Japan is Awesome

Love watching Kurosawa or Ozu? Read manga avidly? Obsessed with playing Final Fantasy? There are loads of reasons why you may want to work, study and live in Japan and plenty of opportunities to do so. Here are some of the most established programmes of work experience and study in Japan available to UK graduates.

JET
The Japan Exchange and Teaching programme is likely the most popular way British graduates choose to work in Japan. JET is run by the Japanese government and its embassies, and there are currently over 4,600 graduates taking part of which around 200 are from the UK. Its aim is to promote international understanding and to improve foreign language teaching. The main role is for Assistant Language Teacher where participants are placed in schools teaching English to children aged between 6 and 18.
As JET is so popular places on the programme are quite competitive. It can be beneficial to have some experience teaching children, and the Sussex Plus Schools and Colleges Programme can help with this. Applications close next Tuesday, 27 October though so you’ll need to be quick. It will also be useful to attend the Careers and Employability Centre JET event taking place on 29 October 1-2pm where a previous JET participant will share their experiences of the application process and of their time teaching in Japan. You can book your place on the event here.

Daiwa
Daiwa is a British charity supporting British/ Japanese ties and the Daiwa Foundation Scholarship is a 19 month programme including intensive Japanese language classes, a home stay and a work placement. The maximum age is 35 and you need to demonstrate that the experience would be useful for your career. You don’t need to be a graduate and you must be a beginner to studying the Japanese language. More information and application details can be found here. The deadline for applications for starting next September is 3 December 2009. Daiwa will be in the Careers and Employability Centre on 3 November 2009 1-2pm to talk about the programme and how to apply. Book this event here.

Studying in Japan
There are various scholarships and bursaries available to UK nationals looking to study in Japan. JSPS has several research fellowships and programmes available for science postdocs. MEXT scholarships are for postgraduate research in Japan in a range of subjects. They are funded by the Japanese Government. It is not necessary to have previous ability in the Japanese language but applicants will be expected to study Japanese.