JapanJuku.com

After you have the application, then it's time to fill it out and work on the supplemental documents needed as well.

In this vlog from my Applying to JET playlist, I discuss the first few parts of the application plus the all-important placement selection.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l13jVFszUfA

Some of you will think long and hard about where you want to be placed - the prefecture you're sent to really matters to you and will even influence your decision to accept the job or not.

Others will just be happy to be going to Japan and won't really mind where they are placed.

While it's good to be flexible and open-minded about your placement, I do think you should indicate a preference on the application.  By indicating a placement preference, you show that you gave some thought to where you'll be spending the next one to five years of your life, you did some research about Japan and what each region or city has to offer, and you thought about climate concerns and how they affect your lifestyle.  Some of you won't mind the cold, other will want to avoid it all costs.

Even though you do get to suggest possible placement locations, no placement is guaranteed in JET, so it's a bit a roll of the dice.  You shouldn't worry too much about it - in the end, if where you'll be is so important to you and you don't get that area, then you can decline and not do JET.  No one is going to force you to live somewhere you don't want to be.  That being said, keep in mind that once you're living somewhere as a JET, it's VERY RARE for you to be able to change towns/schools.

I continue my more in-depth discussion of the application in this vlog:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0A-L19OGME

After watching these two videos, if you have more questions about the application process, please leave a comment here, on YouTube or in the forums.

-JCH

The obvious way to get started on your journey to Japan as a member of the JET Program is to get an application, and get started well before the deadline.

The deadline for submitting the application varies a little from country to country, but in general it's due in late November for the following year.  (For example - you want to go to Japan in the summer of 2011 - then the application would be due in November 2010)

Things you can get started on even before the application is available online (most countries require you to submit part of your application electronically as well as mailing in a signed hard copy with all your supporting documents):

** Work on your Statement of Purpose (SoP) - the 2-page essay telling the JET selection committee why you want to go to Japan and why you would be a good ALT or CIR.

** Figure out who is going to write your 2 Letters of Recommendation - most likely one person will be a professor or your boss/manager and then you still need one more.  Choose these people well and give them plenty of information about JET and time to write the letter.

The actual application is usually available online in early October, so that's about 2 months to get it all together before the deadline.

Here is the first vlog I did about Applying to the JET Program:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9ZVUdN3IIc

The drop down box below the video on its YouTube page has some helpful links.

Here is the 2nd vlog I made about not procrastinating:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ct7SH4dO5w

I made these vlogs in the fall of 2008 while I was still living in Japan, during my fifth and final year on the program.

Feel free to leave questions or comments here, in the forums or on the video pages on YouTube.

-Jason

Few Japanese movies ever make their way across the Pacific to DVD shops here in the United States.  The cost of subtitling the film and American distribution must be somewhat cost prohibitive.  But VIZ Media, a large company involved in manga and anime, does select a few live-action Japanese films each year to produce for the domestic market here in the States, and often the films are those that would appeal to an audience already acclimated to anime plotlines and characters.

Such a film is Nobuhiro Yamashita's Linda Linda Linda.  Viz has done a nice job with the American DVD of this 2005 film, and I heartily recommend it to any JET Program hopeful (and everyone else too).

The film's plot is fairly simple - three high school seniors (Kei, Kyoko & Nozomi) want to perform with their band at the last gakuen sai (school festival) they'll ever have together, but disputes within the group leave them without their guitarist or lead vocalist.  So they recruit the first person they see - a Korean foreign exchange student named Son - who goes along despite not speaking Japanese all that well.

With only three days to prepare three songs, they forgo playing originals and opt instead to play three songs by famous Japanese group The Blue Hearts.  The title of the films is derived from the most famous Blue Hearts single, "Linda Linda," a modern classic and karaoke staple that I myself have sung many times.

The reason the film works so well is the casting of the 4 main girls, played by age-appropriate actresses with attention to character overriding movie-star looks.  With the exception of Bae Doona who played the Korean student (I never had an exchange student at my schools while I was an ALT), all the other girls played easily recognized types from my days as an ALT, but each brought their own personality to their part as well.

That coupled with a good feel for the special circumstances that surround the once-yearly school festival at a Japanese school make this a must-see for anyone going to Japan to teach in public schools.  The film could have easily been filmed in Shimane - the setting is a very rural high school, and they got so many of the little details right.  You'll learn plenty about school culture - bento lunches and gender dynamics and teacher/student relations.  Moreover, listening to the Japanese spoken in the film will give you a good feel for how your kids will talk once you get to know them a bit.

One aspect that might be of interest is kokuhaku - a confession of love. This curious to Westerners practice of declaring your true feelings for a classmate often takes place during big events like Valentines Day, Christmas, or gakuen sai.  The film is lighthearted and fun though, not treating the sub-plots about student romance with too much seriousness.  I smiled all the way through and the music is excellent too.  I'll include a YouTube PV (promotional video) the group within the film made below so you can get a sense, without giving away crucial scenes, which other YouTube clips from the film do.

Order the DVD from NetFlix like I did, or where ever you can hunt down import/foreign films.  It was a little slice of nostalgia for me, and a good primer on just what you're getting yourself into if you're becoming an ALT.

-Jason

http://www.youtube.com/v/u-ikcEGYhwc

Every so often I get an email from a college or high school student interested in being a JET/ALT and they have to profile/interview someone for an assignment in careers class.  And they choose me.  :)

So here is a recent request.  I answered most of the questions briefly, but if you're new to JapanJuku or don't know much about the JET Program, then maybe these answers will be useful.

-Jason

(I didn't write the questions... )

What advice would benefit a student pursuing this career path? Get your degree, learn some basic Japanese, get some experience with young people or spend a year/semester abroad

I went to the Adachi Museum of Art last Sunday - March 14th.

I had a nice day taking pictures with my new camera - a Nikon Coolpix L110.

I posted a bunch of the pictures to my public Flickr photo album.

I also posted 6 short HD movies I shot using the Nikon to my main YouTube channel - Myargonauts.

Enjoy!

-Jason

ps - you can watch the videos in HD on YouTube - they look pretty good. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spXVI6jlaMo