Let's Japan.org Debunking Eikaiwa and Ramblings in Japan

An update on former Nova president, Nozomu Sahashi's, appeal. You may recall that he was sentenced to three and half years for embezzlement last August. He quickly appealed his sentence, maintaining that he was innocent.

Yesterday's Have Your Say column in the Japan Times carried a reply to Richard Smart's article on eikaiwa being on the ropes. The author of the letter suggests that the media have not been reporting on the problems with the G.communication takeover of GEOS.

On the Comment Factory, Jordan Pearson has a summary of the state of eikaiwa following the collapse of Nova and GEOS.

Novawhiz in the forums finds a website called jiosu.com:

ジオス.com A website for GEOS student, GEOS staff and GEOS teacher support.

ジオス.com (jiosu.com) aims to provide information, links and support for GEOS students, staff and teachers by providing an online forum where you can discuss the latest GEOS related information and events.

Tuesday's Lifeline column in The Japan Times featured a situation that illustrated just how fly-by-night teaching English in Japan can be:

Reader TS writes: "I return to the U.S. next week and I was supposed to receive my final pay check from a really bad ALT company . . . last week, but did not receive payment. I've called them but the secretaries say that the people in charge are not in the office. I called my direct contact and he has yet to call me back.

The Japan Times ran a curious post mortem on GEOS. After reading it, I'm left with the sense that everybody is disappointed the company didn't implode like Nova. If you've been following the bankruptcy, the articles doesn't add a lot of new information. It's a fairly long read, so let's look at it.

I agree with Ken Worsely's assessment of the factors in GEOS's end:

As has been mentioned in comments, the NY ryugaku blog has posted a memo from GEOS New York saying that everything is OK:

Announcement from GEOS New York Corporation (GEOS USA) and GEOS Language Corporation (GEOS Canada)

GEOS Corporation in Japan recently filed for bankruptcy, with some of its assets taken over by G Communications, a separate Japanese company, and some of its assets being currently held by a court-appointed trustee.

J-Cast News takes a look at what brought about GEOS's bankruptcy and what's in store next. Here's a summary.

As is already known, G.communication will take over 70%, or 230 schools, of GEOS and close the remaining 99 schools.

Down but not out, ex-GEOS president Tsuneo Kusunoki has launched an immediate appeal against the bankruptcy procedures.

According to the Sankei shimbun, Kusunoki claims that there was no need to file for bankruptcy and that it amounted to an abuse of authority as the board was not unanimous in its decision.

When G.communication scooped up GEOS I wondered how much blood they could squeeze from the GEOS stone. Apparently, they think quite a bit. It seems G.communication has gone on a media blitz this week with President Hideo Sugimoto giving interviews in the Yomiuri shiumbun, Mainichi shimbun, Sankei shimbun, and The Japan Times. The purpose of this interview was to stress that everything is under control and it's business as usual: