Applications for the 2025 JET Programme will open now!!
The application deadline is 5PM Friday 8 November 2024.
For further information, head to the Embassy of Japan in Australia website.
Testimonials
Check out these testimonials from JET Programme alumni and see how their experience in Japan helped shape their career paths:
About the JET Programme
The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme invites young college and university graduates from overseas to participate in international exchange and foreign language education throughout Japan. Established in 1987, the programme has earned a high reputation, both in Japan and overseas, for its efforts in human and cultural exchanges, and has become one of the largest cultural exchange programmes in Japan. The programme offers college and university graduates the opportunity to serve in local government organizations as well as public and private junior and senior high schools.
The JET Programme is conducted by local authorities and other organisations (contracting organisations) in Japan in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications and the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (hereinafter referred to as “CLAIR”). The programme is renewed annually.
Begun in 1987 with the cooperation of the governments of the participating countries, the programme has grown up year by year. The number of JET participants who are currently working in Japan has reached over 6,000 (the number of the participants since 1987), and the number of ex-JET participants from approximately 40 countries totals around 30,000.
The JET Programme has achieved an excellent reputation over its 16 year-history, and the utmost care is being taken to ensure that this high level of respectability be maintained. Participants are invited to Japan as representatives of their countries, and are therefore expected to demonstrate a sense of responsibility in all their activities, including the promotion of mutual understanding between nations.
Therefore, it is desirable that applicants are adaptable and develop a positive interest in Japan and its culture. All participants of the JET Programme are given the opportunity to take advantage of a Japanese language course offered by CLAIR.
How JET Works
a) Contracting Organizations
JET participants are placed in a total of over 2,000 contracting organizations (local boards of education, local governments, etc.) based on the requests received from contracting organizations and successful applicants. Placement requests cannot be guaranteed, however, and alternative postings will not be offered.
b) Orientation, Training and Counselling
All JET participants are required to attend the Pre-Departure Orientation before departing for Japan. The orientation is conducted by the Japanese Embassy and Consulates of participants’ countries.
Upon arrival in Tokyo, a general Post-Arrival Orientation is conducted for all JET participants, followed by mid-year seminars in each prefecture.
Specialized training of Coordinators for International Relations (CIRs) is provided by CLAIR, while the Ministry of Education provides guidance and specialized training to Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs), as well as counselling in education-related matters throughout the year.
CLAIR also provides a counselling/information service for JET participants during their tenure in the JET Programme.
JET Programme in WA
Since the inception of the Programme in 1987, around 400 participants from Western Australia have been employed in schools, Boards of Education and government offices across Japan, from the sunny islands of Okinawa to the snow fields of Hokkaido.