［September 2019］
The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme and Sister City Relationships

In July and August, approximately 200 new Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme participants from Australia and New Zealand embarked upon their new journey and arrived in the local area of their Contracting Organisations across Japan. Some of these participants were specifically placed incities or prefectures that have a sister city/state relationship with their hometowns. Aside from contributing to the existing sister city/state relations during their time on the Programme by engaging in cross-cultural interactions in their work and private lives, we also anticipate the new JET participants to continue to enhance the sister city/state relationships even after they complete the Programme.

In the JET Programme participant hiring process, after consulting with the individual contracting organisationswithin their prefecture and municipality,prefectural and municipal governments can submit requests to the CLAIR Headquarters regarding their incoming JET participants. An example of these requests is that prefectural and municipal governmentscan indicate their preferences for where they would like their new JET participants to be from, whether it is a specific country, region, state, or city that they have an existing established relationship with. As CLAIR needs to process about 2,000 matches every year, not all of the requests can be fulfilled. However, if your city or state has a sister or friendship city/prefecture in Japan, it may be a good idea to encourage your partner prefecture/city in Japan to request for JET participants from your city/state.

Aspiring JET participants are also able to indicate location preferences in their JET Programme applications. As mentioned above, not all requests can be fulfilled. Despite this, it is an excellent way to further strengthen the ties between your city/state and your partner city/prefecture in Japan if aspiring JET participants from your local area nominate your partner city/prefecture in Japan as the location they would like to be placed in. If you happen to come across any aspiring JET Programme participants, you could inform them of the appeals of your partner city/prefecture, and the astounding experiences they could have if they lived and worked in the partner city/prefecture as a JET participant.

Former JET Programmeparticipants are also great advocates who can assist with solidifying the relations between your city/state and your Japanese partner city/prefecture, as they can utilise the insights, knowledge, and experiences they gained while living and working in Japan to provide cross-cultural support for any current or prospective relationships between Australia/New Zealand and Japan. If your city/state would like to harness the skills of the former JET participants living in your local area, I will recommend contacting your local JETAA chapter*.

I believe all former, current, and future JET Programme participants can make substantial contributions to further accelerate the relationship between your city/state and Japan. I sincerely hope that you can consider embracing what the JET Programme can offer to further enhance the interstate or intercity relationships between your city/state and Japan, and that the relationships, as well as the JET Programme, can continue to prosper in future.

* JETAA is short for JET Alumni Association where former JET Programme Participants reunite, promote the program, and become advocates for cultural exchange between Japan and their country of residence.

For detail of the JET Programme, please see the link below.

http://jetprogramme.org/en/