UK alumni of the JET Programme met with the Japanese Government Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, Mr Yasushi Kaneko, at the Conrad St James Hotel in central London on Saturday, April 30. The meeting was held to discuss the impact of JET on UK-Japan relations, how the programme has influenced alumni’s lives and the state of continuing connections with Japan. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has responsibility for local government, which is the largest employer of JET participants in Japan.
At the meeting supported by The Embassy of Japan in the UK and Japan Local Government Centre, UK Alumni Committee Chairman Ryan Keeble joined other current and previous committee members Rob Gorton (previous UK chairman), Kay Webber (current UK Treasurer), Jasmin Lau (London Chapter Chairman), Ian Robinson (previous UK vice-chairman) and Carly Scothern (previous London chapter chairman). JLGC London Director-General Yasuyuki Suzuki also attended with other office staff present to support.
Discussions followed the introduction and opening greetings from Minster Kaneko, who noted that many alumni present had spent their time on JET in Kyushu, home to the Minister’s constituency area in Japan, and how grateful he was to meet and talk with everyone.
Amongst many topics, the discussion focused on the impact of JET on people’s careers. Many alumni work in Japan-related organisations after Japan, including over half the alumni present at the meeting. The strengths of the programme discussed included the value of JET in giving people the experience of working in a Japanese professional environment, as well as understanding managing cross-border staffing and human resources management.
The discussion continued onto the subject of Japanese culture in the UK, with food being central, a topic of much interest among JET alumni and Japanese ex-pats alike. The UK has seen massive growth in Japanese restaurants and the popularity of ‘washoku’, with many new ramen restaurants also all over the country and the Marugame Seimen udon (broad noodles) and tempura chain planning a big push across the country being in the news recently. JETAA UK continues to hold popular events on Japanese cooking and reviews Japanese restaurants on the JETAA UK website. Making British food more popular in Japan continues to be a challenge that alumni would like to take up.
The final discussions of the meeting were around how to increase supporting links, including the possibility of collaboration between different Japanese groups here in the UK and the alumni association. Supporting alumni chapters in events promoting Japanese culture and getting more involvement from the wider community, including Japanese living in Britain was seen as an important action point going forward.
JET is now into its 34th year, with over 15,000 UK alumni taking part and thousands more from Ireland and countries in Europe.
Many thanks to all our alumni for taking part in the meeting, a valuable learning opportunity for the Ministry, and for helping all understand the value of JET for education, professional development and links between Japan and the UK.
