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I'm going abroad and my CO is making me fill in an "Overseas Travel" form. Do I need to do this?
In short: Yes.
All of your Japanese colleagues have to fill it in too, so they're not being patronising. It's so that you can be contacted should anything happen when you're away. They're not going to do anything sinister with it, and they're not going to check up on you. It's only for use if something goes wrong.
This is especially important during the Winter and Summer vacations when many JETs travel abroad. When the Asian Tsunami happened it was a lot of trouble for Tsukashima sensei and Ruth, the previous PA to contact everyone and make sure they were OK.
Please take the time to fill out these forms properly, and don't lie about what you're doing. If you don't know all the information, such as the hotel where you will be staying then tell them that, and provide the information when you can.
Also, please provide contact details for your next of kin if you're not going home so that your CO can contact them to make sure you're OK if they can't get in touch with you.
Again, if you're not going home, make a copy of the form and give it to someone at home so that they can get in touch with you too. It's also a good idea to make copies of the important pages in your passport (including your visa/re-entry permit) and leave one with your CO incase you lose it while you're travelling. You might also want to think about copying other important documents such as insurance policies and drivers licenses too.
Please do your best to co-operate on this as it's only for your own safety. We're all adults but occasionally things do go wrong!