The Japan exchange and teaching (JET) program: 30 years of public diplomacy in practice

Abstract

Although it was established 30 years ago and has generated more than 60,000 alumni worldwide, the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program is rarely studied as an international exchange effort. Employing original survey data, this chapter considers the JET Program in the context of the literature of international exchanges. Focused specifically on American alumni of the program, the work presented here suggests that by recruiting young college graduates to live in Japan for periods of a year or more, the JET Program is well designed to promote lifelong affinity toward Japan on the part of participants long after they have returned home.