JET program wants warm bodies

[Kanchou]

Not so much the mountains themselves (although they make for great scenery...) as for the mountain roads... I'm something of a sports car addict.

(now if only I could get my new RX-7 running...)

[kamome]

Hey, I've got some questions...

Does anyone have any experience (or any stories?) of JETs in Gunma? Especially Takasaki or Shibukawa...

My choices for the JET program (which I'm considering once I actually earn a four-year degree) would probably be something like... Saitama, Hachioji (or another place on the outskirts of Tokyo such as Tama), Chiba, Hakone, Nikko, Takasaki (getting a bit more specific), or some other place in Gunma that at least slightly resembles an urban area (Shibukawa for example)...

I'd like someplace near the mountains but not IN the mountains. (and not more than a few hours from Tokyo, preferably)

(Since Tokyo itself is basically an impossiblity of odds... )

What places *DON'T* have the JET program, anyway? Or are virtually impossible to get assigned to?

I lived in northern Saitama, just a few stops away from the border of Gunma-ken on the Takasaki line. There's not much to tell about the place. Takasaki and Maebashi are the most "urban" places in the prefecture. It's pretty far from Tokyo (maybe an hour and a half by local train and over 3,000 yen each way. I don't know much else about it. Hakkone or Nikko sound like interesting places to do the JET program, but I'm not sure if you'll have anything to do there. I'm a city guy, so the closer to the middle of the city I am, the better I feel.

[Kanchou]

[ichigo partygirl]

Hakkone would be ok but the town itself has not much but onsens and tourist shops. Odawara near by might be a better choice as its much bigger and you can get the Tokkaido line right to tokyo from there.
To Yokohama its over an hour on the tokkaido line, and costs 950yen each way.
Guess it depend where you wana spend more time....in a city with bars, shopping etc or driving around.

[Inaka Slim]

I am a JET deep in the inaka of Akita-ken, and i agree with an earlier comment, this place is awesome.

[maninjapan]

Hakkone would be ok but the town itself has not much but onsens and tourist shops. Odawara near by might be a better choice as its much bigger and you can get the Tokkaido line right to tokyo from there.
To Yokohama its over an hour on the tokkaido line, and costs 950yen each way.
Guess it depend where you wana spend more time....in a city with bars, shopping etc or driving around.

dont forget black eggs

[Kanchou]

...except they taste just like normal eggs! with a slight hint of a sulfur smell...

[jingai]

Churchill quote

Isn't the quote something like "You're ugly and I'm drunk, but..." I think you're missing part of it that makes it funny rather than just mean.

[Kanchou]

Almost exactly a year later and I've finally actually applied for JET...

Although now my placement requests are Ibaraki>Tochigi>Shizuoka

(although to be honest I'd be happy with any place that has a kart track, a decent mountain, and a race course nearby...)

[ttjereth]

Almost exactly a year later and I've finally actually applied for JET...

Although now my placement requests are Ibaraki>Tochigi>Shizuoka

(although to be honest I'd be happy with any place that has a kart track, a decent mountain, and a race course nearby...)

Tochigi is really hit or miss. I lived there for three years (on JET, as a CIR though, not an ALT) and some towns are really nice, but others (Kanuma cough cough) are real shitholes.