JET Program alums, allies mount petition campaign

Since 1987, the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program has hired over 50,000 native English speakers to work at Japanese public schools, enriching ties between nations. Now, Tokyo’s new ruling political party has JET in its crosshairs in the wake of its effort to slash public spending to reduce its ballooning public debt. In a hearing last May, an 11-person panel of the Democratic Party of Japan ruled unanimously for a comprehensive examination of the program to decide whether it should be scaled back or cut entirely.

JET, an initiative of the Japanese government and run by three of its national ministries, has an annual budget of over $400 million. It was launched with the intentions of increasing grassroots internationalization in Japan, primarily through introducing foreigners to Japanese youth as schoolteachers across the country contracted for a minimum of one year. While the program does not require applicants to be licensed teachers (successful candidates team teach with the host school’s own native Japanese English instructor), they are expected to have an interest in Japan and a desire to integrate themselves in their new communities as cultural ambassadors.

“I am a fan of JET. The program has its flaws, but overall its aim, of ameliorating insular tendencies within Japanese society, is an earnest and genuine one,” said Debito Arudou, an American-born Japanese citizen and Hokkaido-based university professor, author and activist. “I would be sad to see JET go, as its loss would be a detriment to Japan's inevitable future as a multicultural society.”

It is the desire to keep these ideals alive after returning home and remaining involved with the Japanese community and culture that urged the JET Alumni Association (JETAA) to unify a global effort to save JET. Consisting of 21,000 members represented by 50 chapters in 15 countries, the association’s New York chapter, of which this writer is also a member, spearheaded a petition campaign earlier this month addressed to Prime Minister Naoto Kan and His Cabinet to recognize the importance and continued merits of JET. The petition has received over 1,300 signatures so far from JET participants and supporters.

“Having worked at a Fortune 500 multinational corporation for the past several years, I am fortunate to encounter some of the world’s best workers and brightest people,” said Megan Miller Yoo, JETAA New York’s president. “However, on the whole I have found JET alumni to be more reliable, more capable, more dedicated and more willing to give their time to work on what is dear to them.

“I can attest to the caliber of person that emerges from the JET Program. They are the people that are making a difference in the world, always moving forward and striving to do better, not for personal gain but for the sake of what is important to them. I am ceaselessly impressed with what we are collectively able to achieve, all on a part-time, volunteer basis!”

Some JET alumni have become well-known in the public arena. Award-winning bestselling author Bruce Feiler’s debut book, Learning to Bow, was inspired by his time on the JET Program’s inaugural year. Brooklyn native Anthony Bianchi became the first-ever North American to hold an elected position in Japan as councilman for Aichi Prefecture’s Inuyama City in 2003. Last year, Los Angeles-based JET alum Aaron Woolfolk became the first African American to direct a feature film in Japan with The Harimaya Bridge. The bilingual film, which was made with an American and Japanese cast, was also sparked by Woolfolk’s own experiences teaching English abroad and adopting a new cultural worldview.

Another New York-based JET alum is James Gannon, executive director of the Japan Center for International Exchange in New York, the U.S. affiliate of one of the leading nongovernmental institutions in the field of international affairs in Japan. “It is natural to focus on how the JET Program has helped English language education in Japan, but perhaps its greatest contribution has been the remarkable success it has had as a public diplomacy program,” he said. “By exposing thousands of young professionals to Japanese society, it has built up deep person-to-person ties between Japanese and an entire generation of non-Japanese from around the world. In fact, from a historical perspective, I think it is accurate to say it has been the most successful public diplomacy initiative in the world over the last two decades.”

Gannon broke the news about the Japanese government’s jigyo shiwake (budget review) panels and JET's earmarking for further scrutiny in an article he wrote earlier this month titled “JET Program on the Chopping Block,” which was posted on the website JetWit.com, an online resource for the JET community founded by Steven Horowitz.

A Brooklyn resident who serves as the professional outreach and development chair and a member of the board for JETAA New York, Horowitz explained that JETAA’s goals with the petition campaign are to build awareness of the issue and demonstrate to the Japanese government and key decision makers that people care about and support the continuation of JET.

Horowitz’s aim has been “using JetWit as a way to get the word out to the JET and JET alumni communities and as a way to get more people involved,” he said, along with “helping to think through the issues and getting info and answers from people who are more familiar with the details and political dynamics, along with consulting with JETAA officers and other leaders I know through my longtime involvement with JETAA.”

This support has been positive. “Lots of JET alums want to help, and believe strongly in the value and benefits of JET and JETAA to Japan,” Horowitz said. People share stories of their post-JET experiences, and how they've stayed connected to Japan.”

One such comment was posted by April Okumoto Goo, who taught on JET in Yamaguchi Prefecture from 1994 to 1996. “I treasure the memories that I have of my time in Japan,” she wrote. “Participating in the JET Program has motivated me to return to Japan on vacation and to continue to teach Japanese students about Hawaii and America by hosting Japanese students in my home. To date, my husband and I have hosted four Japanese students for short-term and long-term homestays and have enjoyed every minute of it. You cannot put a price tag on these experiences…we now live in a global community and it is more important than ever to foster cultural connections between Japan and the world.”

Gannon offers his own outreach testament: “I am embarrassed to admit that when I applied for a position on the JET Program I had little interest in Japan and could barely even find it on a map,” he said, noting that “my experiences living in a rural community and becoming immersed in Japanese society gave rise to a deep and lasting passion for Japan, and as a result, nearly 20 years later, my career still focuses primarily on U.S.-Japan relations.”

Miller Yoo is positive that JETAA’s campaign will make an impact.

“In one short week we have mobilized a committee, reached out to alumni in every corner of the world, been contacted by the media and countless supporters, and launched a petition signed by over 1,000 people and counting,” she said.

“Watching this movement grow and take a life of its own is an exhilarating feeling that makes me proud to be a part of this tremendous group.”

View the petition at www.change.org/petitions/view/save_the_jet_program. Visit www.jetprogramme.org and http://jetaany.org for more info on the JET Program and JETAA New York.

What are your feelings on the JET Program? Post a comment below.

Want more from this Examiner? Click the "Subscribe" button above for alerts on newly published NY Japanese Culture stories.