NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Early Saturday morning, forty participants of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program will take off from Nashville International Airport for Japan to teach English for at least one year across the Land of the Rising Sun.
They gathered for a pre-departure orientation at Belmont University on Friday.
“I’ll be teaching in Yamanashi,” said UT graduate Kelly Gardina. ”It’s where Mt. Fuji is.”
“I’ll be teaching high school in the city of Takasaki,” said Christian Taliento, a military veteran who served in Korea and is now teaching as an adjunct professor at Austin Peay State University.
He said he’s eager to learn new teaching strategies while working in Japan.
“To understand the opportunity that is Japan, and to understand that we’re all in this together, we all are on this planet together — Japan offers us this unique opportunity and perspective of culture, environment, and mentality that’s different from the United States,” said Taliento.
Nashville native Olivia Maki will be teaching elementary and middle school students.
“I think it’s going to be a cultural exchange and a good foundation for a career, already having worked for a year somewhere new and diverse,” said Maki, who also studied abroad in Kyoto, Japan, while studying at Tulane University.
JETs, as they’re called, share similar goals — that their 6600-mile adventure leads to a leg up in their long-term careers.
“I hope to learn more about culture and language and have a lot of valuable lessons that I can bring from Japan to the workforce in Tennessee,” said Gardina, who will be teaching at both a technical high school and a school for the blind.
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Participant John Tate, a video and film production major at MTSU, is excited about the financial opportunity that teaching in Japan affords.
Participants are paid a salary and get help with housing placement.
“My salary is roughly $27,000 a year; my rent is less than $200 a month; and my grocery bills are sure to be a lot cheaper than they are here right now,” said Tate. “I’m sure to be quite comfortable.”
Tate said he was mesmerized by Japanese television when he studied abroad in Japan in 2024. He hopes to teach English through the JET program for at least three years.
“I am more than ready to get on that plane tomorrow and head out,” said Tate.
The government-sponsored program is run through the Consulate General of Japan, which serves as a mini embassy in Nashville, the only one of its kind in the southeast, covering Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
“We take care of Japanese citizens living in our region, promote Japanese culture in the region, help Japanese companies operating in the region, and promote human exchanges between those five states and Japan, including the JET program,” said Shoko Matsuoka, who serves as Consul for the Culture and Information Section. “This year’s JET program application process was the most competitive I’ve ever seen.”
Applications for next year’s JET Program open in September.
For more information, contact the Consulate General of Japan in Nashville below.
CONSULATE GENERAL OF JAPAN IN NASHVILLE (AR, KY, TN, LA, MS)
1801 West End Ave. Suite 900, Nashville, TN 37203
Tel: (615) 340-4300
E-mail: jet@nv.mofa.go.jphttp://www.nashville.us.emb-japan.go.jp/
Nashville Office Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nvconsjp/
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