The Regional Advisor (RA) system was set up in Niigata in August 2004 by the Niigata Prefectural Advisors. The RA system is intended to provide more localized, practical support with a friendly face, especially to newly arrived JETs. The PAs, all based in Niigata City, are unable to provide this and so decided to divide the prefecture into 8 regions and assign a volunteer RA from the JET community to each one. The 8 regions are (roughly) as follows:
RA Regions 2009-2010
Sado Island James Johnston IV | Sado-shi | Shibata / Murakami Adam Goya | Shibata-shi, Murakami-shi, Sanpoku-machi, Sekikawa-mura, Tainai-shi | Niigata City Katrina Schmidt & Liz Motta | Niigata-shi | Agano Michael Kemp | Agano-shi, Gosen-shi, Aga-machi | Sanjo / Tsubame Rosie Halewood | Sanjo-shi, Tsubame-shi, Kamo-shi | Nagaoka / Kashiwazaki Sophie Smith | Nagaoka-shi, Kashiwazaki-shi, Kariwa-mura | Ojiya / Tokamachi Cameron Chien | Ojiya-shi, Tokamachi-shi, Uonuma-shi, Kawaguchi-machi | Joetsu Joseph Bevins | Joetsu-shi, Itoigawa-shi, Myoko-shi |
You may not know which region you are in, but your RA will introduce themselves to you soon after you arrive in Japan. Welcome Note from Luke (Joetsu) Welcome Note from James (Sado) Welcome Note from Aimee (Shibata/Murakami)
What does your RA do?
Information - From the time you arrive, your RA will try to help you out with local information (good places to eat, things to see and do, meeting people, getting involved) if your supervisor is unable to provide it. They will try to answer your local and community -related questions.
Social Events - Your RA will organize the occasional social event (dinner, snowboarding, whatever) so JETs in your region can get together and have a good time with each other.
Liaise with the PAs - Your RA will keep in contact with the PAs to provide feedback and help them with outreach and support.
Orientations - Your RA will help out at Prefectural Orientation in August to make sure you settle in as quickly as possible.
RAs and PAs - What's the difference? Its best to think of your RA as someone local who can help you out with the simple things like where to buy stuff for your apartment, find internet access or show you a good place to drink a beer with the locals. This is the extent to which they can help you. If you require any form of counseling, mediation, consultation, help with work-related issues or any problems that you find difficult to deal with by yourself, please contact your PA. They are the ones who can help.
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