, and he will probably be sheltered from some of the more unpleasant aspects of life as a foreigner in Japan (language difficulties, housing discrimination, etc.) because someone else will be taking care of a lot of the paperwork. On the oth
I’m currently in Japan, and though I initially came over with a job from NOVA (the biggest English conversation company in the country), my best friends came here on JET. The JET Programme is indeed legitimate, as others have said. It’s pretty much random where you’ll be placed, though the people I know did get the general region they requested. The best placement I know of, as far as working conditions go, is Kobe, so I’d recommend putting that on the application. No promises on actually getting it (two JETs I know – twins – requested that they be placed in the same prefecture, and it ended up that one is now on Shikoku and the other is in Shiga-ken), but it could happen. They do pay for your flight to Japan, and when you leave the program to go home, they’ll pay for that as well. Some JETs I know also have part or all of their rent subsidized. As far as working conditions go, it varies. One friend worked at all six Junior High Schools in her city, spending about two months at each on
