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

Despite the demise of Nova, teachers are still in limbo. Nova has released two announcements on its website explaining what will happen in the next month. The announcement on the appointment of interim trustees can be found here [PDF]. An FAQ for teachers is [PDF].

With Nova in ruins and its trustees looking for a receiver, the temptation to assign blame for the whole mess is hard to resist.

A letter to the editor in The Japan Times states METI "imposed their sanctimonious and totally inappropriate penalty upon Nova will spare a thought for the 7,000-odd foreign and Japanese staff who now find themselves unemployed."

Ever since METI punished Nova in June, the Japanese press has been faithfully reporting on Nova's problems. What was missing from the equation was coverage on TV. Nova garnered little coverage probably because it wasn't scandalous enough. It's not a juicy enough story when compared the scandals of the Defense Ministry and issues of food safety.

Now that Nova has collapsed, its president is nowhere to be found, and its employees and students are out of thousands of dollars in salaries and refunds, the story has been all over the television.

October 26, 2007. Nova's X-Day. Many doubted that it would ever arrive. Others here on the LJ forums several months ago uncannily predicted mid-October. Ken Worsley at Japan Economic News predicted "around November 1." (He's got a new piece about Nova up in Metropolis this evening that you can link to from his site that's worth checking out.)

After Sahashi was effectively removed in an early morning coup d'etat, the remaining members of the board of directors filed for bankruptcy protection in an Osaka court. Nova's debt as of the end of July has been placed at 43 billion yen, but the last three months have been especially brutal, so who knows what the true figure is?

The immediate bad news for current or recently resigned instructors is that pay will not be forthcoming soon, as Nova is now under court protection and will not be making payments of any kind for the time being. If you are owed money, there are discussions underway in the forums for and

So what happens next?

Sahashi is gone. According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, at an emergency board meeting held by Mr. Watanabe, Ms. Yoshisado, and Anders Lundqvist last night in Tokyo, the board of directors staged a coup d'etat and fired Sahashi citing non-confidence in his ability to lead the company.

The Toyo Keizai has published another damning article about Nova. This article focuses more on the shady funds in the British Virgin Islands that Nova sold the equity warrants to. If the portrayal of the funds is accurate, they'll try and pump and dump Nova and leave it for dead. Here's a translation of the article.

With Nova on the brink, the hyenas of the market close in

Nova’s business is becoming increasingly chaotic. With late salaries the norm comes an announcement of a major cash injection. But in the background there are rumors of shady dealings with mysterious shell companies.

Nova is quickly crumbling into pieces. Hot on the heels of yesterday’s sale of the equity warrants comes news that Sahashi’s lieutenants are leaving him.

Nova may have just received a huge cash infusion, but that doesn't mean its problems are solved. The Yomiuri Shimbun reports on the increasing chaos in Nova.

A big thanks to jrfiction in the forums for translating this article.

It appears that Sahashi will finally come out of hiding. The Osaka Chuo Labor Standards Office has requested that Sahashi appear before them to explain things in order to determine if the delays in pay violated the Labor Standards Law.

It sounds like a no-brainer, but what the Labor Standards Law is doing is a formality--they'll question him and then order him to pay his employees or else. Sahashi would be a fool to not appear because his non-compliance would potentially land him in jail.

So much for Nova dispatching ALTs to Osaka. According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, Osaka has decided to cancel its ALT dispatch contract with Nova citing the lack of teachers.