Let's Japan.org

Christmas Cheer

Shawn — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 01:38:40 +0000

It’s been a long time between posts. Sadly, somebody at the office decided to promote me, and I am also the proud father of two rambunctious kids.

Anyway, as Christmas and the New Year are also upon us, a couple of newsworthy tidbits that should make you feel a warm and fuzzy all over.

The first is that Nozumu Sahashi, Nova's former president who was sentenced to jail for embezzling funds in a desperate attempt to keep the company afloat, had his appeal rejected:

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by the founder and former president of the language school chain Nova Corp. against his conviction for embezzling ¥320 million from employee benefit funds, effectively finalizing his two-year prison term.

Nozomu Sahashi, 61, was convicted of transferring the sum accumulated at an entity in charge of the funds to a bank account of a Nova subsidiary in July 2007 in order to reimburse students who had signed contracts that they subsequently canceled.

I suppose there are some people who feel that two years in jail isn't enough given the scale of Nova's collapse, but two years is about the best one can hope for in this kind of white collar crime.

The second item should be of interest to former teachers who were never fully paid. Apparently, the Nova trustees have another batch of money ready. You will want to read this post in the forums for more details.

Merry Christmas!

Eikaiwa:

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Contracts

Japan:

nova

sahashi

Berlitz Loses its Lawsuit Over Striking Teachers

Shawn — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 08:28:45 +0000

After three years in court, the Tokyo District Court has ruled that there was nothing illegal about Berlitz teachers engaging in strike action for a raise and bonus payment.

In 2009, Berlitz sued a number of its teachers saying their rotating strikes were illegal and damaging the company.

Berlitz had claimed that the teachers were out to damage the company, but it seems that Berlitz has done a good job of doing that all on their own in thinking its could bully the teachers with a lawsuit instead of sitting down and maybe trying to reach some sort of compromise.

The Japan Times article notes:

According to the plaintiffs, union activities including coordinated strikes and delay of written notice of strikes "put the company's existence itself in peril." The plaintiffs claimed that acts by the defendants affected 3,455 classes during the span and caused some of its students to leave the school.

The Begunto blog adds that Berlitz failed to provide any hard evidence as to how much damage the strikes had caused. Good on the teachers and Begunto for sticking to their guns. As for Berlitz, what on earth were they thinking? But that's what happens when you choose to act in bad faith.

Eikaiwa:

Classroom Confidential

Contracts

Japan:

berlitz

Four Years After the "Nova Shock"

Shawn — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 01:44:01 +0000

The Japan Times has a mini-retrospective on Nova four years after its collapse, with yours truly given a chance to flog Nova's corpse.

For added measure, there's also a piece on the horrors of working for Gaba.

According to William, his troubles began back home in the States when he was interviewed for a teaching position at Gaba by webcam.

"They told me I would be legally required to teach 160 lessons per month for visa sponsorship at a rate of ¥1,500 per lesson. But that didn't happen."

William says that rather than the 40 lessons he was promised, he averaged only around 25 — 30 on a good week, and sometimes as low as 10. "This was a source of conflict between myself and my management," he says.

Despite the fact he was teaching what amounted to a part-time schedule, he had to be in the workplace 40 hours a week or more.

"I would be sitting around in a booth — they would call it a booth, but I would call it essentially a prison cell — and you are expected to sit there until something falls off the cart," he says.

Eikaiwa:

Classroom Confidential

Japan:

nova

gaba

GEOS Ireland Manager Awarded €30k Compensation

Shawn — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:28:03 +0000

This is for you GEOS fanatics that can't get enough of the defunct school:

A JAPANESE-owned English language school has been ordered to pay one of its managers compensation of €30,000 and to increase her salary in line with that of a male counterpart.

The school, trading as GEOS Ireland, was found to have discriminated against Nerea Medrano on a number of grounds, including gender and family status.

The company that runs the Dublin-based school was also found to have harassed Ms Medrano on grounds of gender and family status and for this she was awarded €30,000 in compensation.

Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/manager-awarded-30k-compensation-174585.h...

What I don't understand is why the GEOS chief executive in question is only referred to as "Mr. K." This has to be Tsuneo Kusunoki. Why obscure his identity? Or was this information not in the actual published claim? Although the tribunal has ordered compensation to be paid, will the manager see any of the money?

Eikaiwa:

Japan:

Ichihashi: The Movie

Shawn — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 01:14:48 +0000

From the Facebook page Please Stop the Sale of Tatsuya Ichihashi's Book comes this:

~~I have no idea if the above is true.~~ ~~If a movie does get made,~~ There's no point in being outraged until one sees the final product. Movies about bad people are created all the time, so a film about Ichihashi is nothing to be upset about. With the update below, consider me underwhelmed that the producer intends to not portray Ichihashi in a good light. Was there something glamorous about the murder and life on the run that I missed?

UPDATE: More from The Japan Times:

A movie based on the book written by Tatsuya Ichihashi, whose slaying of a British English teacher in 2007 set off a nationwide manhunt, will debut next year, the publisher and film producer said Thursday.

Producer Sedic International told publisher Gentosha that it wanted to turn its book — "Taiho Sarerumade — Kuuhaku no Ninen Nanakagetsu no Kiroku" ("Before I Was Arrested — Records of the Blank Two Years and Seven Months") — into a movie and got the OK, a Gentosha official said.

"The incident grabbed a lot of social attention," Sedic International's Kensuke Zushi said. "We have no intention of casting Ichihashi in a positive light."

The movie will mark the directorial debut of Japanese actor Dean Fujioka, who will also play Ichihashi in the film. Casting has not been completed for the other roles, and filming will begin in January, Zushi said.

Japan:

crime

Tatsuya Ichihashi

Shilling for Interac

Shawn — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 07:29:39 +0000

A few days ago a reader commented on Interac's odd (new?) hiring scheme: Refer a friend to Interac and they'll make a donation of up to 500,000 yen (in your name?) to UNICEF.

Here's the pitch from the Interac newsletter:

I'm not sure what to say. This seems like an odd way to hire people. If I were an Interac "alumni" how is this supposed to motivate me? If I wanted to donate to a charity, I'd open up my wallet and donate because I want to, not because I'm a shill for Interac. Why jump through Interac's vague hoops for charity? The way it's written, the donation is not a sure thing and it's not clear how much money will be donated.

What's your take?

LATER...Now that I think about it, if you simply passed around a collection box at Interac, you could probably raise far more than 500,000 yen from employees for earthquake relief.

Eikaiwa:

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Little in Japan

Shawn — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 20:33:11 +0000

Via the forums, a great comic on being an eikaiwa teacher: Little in Japan.

Excellent stuff.

Japan:

fun

Nichii Gakkan Buys Gaba

Shawn — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:33:12 +0000

As reported in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun and ELT News, Nichii Gakkan, a medical and educational services company, will purchase Gaba's stock and make it a wholly-owned subsidiary:

Nichii Gakkan, a medical / education business has confirmed that it intends to purchase shares of the English conversation school chain Gaba in an attempt to bolster its education business. The company plans to spend up to 10 billion yen (around 127 million dollars) to make Gaba a wholly owned subsidiary. Nichii said it will buy at least the 26,390 shares owned by Gaba's main shareholder, Daiwa Corporate Investment Co. It set no maximum number of shares that it will purchase.

The offer price of 200,000 yen per share is a 53% premium over Friday's close. The board of Gaba, a company listed on the Mothers section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, has agreed to the move.

Or if you're interested in an alternate title, "Gaba cashes in its chips." I think if I were offered a 53% premium on shares that are worth less than half of their initial value in a moribund industry, I'd be tempted to get rid of them.

This bit caught my eye:

Even though its offerings have expanded beyond its mainstay preparatory courses for medical and nursing licenses, it is still struggling. The firm expects the Gaba brand to help it win contracts for corporate English training and to expand its online offerings."

A look at Nichii Gakkan's English lessons shows that they offer the standard range of TOEIC lessons and survival English for travelers. Moreover, it looks like the lessons are presented in some sort of e-learning Flash format with cheap-looking animations. I wonder what the attraction is given who widespread ultra-cheap lessons via Skype are these days?

What value does Nichii Gakkan see in the Gaba brand? Is it really that strong? What know-how does Gaba have other than its list of business clients, and is it worth paying 10 billion yen for that? One wonders...

Eikaiwa:

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Japan:

gaba

Open Thread: Don't Worry, Be Happy

Shawn — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 12:10:37 +0000

I had been meaning to write about this earlier, but given the way events are unfolding in the Fukushima nuclear crisis, an article published in May in the Japan Times about an ALT returning to finish his contract isn't so outdated.

On one hand, it's admirable that this guy and the other ALTs decided to stick around and finish their contracts. But on the other hand, I wonder if they are not fools for willfully living so close to a nuclear reactor that has melted down.

"Honestly, it came down to the people," Hauan said when asked why he ultimately decided to return May 10.

Besides, he added, he constantly received updates from his Japanese employers about the situation in Fukushima and was aware that things were safer than they were portrayed by some Western media.

In the early stages of the disaster, the Western media "reporting" was hysterical, but since then, they've calmed down and collected themselves. Now the public is left wondering if they can trust all the downplaying by the government.

Three months after the disaster and the truth is only finally starting to come out--reactors one, two, and three suffered a melt down and probably a "melt-through," too. Cesium has shown up in tea leaves as far away as Shizuoka, the water treatment system TEPCO is using to filter radioactive water had to be stopped after only five hours, and an increasing number of residents in and around Tokyo are asking for more radiation monitoring.

However, back in Tamura, 35km from the Fukushima reactor, life has "more or less returned to normal." In this case, normal means wearing long sleeves and a mask when outside, making sure the kids don't put any dirt or sand in their mouths, and avoiding some of the locally-grown food.

The image that seems to be taking shape now is that the nuclear disaster is far from over and the new normal will likely consist of a permanent exclusion zone. Many of the locals must be wondering if they will ever be able to return home.

Consider this an open thread. Anybody have information on how teaching has been affected in the Tohoku region? Business as usual, or has hiring been difficult?

Eikaiwa:

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Tohoku Kanto earthquake

Better Than TV

Shawn — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 11:22:37 +0000

The National Museum for Emerging Science and Innovation, known as Miraikan, reopened last Saturday after a three-month closure. Part of the Miraikan's ceiling collapsed during the earthquake.

Some video taken on the seventh floor during the quake.

This clip captures the ceiling collapse.

Before the Miraikan officially re-opened on the 11th, I was lucky enough to be invited to a special viewing of the "Making of the Sky Tree" exhibit on the 10th.

The exhibit covers the construction of the Sky Tree and contains some stunning video and photography. This in itself was interesting but what stole the show for me was the huge six-meter globe made of over 10 thousand OLED panels hanging above everything in the exhibition hall.

This thing was mesmerizing. If they could make a version for the home, I'd get in line to buy one. It sounds mundane, but watching the clouds swirl around the earth and seeing the world transition from day into night certainly beats anything on TV these days.

Japan:

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Tohoku Kanto earthquake