CLAIR News March 2021
The State of Emergency Declaration related to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), was lifted on 28 February in Gifu, Aichi, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, and Fukuoka Prefectures. However, the State of Emergency Declaration has been extended past the original end date of 7 March and will continue for two weeks until 21 March in Chiba, Saitama, Kanagawa, and Tokyo Prefectures.
The government is continuing to call for basic prevention of infection measures such as wearing a mask, handwashing, and avoiding the “Mittsu no mitsu”, or “three Cs”: Confined spaces (with poor ventilation), Crowded places (with many people nearby), and Close contact (with people).
Local governmental authorities are also asking for vigilance in combatting the spread of the novel coronavirus. For further information, please refer to the national and local governments’ official websites.
-Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet
japan.kantei.go.jp
japan.kantei.go.jp/ongoingtopics/vaccine.html
corona.go.jp/en/
CLAIR’s Department of Multiculturalism has compiled information about the novel coronavirus in multiple languages. Please visit the following link for information:
www.clair.or.jp/tabunka/portal/info/contents/114517.php
NHK WORLD also provides information about the Novel Coronavirus.
www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/tags/82/
NHK Easy Japanese
www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10012293221000/k10012293221000.html
and Contact Information Survey for JET Programme Participants
CLAIR requests each JET Programme participant to register for the Safety Confirmation System (Emergency Call) and Contact Information Survey. These are two separate systems. Please register to both using the links below.
Safety Confirmation System:
asp2.emc-call.jp/clair/index_en.html or
asp2.emc-call2nd.jp/clair/index_en.html
Your login ID and password are both the final nine numbers of your JET Number, omitting the first two digits (20).
Contact Information Survey: goo.gl/u1gVT2
Login ID: JET Number (11 digits beginning with 20)
Password: Date of birth (YYYYMMDD)
Following a change in operation of the Safety Confirmation system, a User Guide and notification have been sent from Contracting Organisations. Even those who believe that they are already registered with the Safety Confirmation system should take this opportunity to confirm their registration when you receive these materials.
All IDs and passwords have been returned to their default settings, so when confirming your contact details, please change your password (information about utilising the message recorder and the order of responses during emergencies is found within the User Guide, so please utilise it effectively).
With the aim of enhancing mental health support for JET Programme participants, CLAIR offers the JET Programme Mental Health Counselling Assistance Programme. This programme provides a partial subsidy (50%, up to 30,000 yen per year) for counselling costs incurred through consultation with mental health professionals in Japan not covered by health insurance.
The coverage period for this year is from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. The application form must arrive at CLAIR by 9 April 2021 (Fri).
CLAIR also offers a free online service to provide JET Programme participants with mental health assistance from professional counsellors using Web Mail and Skype.
If you would like to use this service, please access the following website. After entering the password, you will be instructed to register. You can receive up to seven Skype Counselling sessions from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. CLAIR recommends trying the Web Mail Counselling system first. There is no limit to the number of threads you can start in the Web Mail Counselling system.
In addition to the Web Mail and Skype counselling listed above, we have established a toll-free telephone counselling service. This service is available once per month and does not require any advance reservation. Furthermore, as a special service, counselling will be made available every Wednesday between 13 January and 3 March 2021. Please make the most of these services if you are experiencing anxiety or other burdens on your mental health.
Web Mail Counselling
Login Password: Please refer to the e-mail version of CLAIR News.
English: www.kokoro-soudan.net/en/
Japanese: www.kokoro-soudan.net/
Skype Counselling
Login password: Please refer to the e-mail version of CLAIR News.
English: www.service-fismec.net/inquiry-eng/login/
Japanese: www.service-fismec.net/inquiry-ftof/login/
Counselling via Telephone
Phone number: 0120-810-803
(No advance reservation required. Calls are free of charge.)
※ Limited to one call per person per day (no annual limit)
※ CLAIR has prepared three telephone lines for this service; however, there may be times when the lines become congested. Thank you in advance for your understanding.
10 years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake. The CLAIR New York Office are hosting an online screening of documentary films about the Great East Japan Earthquake along with panel discussions. Many of these films are by or about JET Program participants, and all deal with various aspects of JET and other foreign support for Japan, sister city and exchange relationships, and recovery efforts in Tohoku.
There are real-time broadcasting film screenings and Live Q&A sessions with the directors each night. You can also access each film anytime from 6 March 9AM to 15 March 11AM (JST).
■ Date：March 6, through March 12, 2021
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (Japanese Standard Time) each day
■ URL：ff311tohoku.eventive.org
Facebook：www.facebook.com/Footprints-Footsteps-311-and-the-Future-of-Tohoku-103744258354561
■ Fee：Free
※Panel discussion will be held in English.
※Each film has subtitle.
Contact Information
Email：ff3.11@jlgc.org
Contact：CLAIR NY Fujiwara, Hirosawa
For those currently enrolled in one of CLAIR’s Japanese language courses, please remember to plan your study schedule ahead of time. If you would like to change your course level, you can do so by accessing the Contact Information Survey site, selecting your desired course, and then clicking the ‘OK’ button at the very bottom of the page.
Participants who apply before the 10th of any given month will be able to start their course on the 1st of the following month. Once your course has started, please remember to plan your study schedule ahead of time.
deli3.study.jp/?multi
jetprogramme.org/en/languagecourses/
CLAIR and The Yomiuri Shimbun have launched a periodical column in The Japan News, a globally-circulated English language newspaper. ‘JET Programme Voices’ is a collection of articles submitted by current and former JET participants which give a worldwide audience insight into unique experiences and achievements of participants during their time on the Programme. Instructions regarding the submission of documents are accessible from the link below.
Personal tax affairs in one’s home country are the responsibility of each JET participant. Be sure to receive and keep your gensen choshuhyo, or Statement of Earnings. Please refer to pages 63 and 197 of the latest edition of the General Information Handbook (GIH) for more details.
Presentation materials and handouts from the 2021 After JET Conference have been uploaded to the After JET Conference page on the JET Programme website.
If you were not able to attend the conference or missed the registration period, please refer to the following link:
jetprogramme.org/en/after-con21/
In addition, for JET participants considering working in Japan, CLAIR provides information on job hunting in Japan.
jetprogramme.org/en/careersupport/careervision-webseminar/
For JET participants who arrived in April, it is almost time to extend your period of stay, so please check the dates written on your Residence Card (especially JET 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 pages 69 and 71 of the latest edition of the General Information Handbook (GIH).
jetprogramme.org/en/gih/
JET participants finishing their appointments in April may be eligible to receive a pension refund (lump-sum withdrawal payment). For more information, please refer to pages 169-175 of the latest edition of the General Information Handbook (GIH).
jetprogramme.org/en/gih/
Information is also available in English and Japanese on the following website:
www.nenkin.go.jp/international/english/index.html (English)
www.nenkin.go.jp/index.html (Japanese)
For those JET Programme participants wishing to become a Japanese Instructor in the future, and fulfil one or both of the following conditions, you may apply for the National JET Japanese Pedagogical Training Seminar. (Maximum of 20 applicants allowed.)
1) Japanese Language Proficiency Test N3
2) CEFR or Above JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education Level B1
Application Deadline：24 March 2021 (Wed)
Seminar Venue：The Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute
5-6-36 Kita-Urawa, Urawa-ku Saitama-shi Saitama 330-0074 Japan
Duration of Seminar：17 May 2021 (Mon)～25 May 2021 (Tue)
Please access to below link for details.
www.jpf.go.jp/e/urawa/e_trnng_t/trnng_t.html
