I’m just another foreigner living in Japan. I live in South Tokyo just outside of the huge ex-pat community. I hope that what you find here in these pages will be useful, informative, entertaining, or some combination of the three. And, if you have anything you’d like to share, feel free. I, for one, enjoy learning new things and hope to learn something from everyone who has something they want to share here. So come on in, browse, and share.
Eikaiwa giant NOVA shut down all of its remaining schools on Friday the 26th. The closure is said to be a tempo
rary one while sponsors to help bail out the company are recruited. If nothing can be decided in a month’s time, the firm will be dissolved according to news sources.
Needless to say, this has had a dramatic impact on NOVA staff, teachers, and students. Foreign teachers have been hit the hardest. Most are now jobless (some have found new employment) and many are also homeless. Lots of shady goings on surrounding NOVA had been reported in the last few weeks before the closures. One example was NOVA deducting teachers’ apartment rents from salaries, but not actually paying the rents, causing many teachers to be evicted. Many newer instructors have been left with little or no money to carry on life in Japan and some are without even the funds needed to fly back home. The Australian government has appealed to Qantas Airlines to offer discounted airfare to displaced Aussie NOVA teachers (Australians have been reported to make up the largest group of NOVA instructors) and the British embassy is also offering assistance to British instructors. America has some nice resources that could be made available to displaced American instructors, such as use of empty barracks on military bases, but so far no assistance has been offered, as far as I know.
Many are calling for the head of Nozomu Sahashi, the recently-fired ex-president of NOVA, and the story below shows that there may be an investigation of his business practices as well as his personal financial relationship with NOVA. Some other links are listed below the story.
Ex-NOVA president, family sold off majority of stake in failed school
OSAKA — Former NOVA Corp. President Nozomu Sahashi and his family’s stake in the failed language school operator declined from over 70 percent to less than 20 percent over a two-week period in September without a legally required report, it emerged on Monday.
Receivers for NOVA are considering filing a criminal complaint with law enforcers against Sahashi if it is proven that he sold the shares without filing a report with authorities.
The law regulating transactions in financial organizations requires a major shareholder with a 5 percent stake in a firm or more to report to authorities within five business days any sale and acquisition of its shares.
As of Sept. 14, NOVA Kikaku, run by a relative of Sahashi, owned 36.03 percent of shares in NOVA Corp and Sahashi held a 35.56 percent in the group, totaling 71.59 percent, according to a report the former president submitted to the Kinki Financial Bureau on Sept. 25.
It has emerged that the stake held by NOVA Kikaku and Sahashi had declined to 3.69 percent and 16.02 percent, respectively, by Sept. 30, totaling 19.71 percent. Neither Sahashi nor NOVA Kikaku has submitted a report on the sale of the shares.
Sahashi, who was sacked as president of the company late last week and demoted to a board director, may have sold the shares in a desperate bid to secure operating funds, sources close to the company said. (Mainichi)
Oct. 28, 2007
NOVA receivers ask gov’t regulator to cooperate in supporting students
Editorial: NOVA teachers, students need government support
Murkiness surrounds NOVA’s stock dealings
Foreign teachers jobless after Japan school goes bust
Update: This is embarrassing. From Japan Today:
Nova teachers offer lessons for food
Friday, November 2, 2007 at 07:17 EST
TOKYO — A labor union representing teachers and staff at the failed Nova Corp said Thursday it will set up a relief fund for the teachers and a program whereby students can take their language lessons from their Nova teachers in exchange for basic food items or a meal.
Filed under: Commentary, News-International, News-Japan
Sahashi is seriously dodgy. I’ve just seen his vast, opulent office on the news. It was the size of about 50 NOVA staffrooms, and decked out with a flatscreen TV, red carpet, double bed etc. That’s where all the money’s gone!
I sympathize with the unpaid teachers/staff – it’s hard enough to get by in Japan even when you do get paid!
Yeah, I really hope they bring him in and throw the book at him.
You know, it’s funny… When I worked for NOVA a few years back, I had no idea who he was. I vaguely recall being aware that some Swede was one of the founding members.
Yes, my sympathies go out to the unpaid teachers/staff – I was in a similar position 13 years ago when the eikaiwa I was working up went bankrupt.
But the bright side is that Japanese law allows for payment of 80% of all outstanding wages, so if you combine that with the unemployment insurance they’re eligible for, they probably won’t be much out of pocket.
Short term, sure, they’ve got to survive, but if they can get through the next few weeks, then they’ll be fine. Even if they leave the country. I heard they will still be eligible to be paid back wages even if they leave the country.
So my real sympathies lie with the students, who will never see their tuition again.
Monetarily speaking (in the short term), students who signed big contracts have been hit far worse than foreign teachers who lost a couple of months pay.
But, for foreign instructors who have a life here in Japan (spouses, friends, or something that keeps them here – hell, it could be a love for the place), the situation is quite bad. The unemployment insurance won’t last forever (it’s nowhere near going into effect, yet), new jobs will have to be found, and many (if not most) need to find a new apartment, which means they’ll have to pay the usual deposits and key money.
Of course, for the backpacking EFL-er, who just came to drink a lot and shag Japanese girls/guys, I don’t have any real sympathies, other than for the loss of a couple of months of pay.
The new ‘Will teach for food campaign’ started by the NOVA Union is an embarassment to all EFL-ers here in Japan, too.
I know what you’re saying, but I suppose one could argue that for foreign instructors who have a life here (or at least want to have a life here) Nova going bankrupt is a blessing in disguise. I mean, they’ll have to get off their butts and find a real job, find their own accommodation like the rest of us have had to do, learn the language…
Teaching at a chain eikaiwa is great when you first arrive, but I wouldn’t think those who are serious about making a life here would want to do it long term.
Sure, I can agree with that. I guess I was thinking more of the people who are still in their first couple of years here. But, you’re probably right. This situation will get them moving toward a more meaningful situation here in Japan.
Thanks, Mike
Long live Alexander Supertramp!
All wisdom is in the wild!
[...] in Japan. If you’ve had your head in the sand and have not heard about the Nova debacle, this post ought to “enlighten” (translated disgust) [...]