kartng

At the risk of hijacking the thread, former JET here. I think it would be useful for you to crosspost this question in /r/Japan or similar, as you are going to get a lot of different answers from JETs in different situations. One of the things they drill into you on the program is that "Every Situation Is Different", and the contracting organization you get placed with is going to basically decide what your circumstances are going to be like (and unfortunately, you have very limited control over where you get placed). That said, if I were to take a crack at each of your questions:

What made you decide you want to do this? I was in love with Japan from the first time I played FF7 (lame, I know, but that's what I trace my fascination back to). Was a major anime geek all through high school, majored in Japanese in college. Wanted more than anything to get back to Japan after studying abroad there, and JET was the premier way to make that happen.

What does your work entail? What are the hours like? I was required to be physically present at my school from 8:40-4:25. This was pretty typical for ALTs in my area, although some COs might stretch that out a bit longer. My hours were definitely shorter than my Japanese colleagues (by a significant margin)

As for what my work entailed: on paper, I taught 6 1-hour classes a week. That was it - I had no formal responsibilities beyond that. I also was asked to teach an "advanced" class made up of some of our brighter students (my kids were all bright after their own fashion, but almost none of them were college bound) 3 hours a week. My workload was extremely light. I spent quite a bit of time surfing the net (and sadly, this was before I discovered Reddit!)

I understand that you can have preferences of where to be sent, rural, semi-rural, or urban, did you get your choice? Would you have preferred to be sent elsewhere?

I asked for one of 3 prefectures in the "Kinki" region (i.e. "Mid-Western Honshu"). I got a fourth prefecture in the Kinki region, which made me pretty happy. I don't recall being asked about an urban vs. rural preference, but perhaps I just don't recall. I found that in my Prefecture, having any Japanese ability was basically a one-way ticket to the countryside (which makes sense - you can survive out there a lot better with some Japanese under your belt).

Do you have much time to check out other parts of Japan? I've heard it's pretty expensive to travel too.

Travel can be expensive, but if you're in the countryside, you are going to have a ton (i.e. ~$1200-$1800 a month) in disposable income. You are also going to want to get the hell out of there on a semi-regular basis. So yes, travel is very doable, and I'd say it's almost a requirement for staying sane in a rural placement. Urban ALTs have less disposable income, so travel might be more difficult.

What kinds of things are you doing with the paychecks (if you don't mind my asking)? Are you more interested in going out and doing things or saving up?

My first 6 months, I knocked out about 6k in miscellaneous debt while living quite comfortably. Then I found myself enamored with a city girl about an hour away and blew a ton of money traveling back and forth to see her. I was still banking at least $300 a month in long term savings, however. When I finally gave up on the city girl, I was able to go back to saving quite a bit, though I burned through most of that after meeting my eventual wife (immigration is expensive).

I went to Japan the first time as an exchange student. If it's at all possible for you to consider that, I highly recommend it. I was totally unprepared for the experience, but I think that was half the fun. I guess the only advice I do have is be prepared for how much of a shock to your system it will be to be 7000 miles away from your friends and family. I had never lived anywhere outside the city where I grew up before I went, and it was a little tougher than I expected.

I was on JET for 2 years, teaching in a mountain town of about 12,000, at an Agricultural High School. I studied Japanese at University too. My question: what are you going to do when you walk away from JET? I'm back in the US doing something completely unrelated to Japan and teaching these days, and I sometimes get fed up with myself for not parlaying my JET experience into something that kept me more connected to Japan (though my Japanese wife helps with that). Also, if you're planning to leave Japan, do you think you'll miss it? (This is a trick question: if you're anything like me, you will. A lot.)