A , or CIR, is a participant on the
JET Programme residing and working in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. Although responsibilities for a CIR vary according to his or her contracting organization, the majority of a CIR's time is spent organizing and assisting various projects related to adjusting Japanese society to an increasingly multilingual, multicultural, and international world. Many of these projects include but are not limited to: international exchange programmes, primary and secondary school visits, language classes, cooking classes, cultural lectures, as well as translating and interpreting. CIRs are employed throughout Japan at international exchange associations, prefectural offices, city halls, town halls, village halls, and boards of education.
JET is administered by
Council of Local Authorities for International Relations
The Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) is a Japanese government-affiliated general incorporated foundation established in 1988 to support the international activities of local governments to strengthen international co ...
(CLAIR) and funded by
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
The , also known as MEXT or Monka-shō, is one of the eleven Ministries of Japan that composes part of the executive branch of the Government of Japan. Its goal is to improve the development of Japan in relation with the international community ...
(MEXT).
Statistics
As of July 1, 2014, there were 364 CIRs, accounting for approximately 8.2% of the 4,465 JET Programme participants.
References
Contracting Organisation ALT・CIR Placement Numbers(July 1, 2014) Pages 6-8
Further reading
* David L. McConnell, ''Importing Diversity: Inside Japan's JET Program'' (2000)
*
Bruce Feiler, ''Learning to Bow: An American Teacher in a Japanese School'' (1991), later published as ''Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan'' (2004)
External links
CIR Homepage- the official website for CIRs all over Japan (defunct as of April 1, 2015)
National AJET- the Association for Japan Exchange and Teaching
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coordinator For International Relations
Foreign relations of Japan
International relations