CLAIR News July 2025

Important

Response to Safety Confirmation during Earthquakes and Emergencies (Safety Confirmation System)

In the event of a disaster, CLAIR uses its Safety Confirmation System (Emergency Call) to verify the safety of JET Programme participants in the affected area. Responding to safety notifications is quick, so please do so immediately upon receipt. We also kindly ask that you report any updates to your contact details as soon as possible.

Safety Confirmation Registration

https://asp2.emc-call.jp/clair/index_en.html or https://asp2.emc-call2nd.jp/clair/index_en.html
Login: The final nine digits of your JET number, without the first two digits (20).
Password: Same as above
(If your contracting organisation has changed, please register your new address right away.)

Every year, emergency warnings are issued across Japan. Additionally, Japan is vulnerable to major earthquakes and other natural disasters. When these events happen, embassies and consulates may contact CLAIR to verify the safety of JET Programme participants. In these cases, CLAIR provides data from its Safety Confirmation System. For this reason, we ask that you not only respond swiftly during emergencies, but that JET Programme participants and supervisors cooperate to ensure proper registration and understanding of response procedures.

Additional Notes:

Safety confirmation requests are sent out based on the registered host prefecture or designated city. You may receive a confirmation check even if you are not physically near the affected area. Please still respond in these cases.
We cannot conduct safety checks by phone.
Prefectural advisors and supervisors who wish to conduct a Safety Confirmation System drill/simulation may contact CLAIR to request one.

Emergency Pocket Guide for JET Programme Participants

To ensure your safety in Japan, please take the time to prepare in the event of a disaster.

CLAIR has put together an Emergency Pocket Guide for use during a disaster. Please fill in the key sections and keep the guide with you at all times, as a disaster can happen at any moment.
Note: CLAIR also hands out the Emergency Pocket Guide to new participants during orientation.

URL: https://jetprogramme.org/en/emergency-support/

Contact Information Survey Registration

CLAIR requires registration of an email address to make use of online training services offered to JET Programme participants. You can also update your contact information through the same link.

Contact Information Survey (Used for non-emergency outreach): https://goo.gl/u1gVT2
Login ID: JET number (11 digits beginning with 20)
Password: Date of birth (YYYYMMDD)

Note: For JET Programme participants who were originally scheduled to arrive in Japan in 2020 or 2021, please use your pre-arrival JET number that starts with 2020 or 2021.

Mental Health Support Resources

Subsidy Application Deadline: Wednesday, 1 April 2026

CLAIR offers the JET Programme Mental Health Counselling Assistance Programme with the aim of enhancing mental health support for JET Programme participants. This Programme provides a partial subsidy (50%, up to 30,000 yen per year) for counselling costs incurred through consultation with mental health professionals not covered by health insurance.

The coverage period for this year is from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. Application documents for the subsidy should be submitted through contracting organisations and arrive at CLAIR no later than Wednesday, 1 April 2026.
Important: Please be aware that any applications CLAIR receives after the 1 April 2026 deadline will not be eligible for the subsidy.

JET Programme participants can also benefit from free counselling offered by CLAIR via email and Video Call. (via Microsoft Teams)

If you wish to use these services, please access them using the URL below, input the ID/password, and follow the instructions for registration. To help the counselling service to communicate with you more effectively, please register with your personal email address instead of a work or organizational one. If you haven’t done so yet, we kindly ask you to update your information. Up to seven video-call sessions are available between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026. We recommend starting with email, which has no limits on usage.

Web mail and video call counselling

Website: https://jetcounseling.com/
Username: jet
(Please check the email edition of CLAIR News for the latest password.)

JET Programme General Information Handbook (GIH)

Every year, CLAIR updates the General Information Handbook (GIH) for JET Programme participants. Please be sure to refer to it whenever you have questions regarding living in Japan or JET Programme policies.

Important: we have updated the latest GIH to fix an omission in the English translation. The original Japanese text and the added corresponding English translation are as follows:

(Japanese version) Page 190
注：帰国費用の費用弁償について、日本にとどまることが決まっている方への一時帰国のための支給ではありません。

(English version) Page 191
Note: The reimbursement of expenses for return travel to one’s home country is not intended for temporary return travel by those who have decided to remain in Japan.

You can consult/download the latest version of the GIH at the link below.

URL: https://jetprogramme.org/en/gih

News / Updates

ALT High-Level Training Seminar (Online Conference)

CLAIR is pleased to announce that it will be offering online ALT High Level Training again in 2025–26. ALT High-Level Training aims to provide in-depth knowledge and practical ideas for experienced ALTs and the teachers they work with. Courses are available for all levels from elementary to senior high school.

Open to:

All current JET Programme ALTs who arrived in Japan before 31 March 2025.
Teachers of English (including elementary school teachers) with whom JET Programme ALTs work.

Additional Information

The training will be delivered online via Zoom.
The training takes place over four days. The first three days will take place in August, and the last day will take place in early December.
Further details, including the final timetable, registration method and period, will be sent via contracting organisations at the start of July.

Japanese Language Courses (Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced)

Deadline for August Intake: 20 July 2025

Important update about the Japanese language courses

CLAIR’s Japanese language course has been renewed. If you haven’t signed up for the new course, please do so through the following application form:
URL: https://forms.office.com/r/HeW382TWwN

Applications received before the 20th of any month will allow you to start the course starting from the 1st of the following month. Your login credentials will be sent via email. Please make sure to allow emails from addresses ending in “@attainj.co.jp”.
Note: Registration lasts for 6 months; you do not need to re-register each month.

New Course Tutorial and Course Guide

Following a change in the provider of the course, a video tutorial is available to show new students around the platform. You can find the video tutorial and course guide at the following link. We hope this new course helps you in your endeavours to learn Japanese.
URL: https://jetprogramme.org/en/languagecourses/

Regarding unit deadlines

Each unit should be completed within one month to ensure the course is finished in a reasonable timeframe. However, you are responsible for attending the course at a reasonable pace.
Note: Questions about course content (grammar, vocabulary, etc.) may be submitted through the course provider website. A Japanese instructor will answer them. Please note that responses may take a few days.

Your Voice Matters: Survey on the Local Vitalization Cooperator Programme

Deadline: 25 July 2025

At present, about 160 foreign residents are serving as Local Vitalization Cooperators (chiiki okoshi kyōryokutai：地域おこし協力隊), contributing across a range of different fields including inbound tourism promotion and community-building between foreign and Japanese citizens. This programme aims at supporting those who wish to continue working in Japanese communities after the conclusion of their term of appointment on the JET Programme. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) would like to hear your voices and kindly asks you to respond to the following survey.

This brief survey will only take a few minutes of your time. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
URL: https://forms.gle/3mKf4n8swGdDamUa8

General Information

Grant for TEFL/TESOL Certification

Information regarding the 2025–26 TEFL/TESOL Certification Grant have been posted on the JET Programme website and sent to contracting organisations. Details are available on the page below.
URL: https://jetprogramme.org/en/tefl/

For enquiries, please use CLAIR’s grant-specific email address: grant@clair.or.jp

Period of Stay and Status of Residence Renewal

To JET Programme participants who arrived in summer:

It might be time to extend your period of stay, so please check the dates written on your residence card (especially JET Programme participants in their third year who will be reappointed for another term).

For information on extending your period of stay or changing your status of residence, please refer to the Section 2.6 Status of Residence in the General Information Handbook (GIH).
GIH: https://jetprogramme.org/en/gih/

Information for JET Programme Participants Ending their Term of Appointment

JET Programme participants finishing their appointments in 2025 should refer to CLAIR’s online After JET Guide for information about how to prepare for their successor, move out of their apartment, deal with reverse culture shock, or prepare for their next career move.

If you are finishing your term of appointment on the JET Programme this year and returning to your home country, please make sure you discuss travel arrangements with your contracting organisation as early as possible.
URL: https://jetprogramme.org/en/ajg/

Update: In addition, the information shared during the 2024–2025 JET Programme Leavers Seminar held on 29th January may also be helpful in your preparations. Please see the link below for a recording and other materials.
URL: https://jetprogramme.org/en/current/leavers/seminar/r6/
(Please refer to the email version of CLAIR News for the password)

Lump-Sum Pension Withdrawal Payment

JET Programme participants finishing their term of appointment and returning to their home countries may be eligible to receive a pension refund (lump-sum withdrawal payment).
For more information, please refer to pp. 190–199 of the General Information Handbook (GIH).
GIH: https://jetprogramme.org/en/gih/

Information is also available in English and Japanese on the following website:
URL: https://www.nenkin.go.jp/international/english/index.html

Embassy Information for JET Programme Participants

CLAIR maintains a webpage on the JET Programme website for diplomatic missions in Japan to post information to the attention of JET Programme participants from their country. Please check this page regularly for updates.
URL: https://jetprogramme.org/en/embassyinformation/

[July Update] Information about the U.S. Embassy and consulate has been added.

Please note that CLAIR does not bear responsibility for information provided through this page. For enquiries regarding specific information, please contact the embassy in question directly.

Registering with your Embassy

All JET Programme participants are strongly advised to register with their home country’s embassy or local consulate and/or through their embassy-run travel registration system while living in Japan. Your embassy may be able to help you and your relatives obtain necessary information and check on each other’s safety in times of emergency. Please check the website of your home country’s embassy or local consulate for more details.
URL: https://www.mofa.go.jp/about/emb_cons/protocol/index.html

Home Country Taxes

Personal tax affairs in one’s home country are the responsibility of each JET Programme participant. Be sure to obtain and keep your gensen chōshūhyō, or Statement of Earnings, from your contracting organisation, as this may be necessary for filing your taxes abroad. Please refer to the General Information Handbook (GIH) for more details.
URL: https://jetprogramme.org/en/gih

Enrolment in Property Insurance

Is your house or apartment covered by property insurance (kasai hoken)? If you do not know, we recommend you check with your contracting organisation supervisor.

There have been several cases where JET Programme participants were forced to pay for damages to not only their own but also their neighbours’ housing when there were water leaks or other problems. (If a water leak occurs, damage to the property of neighbours is covered by the JET Accident Insurance Policy Liability Endorsement, but damage to your own property, as well as damage to the structure or building, can only be covered by property insurance.)

Whether or not to purchase property insurance is your choice. However, costs can be very high if you are found liable for any damages. Therefore, CLAIR recommends that participants enrol in property insurance.

Although the majority of JET Programme participants live in rental properties, earthquake insurance may also be taken to account for the cost of lost household items, such as personal computers or TVs. Therefore, please take care to research a suitable form of insurance for your situation.

JET Programme Official Social Media

CLAIR regularly shares information of interest to both current and former JET Programme participants on the following social media platforms. Be sure to follow us to stay informed about upcoming opportunities and updates!

LinkedIn: https://jp.linkedin.com/company/japan-exchange-and-teaching-program-me-jet

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jet_programme/

X: https://x.com/JET_Programme