Are you speaking from personal experience as a JET? Because I was on JET for 2 years and absolutely loved it.

Sure, you could go with the faster and easier private English school route, but you have to pay for your airfare there and back, you have to teach by yourself instead of with a Japanese teacher, and you typically have to teach in the afternoons, evenings, and weekends because that's when schoolkids and businessmen have the free time to be in a private English class. Your pay won't be as good, you'll probably have to find your own place to live, and you likely won't have as many perks as JETS (like paid vacation days).

IMHO, JET is certainly not perfect, but it can be the best way to go to Japan.

Hmmmm..maybe just simply move to Japan and get an average job and live an average life? Sounds pretty good to me.

Let me guess.

Interviewer : So, give me a reason why I should choose you over the other applicants?

You friend : I love Japanese women despite the fact that they seem to dislike men with muscular builds.

That's a little... rude. It seems to me your underestimating how hard it is to just "simply move to Japan" and "get an average job."

What exactly do you have against the JET program? O_o

Kind of difficult to get an "average job" if you're not a citizen of the country or have a Visa sponsor. It's more difficult to do it that way as opposed to going through something like JET, where they sponsor your Visa and pay your way there.

It pays more than most other English teaching jobs and more than most "straight out of college" jobs. I absolutley loved my three years there. Worked only 35 hours a week, and wouldn't trade the experience for the world.

Going through the JET hiring process is a lot easier than that scenerio. Unless you are married to a Japanese you don't get to just "go to Japan and get a job". It doesn't work like that. You have to be hired first by...a program like JET.

I hope I'm not too off topic here... but is there any other good programs like JET that you would recommend. Many people on here seem to have good knowledge about it... It sounds like JET is extremely hard to get into, especially with them downsizing.

JET is a government sponsored program, and the only national one of its kind...so the short answer would be "no".

Okay a question for you MMM.....besides JET, what would you say is the easiest and quickest way to LIVE (not just visit for a few months, but live. Maybe for a few years) in Japan?

Get a working holiday visa!

I don't think Americans are allowed them... but if you're from Canada, Britain, Australia or New Zealand you definitely are among others... (i.e. you're a citizen of any of these countries).