Can someone explain what the Japanese JET program is exactly?

Question:

I'm looking for the general rundown. It's for adding english teachers to Japan right? So that means that if I got accepted I would be an english teacher in Japan? Who would I be teaching? Any broad information would be nice and you could just copy/paste info here that's clear. Also to add if it's known how many applying actually get accepted? Perhaps a educated guess?

Answer:

General rundown:

It's a government programme aimed at bringing young, university-educated people to Japan, mainly for the purpose of cultural exchange via the English language.

There are 3 positions you could have: sports representative, assistant language teacher, or co-ordinator of international relations. The vast majority of positions are ALTs.

There are very few sports reps. They would be people good at their sport who can go to Japan and help privileged kids become better at their sport.

CIRs will be place somewhere like a local international centre and help with local "international" events. For example, you could organize an Irish traditional dance, or something like that.

ALT's are mostly English teachers, but there are a few positions for other languages. All public elementary, jr. and sr. high schools are required to have at least infrequent visits from ALTs. Some schools have their own ALT(s). The ALT position itself can vary vastly, but it all supposedly comes down to helping students learn English while you tell them about your country and they tell you about Japan.

Talking to different ALTs, I find the differences in actual daily duties really interesting. You get some people who have maybe 2 classes a day, then you've got people who do not have a single class period off. Some ALTs live in a house, heavily subsidized by the city, some pay a fair sum of money to live in a tiny apartment with paper-thin walls. Some are based at one or two schools. Some visit a dozen schools, each day a different school. Some are expected to prepare all lessons, some are expected to do exactly as they're told, with no input.

The programme pays fairly well, and has a huge support system. There are tons of benefits like orientation in Tokyo, free transport to your work city, free seminars, free transport, seminars, and hotel for a huge renewers' conference, free correspondence Japanese courses (high quality), peer support, etc. Also, being a government programme, you're going to receive your correct pay on time. They also do all your paperwork for going to Japan, pay your airfare to and from Japan, and often offer free language and culture courses before and after your time in Japan.