CLAIR News December 2021
JET Programme participants considering travel to their home countries or other overseas locations over the period between December 2021 and early January 2022 should consult carefully with their contracting organisation supervisor and exercise caution in deciding whether to travel.
From 30 November 2021, in principle, newly arriving foreigners will be denied entrance and even those who possess a valid Status of Residence are not able to re-enter Japan if they have recently stayed in certain countries/regions for the time being. At the present moment it is not possible to predict what measures may be implemented to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 going forward.
There is therefore a risk that JET Programme Participants who travel overseas may be left unable to re-enter Japan. If such a situation were to last for an extended period, it would not only cause disruptions in work related to education and international relations (such as for students who are unable to participate in language classes or those involved in internationalisation projects), but would also cause difficulties for all related parties. For example, it may be difficult to access Japanese bank accounts or to make necessary payments such as for rent or utilities from overseas. Additionally, depending on your contracting organisation, exhausting all options for paid leave may mean that such a period is treated as a non-paid absence from work. This would mean that remuneration would not be paid for the duration of said period.
For these reasons, please consider carefully any plans to travel overseas, making sure to consult with your supervisor and collect the latest information from sources such as the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page4e_001053.html) and the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (https://www.isa.go.jp/en/index.html). Please be sure to take into account factors such as flight restrictions, entry restrictions in both Japan and your home country, quarantine measures, and the number of flights available to avoid disruption to your duties.
In order to prevent the resurgence of infection, we should all thoroughly implement basic infection prevention measures such as avoiding the “Mittsu no mitsu” or “three Cs” during any travel which crosses prefectural borders, and act to avoid the same situations in the workplace and strive to prevent infection.
For further information, please refer to the national and local governments’ official websites.
Cabinet Secretariat website:
https://corona.go.jp/emergency
Vaccine booster shots (a third shot) for COVID-19 are scheduled to be carried out between 1 December 2021 and 30 September 2022.
For details, please visit the following webpages from the Japanese government and local municipalities:
Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/covid-19/vaccine.html
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:
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).
Contact Information Survey: https://goo.gl/u1gVT2
Login ID: JET Number (11 digits beginning with 20)
(Please refer to the email version of CLAIR News for the password)
*For JET Programme participants who were originally scheduled to arrive in Japan in 2020 please use your pre-arrival JET number that starts with 2020.
*A notice regarding the 2021 Safety Confirmation System (Emergency Call) was sent out in mid-May. Please ensure that you confirm the content of this notice once you receive it from your contracting organisation.
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.
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 2021 to 31 March 2022. The application form must arrive at CLAIR by 8 April 2022 (Fri).
※ Starting April 2021, counselling institutions and individual practitioners residing overseas will also be considered eligible for the subsidy. Please consult with your contracting organisation supervisor for more information. If you wish to apply for the subsidy, you must do so through your contracting organisation.
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 2021 and 31 March 2022. We recommend starting with web mail, which has no limits on usage.
In addition to the Web Mail and Skype counselling listed above, we offer a toll-free telephone counselling service which does not require any advance reservation to use. The service generally operates twice per month, on the 10th and 20th (counselling days which would fall on a Sunday or holiday are instead held on the Saturday prior to that day). The counselling dates for the 2021-2022 fiscal year are listed below. Please make the most of these services if you are experiencing anxiety or other burdens on your mental health.
※＜Operating Times＞
（Weekdays）17:30～21:00 （Saturdays）13:00～16:30
※Schedule for the fiscal year of April 2021 to March 2022 (from November 2021)
10 December (Fri), 20 December (Mon), 8 January (Sat), 20 January (Thurs), 10 February (Thurs), 19 February (Sat), 10 March (Thurs), 19 March (Sat)
Web Mail Counselling
(Please refer to the email version of CLAIR News for the password)
English: https://www.kokoro-soudan.net/en/
Japanese: https://www.kokoro-soudan.net/
Skype Counselling
(Please refer to the email version of CLAIR News for the password)
English: https://www.service-fismec.net/inquiry-eng/login/
Japanese: https://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.
Iwate Global Internship Program hosted by Iwate Prefecture
https://www.iwate-glocal.jp
●About
We support businesses that seek to recruit global talents with highly practical knowledge and skills and offer opportunities to match them with individuals who have an interest in working in Japan.
Whether you are an international student or a JET Programme participant looking for further job opportunities in Japan, please apply to experience working as an intern at businesses based in Iwate.
●Date and Time:
Details will be decided upon consultation with the interested participant.
●Accepting Companies
1 Iwate Egg Delica Corporation (Hachimantai City)
2 Yoshida Surreg & Design (Morioka City)
3 Ark-nets Corporation (Morioka City)
●How to Apply
Please download the entry sheet from the program website and mail it to us after filling it out.
Email: glocal-iwate@iwate-ia.or.jp
First deadline to register: 10 December 2021 (Fri)
For more information, please refer to the Sapporo City website below.
https://www.city.sapporo.jp/keizai/tradeinfo/jinzai.html(Outline）
【Date】
Saturday, 11 December 2021, 09:00-12:00
【Format】
Online using “Zoom”
【Application Deadline】
Tuesday, 7 December 2021
If the number of applications reaches a certain amount, we may close the seminar application before the deadline.
【How to Apply】
Please fill out the application form below.
https://forms.gle/r6UoifQC9aKMoL3x6
【Participating Companies】
(tentative) AWL inc,E+CRAFTMAN Co., Ltd.,SOC Co., Ltd. , Kanamoto Co., Ltd.,Gear8 Inc.,suncreer inc., hanamaru inc,Full Commission Co.,Ltd, THE HOKKAIDO BANK,LTD., Media Magic inc, Ridgeworks, Inc.
All JET Programme participants are strongly advised to register with their home country’s embassy or local consulate, and/or through your embassy run travel registration scheme while living in Japan, as 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:
http://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. In the event that 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 of the building, can only be covered by property insurance. Whether or not to purchase property insurance is the choice of the JET participant. However, if you are liable for damages, the costs can be very high. Therefore CLAIR recommends that JET Programme participants enroll 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.
It is possible to apply for online Japanese Language Courses. Please check the Japanese Language Course Guide on the official JET Programme Website, and apply through the Contact Information Survey 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.
https://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 Programme participant 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.
https://jetprogramme.org/en/jetvoices
A useful checklist for newly arrived JET Programme participants can be found on page 81-83 of the General Information Handbook (GIH). Please refer to the checklist for tips about how to become accustomed to your new residence and workplace, including reviewing insurance policies and registering with your embassy.
The latest version of the GIH in both Japanese and English can be found at the following link:
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/
JET Programme participants finishing their appointments and returning to their home countries may be eligible to receive a pension refund (lump-sum withdrawal payment). For more information, please refer to pages 169-175 of the 2021 edition of the General Information Handbook (GIH).
jetprogramme.org/en/gih/
Information is also available in English and Japanese on the following website:
https://www.nenkin.go.jp/international/english/index.html (English)
https://www.nenkin.go.jp/index.html (Japanese)
Reappointment procedures have begun. Please talk with friends and family and consult with your supervisor before making your decision. Changes cannot be made to reappointment decisions after the submission deadline.All JET participants should have received 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 can also be found on the JET Programme website. Please refer to the links below.More information about reappointment can be found in the GIH (pg. 62-67). 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.
jetprogramme.org/en/gih/
jetprogramme.org/en/reappointment/
(Please refer to the email version of CLAIR News for the password)
