The Japanese arm of Teach for America, a U.S. education nonprofit organization, will begin recruiting college graduates this month to work in Japan as teachers.
Teach for Japan tied up with Teach for America late last year.
Teach for America, which has outposts in 24 countries, hires new college graduates and sends them to low-income communities on two-year contracts.
Teach for America placed third in this year's ideal employer ranking according to a survey of U.S. college students in humanities and liberal arts.
Teach for Japan plans to send out between 30 and 40 teachers next spring after they graduate.
It is asking local governments in the Kanto and Kansai regions to hire the teachers on temporary two-year contracts.
Teach for Japan plans to hold recruiting fairs at Japanese universities starting this month. It will begin accepting applications in August and screen potential candidates in autumn and winter.
The applicants should have a teacher's license for either elementary school, junior high school or senior high school.
Successful applicants will not be hired and sent on loan by Teach for Japan, but employed directly by the local governments where they will work from spring 2013.
Teach for Japan defines itself as a school to nurture teachers. It will continue to provide assistance, including regular training sessions, to the teachers it has sent out.
After their two-year terms are up, the teachers will have no guarantee of landing subsequent jobs.
NPOs like Teach for America are popular with U.S. students, who view the experience as giving them an edge when they change jobs, a source said.
For example, one-third of Teach for America staff move on to private enterprises, including investment banks.
But many students in Japan fear that a "detour" to an NPO or similar outfit could put them at a disadvantage in finding jobs in Japan, where direct hiring of new graduates by large private enterprises is the norm. Teach for Japan hopes to change that culture, despite the high hurdles.
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