The Japanese Shell Game

Before I begin, let me state for the record that I am a JET Programme alumni, 1995-1998. My intent here isn't to discourage people from joining JET, but explain a couple of insights I've had on it and opinions that I have developed since working in the EFL labor market recruiting teachers globally. If you're looking for a job in Japan teaching English, JET is for sure one way to accomplish that.

That being said, let's get the important part out of the way:

There is no "JET Programme"

You can't look up the address of the JET Programme and send it a postcard. You can't call it, you can't visit its office. Because it doesn't exist.

You can find the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) and a brand name that CLAIR uses to recruit people from overseas is called the "JET Programme." But, as you will see, this is a bit of a shell game. On the CLAIR page for JET, you'll see that they describe JET as a kind of program made up by CLAIR and the Japanese ministries of Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs and Communications, and the Ministry of Education. This is not a lie, those ministries do various things to support CLAIR in maintaining JET.

But, what is the difference between CLAIR and private ALT placement companies?

CLAIR is a company

The Council of Local Authorities for International Relations is what is called a "general incorporated foundation" which is defined as "non-profit organization that is granted legal personality to a collection of assets and maintains and operates those assets." The key point here being the term "legal personality" which means it is a corporation, an organization where the respective directors and managers do not have to take legal responsibility for the actions (success or failure) of the organization. This is a basic point of business law.

A similar type of foundation in the US might be The Salvation Army or Toys for Tots. They run on the same kind of business model and legal framework.

CLAIR also has other activities globally beyond the scope of JET. It promotes trade, sports, overseas development, educational activities, etc. in many countries. Part of its page is actually termed "economic activities" and particularly deals with inbound tourism.

Does CLAIR make a profit?

Looking at it's budget, I would say that it does make a profit. A surplus of 64.48 million yen in 2023. Is it taxable? Under a non-profit status, it depends. If the suplus was made by profit-making activities, then it is taxable, and if it were from donations etc, then non-taxable. In their annual statements, CLAIR does not disclose what programs bring money in, and they only disclose the general categories of expenditures, such as building maintenance, employee salaries, utilities, etc. Like any private company, they are not required to report where their income comes from publicly.

If you apply to JET, do you work for CLAIR?

No. You don't. You never technically work for "JET" either.

What CLAIR does is operate the JET brand to recruit university graduates overseas, and then coordinates the introduction of those graduates to local board of education (BOEs) to be placed as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) in public schools. You aren't officially employed until you are introduced to your BOE and sign an employment contract with them, usually something that happens at the end of the JET orientation. Until then, you've been in Japan for several days thinking you had a job when you actually did not have one yet, you only had a job offer. This is important to note: a lot of arrangements were made for you by CLAIR only on their word that you'd have a job.

Is CLAIR legally licensed to recruit teachers?

I cannot tell. I suspect not. Looking at their webpage, there's no sign of them having either a 有料職業紹介事業 (yuryou syokugyou syoukai jigyou - "for-profit employment introduction") license or a 労働者派遣事業許可番号 (roudousya haken jigyou kyouka bango - "worker dispatch business licence number") either of which (or both) might legally be required to actually do the business of recruiting graduates from overseas and introducing them to BOEs. Technically, it's illegal to do business as a recruiter without the appropriate licensing.

What I suspect is that CLAIR uses some fancy language like "international cooperation" to dodge the fact that they de facto operate as a for-profit employment introduction agency, and that MOFA, MEXT, and MIC all turn a blind eye to the legal requirements and just stamp the papers for CLAIR at each step. What CLAIR is saying is that the JET participant is actually not a "worker" subject to labor law, but some kind of cultural ambassador who shows up in a room where the BOEs discover that they are available to be employed. It's almost like the employement part is an accident. You can see here when I referred to it a shell game, I mean that they never really say if the participant is hired as a laborer or not.

"JET pays more, why should I care?"

If monetary compensation is your primary and only motivator, then definitely you shouldn't even bother thinking about the legal framework of labor recruiting in Japan and how the non-profit organization created by the government (CLAIR) skirts all the relevant laws in placing ALTs in BOEs. However, consider the point that as soon as you are passed from CLAIR to your BOE, the relationship with CLAIR ends. Any responsibility at all is finished, any advocacy or even a place to complain, vanished. Since CLAIR doesn't seem to be a for-profit employment introduciton agency, are they legally required to make sure that you (the laborer) is treated according to ethical practices or even basic labor law? It doesn't seem that way.

As you may know, the treatment of JET programme ALTs varies greatly between employing BOEs, schools, etc. It's not like CLAIR is there to enforce standards of treatment or even help with the work environment. They've long moved on from your situation and are looking for next year's intake as soon as the Keio orientation is finished. Sure, they throw some "career seminars" and so on later on, but are they looking out for you on a daily basis? No.

So you're saying private companies are better?

Not necessarily. And not all private ALT companies are the same. Some have better training, management, and legal compliance. Some are really doubtful. What they all are is more honest; they recognize you as a laborer from the start. There's no shell game where you're an ambassador, then a participant, then a laborer. Your purpose and goal is to be a teacher from the start. That's the service they provide (teaching) and you're the delivery method. At least the private company is going to look out after their employee just like any other company in Japan.

There is a kind of anticapitalist line of thought in the collective mind of many who become teachers in Japan, that somehow doing something to make money as a business is a bad thing. That the ALT companies some how are a "scam" that steals money from the teachers that (should) rightfully be theirs. That idea doesn't hold in the context of a system where the government itself is operating a foundation designed to skirt around Japanese laws and then gets "paid" (the introduction from CLAIR to the local BOE isn't free) by transfering money from one part of the government to another. This is another part of the shell game.

JET is about wealth distribution

In the end, the real deal is that JET is about wealth redistribution, from Tokyo to local areas. The entire yearly package for the JET that the local town receives is bigger than the salary of the JET, with a part of it being a "supplement" that goes to the local town. The JET participant is the delivery method (or a counter) for the supplemental money.

Of course, like any gift in Japan, there is an expectation to reciprocate. So the local towns have to do what Tokyo wants to a degree when they receive money along with a JET. Some need that money to fund basic services. Others don't want to do what Tokyo says, so they fund ALTs on their own through private companies. That's how the free market works, even under a semi-planned economic system like the one that created JET.

The reason I bring up all this is because all of it could easily change due to a change of government or other circumstances. Already once before, during the DJP reign in the National Diet from 2009-2011, the government publicly considered eliminating JET. It would be rather easy to change the tax codes and laws regarding local governments to allow direct transfers from Tokyo to local towns. If that were to happen, CLAIR would shrink and likely move on to something else like tourism or rugby promotions. The private ALT market would expand because schools would still want to have ALTs to meet the demands of parents. I'm keeping a very close eye on how the government acts in the near future, since CLAIR was created during the bubble economy when Noboru Takeshita was prime minister and the whole shell game is a legacy of the LDP. If you're a JET fan, you should hope that the LDP keeps control of the government in the future.