JET vs. Interac: Which Japan Route Is Actually Right For You
JET is famous, prestigious, and runs on a single once-a-year cycle with real competition. Interac hires year-round at somewhat lower pay. Here’s how to actually decide between them.
Almost every guide to teaching in Japan mentions JET. Far fewer explain clearly that it isn't the only — or even the fastest — way in, and that the private-sector ALT-dispatch alternative run by companies like Interac operates on completely different terms.
JET Programme
Run by CLAIR (the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations) alongside Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Internal Affairs, JET places participants directly with local boards of education. It runs on a strict annual cycle — for a 2026 departure, applications opened late September 2025 and closed mid-November 2025, with results in April 2026. Acceptance rates are commonly cited around 1-in-4 to 1-in-6 depending on your country and year. Salary starts around ¥4.02 million a year (roughly ¥335,000/month), rising to about ¥4.32 million by year four or five.
Interac (and ALT dispatch generally)
Interac is Japan's largest ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) dispatch company, hiring year-round rather than on JET's single cycle, and placing teachers with schools directly through its own recruitment process. Pay is typically ¥200,000–250,000/month (≈£920–£1,150) — noticeably lower than JET's year-one rate, and Tokyo-area rent (often ¥60,000–100,000+/month) takes a bigger bite here since free housing isn't standard in Japan the way it is in Korea.
How to actually choose
- Choose JET if: you can wait roughly a year for the application cycle to play out, want the strongest pay and most established support network, and are comfortable with real competitive odds.
- Choose Interac (or similar) if: you want to start sooner than JET's once-a-year window allows, are comfortable with somewhat lower pay for faster placement, and don't need JET's specific institutional prestige.
Neither route legally requires a TEFL certificate — JET's eligibility criteria note that language-teaching qualifications are taken into account, and Interac-style employers weigh it more heavily in practice, particularly for classroom-management basics that a certificate genuinely covers.
Since JET doesn't require a TEFL certificate but does note it favorably, and Interac-style employers value it more directly, our Level 4, 150-Hour Course (£198.00) gives you the classroom-management depth both routes respond well to.
Researched July 2026 from official program pages and named recruiters where cited above. Government programs, visa rules and salary bands change — always confirm current details on the official site before applying.
FAQs
Neither is universally “better” — JET pays more from year one and carries more institutional prestige, but runs on a single annual cycle with real competition. Interac hires year-round at somewhat lower pay, which suits people who don’t want to wait a year to start.
JET acceptance rates are commonly cited around 1-in-4 to 1-in-6. Interac and other ALT-dispatch companies hire year-round and are considerably less competitive to get into, though the trade-off is lower pay.
Neither strictly requires one, but JET’s eligibility criteria note that language-teaching qualifications count in your favor, and dispatch employers like Interac tend to value a certificate more directly in practice.