Importing Diversity: Inside Japan's JET Program by David L. McConnell Page A
Authors: David L. McConnell
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1. Formal administrative structure of the JET Program. Source: Advertising brochure, The JET Programme, 1995-96 (Tokyo: Council of Local Authorities
for International Relations, 1995), n•p.
CLAIR: A Cultural and Structural Broker
At the center of JET Program administration stands the Council of Local
Authorities for International Relations (Jichitai Kokusaika Kyokai), more
commonly known by the acronym CLAIR. With its own staff and building, this nonprofit, quasi-governmental agency is responsible for the dayto-day management of the program at the national level.29 Like most Japanese organizations, CLAIR consists of an entirely symbolic advisory
council; it was initially chaired by Shunichi Suzuki, the former mayor of
Tokyo. Significantly, it also serves as a "retirement post" (amakudari) for
one former bureaucrat from each of the three sponsoring ministries. In
theory, these individuals are to serve as liaisons with their respective min istries, but in fact they are quite marginal to the day-to-day operations of
CLAIR.
Appointments to CLAIR are made by the Ministry of Home Affairs,
local governments, and private companies in fairly regular patterns. As one
corporate representative noted, "There was a strong feeling that the JET
Program could never be made to work solely by the power of the hard
heads of bureaucrats." There are representatives from Kintetsu Travel
Agency and Daiichi Kangyo Bank, as well as lower-level staff from selected
prefectural and municipal offices. These staff members usually serve one
year in CLAIR's Tokyo office and then a second year in one of the growing
number of overseas offices (they serve as windows on the world for the
Ministry of Home Affairs).
But in spite of the presence of these representatives, CLAIR is beyond
question an administrative arm of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The top
three CLAIR officials in terms of day-to-day decision making-the
secretary-general, the deputy secretary-general, and the General Affairs
section chief-always come from Home Affairs; and since these upperlevel staff must return to that ministry after their appointment in CLAIR,
they have little incentive to exercise independent judgment or initiative.
Other than the amakudari, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education
are not represented in CLAIR, and the only person with educational experience is the chief of the Counseling and Guidance Section (shidoka). The
result is a government-business alliance in which educational specialists
are marginalized.
Most intriguing is the employment in CLAIR of a handful of JET Program alumni as liaisons between the Japanese staff and the mass of JET
participants. Sometimes called "gaijin handlers" because they coordinate
large numbers of foreigners, their primary responsibility is to manage the
flow of information to and from the JET participants and to assist in those
aspects of program implementation that require the linguistic and interactional skills of a native speaker. In the same way that Japanese officials at
CLAIR act as brokers between national ministries and local host institutions, the program coordinators, by their own admission, serve as buffers.
One, rather uncharitable in his depiction of the Japanese staff, put it this
way: "There's no question we're used as buffers. All information to ALTs
goes through the program coordinators. We always have to break the bad
news because if they [the Japanese staff at CLAIR] do it, they come across
as bureaucratic sods. The less contact they have, the better." In theory, assuming good coordination within the CLAIR office, there would be no
need for the Japanese staff at CLAIR to become directly involved with JET participants, nor for the program coordinators to negotiate with local Japanese officials. But on numerous occasions (regional block meetings, crisis
intervention, etc.) both Japanese and foreign staff at CLAIR have entered
into direct negotiations with JET
for International Relations, 1995), n•p.
CLAIR: A Cultural and Structural Broker
At the center of JET Program administration stands the Council of Local
Authorities for International Relations (Jichitai Kokusaika Kyokai), more
commonly known by the acronym CLAIR. With its own staff and building, this nonprofit, quasi-governmental agency is responsible for the dayto-day management of the program at the national level.29 Like most Japanese organizations, CLAIR consists of an entirely symbolic advisory
council; it was initially chaired by Shunichi Suzuki, the former mayor of
Tokyo. Significantly, it also serves as a "retirement post" (amakudari) for
one former bureaucrat from each of the three sponsoring ministries. In
theory, these individuals are to serve as liaisons with their respective min istries, but in fact they are quite marginal to the day-to-day operations of
CLAIR.
Appointments to CLAIR are made by the Ministry of Home Affairs,
local governments, and private companies in fairly regular patterns. As one
corporate representative noted, "There was a strong feeling that the JET
Program could never be made to work solely by the power of the hard
heads of bureaucrats." There are representatives from Kintetsu Travel
Agency and Daiichi Kangyo Bank, as well as lower-level staff from selected
prefectural and municipal offices. These staff members usually serve one
year in CLAIR's Tokyo office and then a second year in one of the growing
number of overseas offices (they serve as windows on the world for the
Ministry of Home Affairs).
But in spite of the presence of these representatives, CLAIR is beyond
question an administrative arm of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The top
three CLAIR officials in terms of day-to-day decision making-the
secretary-general, the deputy secretary-general, and the General Affairs
section chief-always come from Home Affairs; and since these upperlevel staff must return to that ministry after their appointment in CLAIR,
they have little incentive to exercise independent judgment or initiative.
Other than the amakudari, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education
are not represented in CLAIR, and the only person with educational experience is the chief of the Counseling and Guidance Section (shidoka). The
result is a government-business alliance in which educational specialists
are marginalized.
Most intriguing is the employment in CLAIR of a handful of JET Program alumni as liaisons between the Japanese staff and the mass of JET
participants. Sometimes called "gaijin handlers" because they coordinate
large numbers of foreigners, their primary responsibility is to manage the
flow of information to and from the JET participants and to assist in those
aspects of program implementation that require the linguistic and interactional skills of a native speaker. In the same way that Japanese officials at
CLAIR act as brokers between national ministries and local host institutions, the program coordinators, by their own admission, serve as buffers.
One, rather uncharitable in his depiction of the Japanese staff, put it this
way: "There's no question we're used as buffers. All information to ALTs
goes through the program coordinators. We always have to break the bad
news because if they [the Japanese staff at CLAIR] do it, they come across
as bureaucratic sods. The less contact they have, the better." In theory, assuming good coordination within the CLAIR office, there would be no
need for the Japanese staff at CLAIR to become directly involved with JET participants, nor for the program coordinators to negotiate with local Japanese officials. But on numerous occasions (regional block meetings, crisis
intervention, etc.) both Japanese and foreign staff at CLAIR have entered
into direct negotiations with JET
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