CLAIR News September 2023

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 not covered by health insurance.
The coverage period for this year is from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. Documents for the subsidy should be submitted through Contracting Organisations until 5 April 2024. Since there is a high volume of applications in March and April, please kindly submit the documents in advance.

JET Programme participants can also receive free counselling offered by CLAIR via Web Mail and Skype. If you wish to use these services, please access them using the URLs below, input the ID/password, and follow the instructions for registration. Up to 7 Skype sessions are available between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024. We recommend starting with web mail, which has no limits on usage.

Web Mail and Skype Counselling

Website: https://jetcounseling.com/
Login Information:
User name: jet
Please check the email edition of CLAIR News for the latest password.

CLAIR requests that each JET Programme participant 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:

https://asp2.emc-call.jp/clair/index_en.html 　or
https://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).

*If your contracting organisation has changed, please register your new address.

Contact Information Survey: https://goo.gl/u1gVT2
Login ID: JET Number (11 digits beginning with 20)
Password: Date of birth (YYYYMMDD)

*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

Emergency Pocket Guide for JET Programme Participants
To ensure your safety in Japan, please take the opportunity to ensure that you are prepared in case a disaster occurs.
CLAIR has compiled an Emergency Pocket Guide for reference in the event of a disaster. Please keep it with you at all times. Please ensure that you fill out the important parts and keep it with you in case of a disaster.
*CLAIR distributes the Emergency Pocket Guide during orientation for new arrivals.

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

In the event of a disaster CLAIR will confirm the safety of JET Programme participants using the Safety Confirmation System (Emergency Call). It only takes a few moments to confirm your safety via the email you receive. Please make sure you respond regarding your safety situation when a safety confirmation email arrives, as it otherwise takes time for Host Prefectures/Designated Cities to confirm the safety of each individual JET Programme participant in the affected area(s).

In any given year in Japan, there will be somewhere which has had an emergency warning issued. The country is also prone to large earthquakes. At the moment Japan is entering a period of increased chance for emergency warnings to be issued as a result of increased rain and typhoons. Because of this, we are asking JET Programme participants and supervisors at each contracting organisation to confirm information registered with the Safety Confirmation System and to check how to respond to a safety confirmation request should an email arrive. If you receive a safety confirmation request email, please respond to it right away.

Safety confirmation requests are sent out based on Host Prefecture/Designated City, so participants may receive safety confirmation requests even when they are not physically near the site of a disaster. In this case, a response is still required from each individual to whom the request is sent.

CLAIR is requesting the cooperation of JET Programme participants who arrived 30 July or 6 August 2023 in completing its 2023–2024 Post-Arrival Orientation Survey, deadline Sunday, 24 September.

Survey for JET Programme participants arriving 30 July:
https://jetprogramme.org/en/20230730ori/

Survey for JET Programme participants arriving 6 August:
https://jetprogramme.org/en/20230806ori/

*Links to the survey are available from each of the ALT, CIR and SEA pages. The password for each page may be found in the orientation programme.

The time for reappointment procedures will begin soon (or has already begun for some participants). Please talk with friends, family, etc. and consult with your supervisor before making your decision. Changes cannot be made to reappointment decisions after the submission deadline.

All JET Programme participants should receive documentation regarding the reappointment procedures from their contracting organisations. Please read the documents carefully and consult with your supervisor if you have any questions. The reappointment documents will also be made accessible on the JET Programme website after the official notice to contracting organisations. Please refer to the links below.

More information about reappointment can be found in the GIH (pg. 65-69). Please note that the content of the GIH may differ from the reappointment documents provided by your contracting organisation. In that case, please prioritise the content in the documents provided by your contracting organisation.

https://jetprogramme.org/en/gih/
https://jetprogramme.org/en/reappointment/
(Please check the email edition of CLAIR News for the latest password.)

CLAIR is very happy to announce the long-awaited return of the JET Video Contest, which will be held for the first time in seven years starting this fall! All JET Programme alumni as well as current participants are invited to submit self-made short movies with a length of up to five minutes. All videos should be related to your experiences in Japan, as well as align with one of the following famous Japanese idioms.

The application period will start on 1 October 2023. The creators of exceptional videos will be invited on a trip to Tokyo for an award ceremony in early summer 2024, with their flight and accommodation paid for, and have the chance to receive a reward for their work.

More details about the JET Video Contest will be announced on the JET Programme website (https://jetprogramme.org/en/videocontest/) as well as on our official social media, so please stay tuned for future updates!

Beginning with the 2023–2024 JET Programme year, CLAIR is offering the online Career Vision Conference for all current JET Programme participants and alumni. This initiative was formerly part of the After JET Conference, only open to JET Programme participants finishing their time on the programme and JET Programme alumni.

The 2023–2024 JET Programme Career Vision Conference will be held online 18–19 November (Saturday–Sunday), and aims to inform participants about possible post-JET Programme career paths via webinar Q&As with alumni in various fields.

Signups will be announced mid-September. Please look out for more news from your Contracting Organisation and in October’s CLAIR News.

Advance registration is required. Panels are limited to 3,000 participants each, with spots being first-come first-served. Participants do not need to attend every panel.

Visit our revised Career Support initiative page here:
https://jetprogramme.org/en/careersupport/

The 2023–2024 CIR Mid-Year Conference will be held over the following dates:

Session 1: 13–15 December 2023
Session 2: 4–6 March 2024

The location of both sessions will be the Japan Intercultural Academy of Municipalities (JIAM) in Shiga Prefecture.

Detailed information about the event (such as participant allocation) will be sent out at a later date.

The Sports Exchange Advisor (SEA) Mid-Year Conference is a two-day conference held every year during the autumn-winter period for all SEAs.

The Conference is aimed at providing practical work-related skills and information that will help SEAs in their everyday jobs. This information is provided through a combination of workshops and seminars by various professionals.

This year, the Conference will be held on 9-10 November at BumB Tokyo Sports Culture Center.

The second application period for the 2023–2024 Grant for TEFL/TESOL Certification opened in September. Those who wish to take a TEFL/TESOL course in 2023–2024 and receive the grant should carefully review the ‘Grant Overview’ and ‘Grant Guidelines’ available at the following link, then fill out the digital application form.

https://jetprogramme.org/en/tefl/

The deadline for the second application period is Friday, 6 October. Please do not begin your selected course until receiving a notice of eligibility from CLAIR in November.

For JET Programme participants who have been sent a notice of course approval during the first application period, please aim to complete your course and send the Couse Completion Report and course certificate so that it arrives at CLAIR by the deadline of Friday, 22 February 2024.

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

The 2023–2024 Grant for JLPT is offered to JET Programme participants who have passed the N1, N2, or N3 level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), during either the first or second tests of 2023. The grant reimburses the complete testing fee of 7,500 yen.

To apply, please send the application form available at the following link by mail directly to CLAIR so that it arrives by the following dates. Details regarding application procedures are available at the following link.
https://jetprogramme.org/en/jlpt/

Registration for both testing dates has ended. Test results for the first test are available on the MyJLPT portal from Monday, 23 August. Test result notices are planned to be sent out on Thursday, 7 September. Please be sure to send in all your documents before the above deadlines.

CLAIR has started a new webpage on the JET Programme website for embassies in Japan to post information for JET Programme participants from their country. Please check this page regularly for updates.

https://jetprogramme.org/en/embassyinformation/

Please note that CLAIR does not take responsibility for any of the information listed on this page. For enquiries regarding the information on this webpage, please contact the embassy in question directly.

Information from the following embassies has been updated: Embassy of Canada

On 11 October 2023, Gunma Prefecture will hold the ‘Global Career Fair in Gunma 2023’ at Maebashi City. Fifteen companies looking to hire global talent in Japan will attend, and participants will be able to ask questions (about work content, etc.) at each company’s booth. Furthermore, there will be additional booths open for consultations on residency status (Tokyo Immigration Bureau/administrative scriveners), pensions (Pension Office), and on business startup (Gunma Prefecture). Participation is free. The deadline to apply is 9 October 2023.

https://www.pref.gunma.jp/site/gaikokujinzai/4064.html

Contact:
Regional Revitalization Department, Gunma Living and Foreigners Promotion Division, Gunma Prefectural Government
TEL　 027-226-3396

You can apply for online Japanese language courses offered by CLAIR.

For the 2023–2024, changes are being made to the format and application process for the JET Programme Japanese language courses. For detailed information, please check out the course guide on the JET Programme website (link below):

http://deli3.study.jp/?multi
http://jetprogramme.org/ja/languagecourses/

Japanese Language Course Application Form
https://bit.ly/2HfLvpv

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 scheme 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:

https://www.mofa.go.jp/about/emb_cons/protocol/index.html

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

There have been several cases where JET Programme participants were forced to pay for the 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 the choice of the JET Programme participant. However, if found liable for damages, the costs can be very high. 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.

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. Please refer to the General Information Handbook (GIH) for more details.

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

This is a reminder that CLAIR compiles handbooks for ALTs, SEAs, and CIRs on the JET Programme website.

The handbooks provide information on work duties, and how to adapt to your workplace in Japan.

If you have not checked out your handbook yet, please take a look!

Additionally, the page contains teaching materials for ALTs, including many example games and activities for different school levels.

https://jetprogramme.org/en/acs-h/

Besides the ALT Handbook on the JET Programme website, there is another ALT Handbook produced by MEXT with support from the British Council. This handbook can be found here: ALT handbook (https://www.britishcouncil.jp)