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A Castle Built on Sand Part 2
Part 2 of FujiSankei Business i's series on the rise and fall of Sahashi describes his foray into banking.
I'm the president of a bank, too?
"Study in front of the train station," discount prices, and TV commercials. Nozomu Sahashi took these curious ideas and parlayed them into the largest English conversation school in Japan. But its success was also behind the shady capital funding and ambitions that led to the collapse of the Ishikawa Bank in Kanazawa at the end of 2001.
In his book, Kin mirai no tsukurikata (How to Create the Future), Sahashi reminisces about founding NOVA in 1981 and thought how wonderful it would be if an environment could be created where people from all over the world could come to Japan.
At the time, English conversation schools charged ¥10,000 for a lesson, but Sahashi wanted to offer the same thing for the price of a movie ticket. He slashed prices by offering discounted lessons through long-term contracts, which would ultimately become the target of much criticism. He also came up with Eki mae ryuugaku and promoted it across the nation in the hopes that it would become a household phrase like Yamato Transport's takkyuubin (delivery service).
In 1993, before the internet became widespread, he spoke passionately to friends about using an optical fiber network to study from one's own living room through a videophone system, and went to work developing the infrastructure for it.
While English conversation schools in the early 90s were going bankrupt as the bubble economy burst and lending from financial institutions dried up, NOVA was growing steadily.
A former employee recalls Sahashi's self-serving praise for his business strategy of TV commercials and school expansion because if NOVA hadn't gone down down that road, it would have gone bankrupt.
He also bought an expensive piece of a racing team and lavishly spent on overseas PR. In 1996, NOVA was listed on the stock market, and Sahashi benefited to the tune of nearly ¥9 billion.
He had made it into the ranks of prominent businessmen, and his coffers were full. Those close to Sahashi tell of how he wanted to start a NOVA Bank. At the end of October last year, after NOVA had gone bankrupt, the court-appointed administrators revealed a luxurious personal office, replete with a sauna and tea room.
In 2000, he helped assist Ishikawa Bank, on the verge of bankruptcy, to show that he had money. According to an official, Sahashi received over ¥25 billion in financing and used a portion of it to finance the bank. Advice from his advisors, who objected to the deal, fell on deaf ears.
The president of the bank expressed his gratitude: "I have no problem with you thinking of it as the NOVA Bank." Sahashi replied with a grin from ear to ear, "I'm the president of a bank, too?"
【砂上の楼閣ＮＯＶＡ】（中）おれも頭取か
FujiSankei Business i. 2008/7/2
■不透明な増資に協力
駅前留学、価格破壊、テレビＣＭ－。英会話学校ＮＯＶＡの元社長、猿橋望容疑者（５６）は、奇抜なアイデアで同社を業界最大手に成長させた。その陰で、２００１年末に経営破綻（はたん）した旧石川銀行（金沢市）の不透明な増資に協力し、新たな野望もめぐらせていた。
「世界中の人が日本に来られる環境ができたら面白い」。自身の著書「近未来のつくり方」で１９８１年に創業した際の思いを述懐している。
当時、受講料が１回１万円する英会話学校がある中、「映画１本分」の格安に設定。価格破壊を支えたのは、後に批判対象となる長期契約ほど受講料が下がる仕組みだった。同社を全国区に押し上げた「駅前留学」のフレーズは「ヤマト運輸の『宅急便』に匹敵する言葉を」とひねり出した。
インターネットが広まる以前の９３年には、光ファイバー網を使い、テレビ電話でレッスンを提供する「お茶の間留学」の構想を知人に熱っぽく語り、インフラの研究開発を始めていた。
９０年代初め、バブル崩壊による金融機関の貸し渋りの影響で英会話学校が次々と倒産する中、ＮＯＶＡは順調に成長。元社員によると、「ＣＭや教室の拡大路線を取らなければつぶれていた」と自らの経営戦略を自画自賛していたという。
多額の費用がかかるレーシングチームを所有し、海外でも派手にＰＲ。９６年には株式を店頭公開し、株式譲渡などで９０億円近い利益を手にすることになる。
著名経営者の仲間入りを果たし、内部留保も潤沢。側近には「ＮＯＶＡ銀行を作る」と打ち明けたという。破綻後の昨年１０月末、保全管理人（当時）が「私物化の一端」として公開した社長室には、サウナ付き浴室に茶室まで備えていた。
２０００年、実質支配する複数の会社を通じ、倒産の危機にひんした旧石川銀の「見せ金増資」に協力。関係者によると、２５０億円以上の融資を受け、一部を使って増資を引き受けた。反対する元顧問の忠告には耳を貸さなかった。
「ＮＯＶＡ銀行と思ってもらって結構だ」。感謝の意を口にする旧石川銀の頭取。
「おれも銀行の頭取か」。猿橋容疑者の顔に笑みがこぼれた。
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