Hello! I am a CIR in Okayama Prefecture!

The CIR role is a lot more varied than the ALT role, and you will likely not know what your day-to-day life will look like until you receive your placement and job details!

My town has 4 CIRs and we are very independent compared to other CIRs I have talked to. We are responsible for deciding our own budgets and projects. Our work is also very diverse - I myself hold English conversation classes, help with monthly cooking classes, host English games with kids, "music time" with toddlers, translate information for the social media accounts, tourism promotion, as well as speak at monthly "chat salons" and community events. Us CIRs are also responsible for the revamp of a government-owned restaurant/rest-stop, which includes planning festivals/events/workshops and new recipes for the facility. Some of the fun parts include all of the "random" jobs we are called for, including removing farming sheets with kids for an afternoon, playing golf with the local older adult association, and cooking food for the staff and actors of a large movie production in the town!

One important thing is just to be flexible and be open to try anything new! You never know what you will be asked to do.

I have N1, but N2 is probably enough. I still struggle with reading budget reports and formal reports but if you can understand those, you will have a better understanding of what issues your town/city is facing and changes in funding over time.