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Here's the last bit of the METI press release on Nova's punishment. The PDF document contains the translation of the entire METI press release, including the the charts on the last two pages. The quality of the flow chart in the PDF isn't excellent, but it's still readable. I've attached the flow chart by itself just in case.

The translation of the METI press release on Nova's punishment continues with the anecdotal case studies. This section corresponds to pages 11 to 20 of the press release. The case studies are enough to make your blood boil and expose Nova's thieving practices in all of their ugly details.

V. Case studies

Case 1

I wrote recently that Nova staff didn't get their summer bonus and weren't paid their salary for July. Admittedly, this was all based on speculation since I was citing anonymous messages on the Nova Teachers United mailing list and 2Ch. It seems that the press has finally caught wind of this problem with an article on ZAKZAK.

I've finally gotten around to continuing my translation of METI's press release on the punishment of Nova. This section corresponds to pages 5-10 of the press release. This passage expands on the first portion of the punishment and describes the punishment in more detail. I've also tried to rationalize the numbering system to make it easy to look up parts in the Japanese version if you want to follow along.

The impending doom of Nova is becoming clearer. A recent thread on the Nova Teachers United mailing list stated that staff had not been paid and that bonuses would not be forthcoming:

Nova's stock is worthless scrap paper. This past week saw Nova's share price lose 25% of its value closing at 71 yen. At one point during trading it fell to 69 yen.

When METI handed out its punishment of Nova on June 13, Nova's share price started trading at 98 yen and closed at 88 yen. By the beginning of July, the share price had climbed back over 100 yen and hovered around this price range until Friday, July 20. When trading started on on Monday, the 23rd, the share price opened at 96 yen and kept on falling until it reached 71 yen today.

In the wake of the earthquake in Niigata, Japan's nuclear power program is once again in the spotlight for its failures. After initial reports of a fire and a small leak at the Kashiwazaki power plant, we find out later that things were actually worse: Tokyo Electric (TEPCO) had the facts but waited 12 hours before letting the public know, the fire burned for several hours, radioactive waste spilled from collection pools, and some radiation was released into the ocean and into the atmosphere. Oh, and the reactor appears to have been built on a fault line. But we're told not to worry.

According to the Asahi Shimbun, Osaka-based ABC Language School suddenly closed its doors at the end of June leaving student refunds and and teacher's salaries in the lurch. A group of students has organized in Osaka to prepare a lawsuit saying that ABC was soliciting contracts even though its business was on the brink of collapse.

Add Benesse Corporation to the list of companies not interested in Nova.

According to a on July 12, Chairman and CEO, Soichiro Fukutake, said that he saw no "synergy effect" in partnering with Nova.

in the forums that NHK was putting together a report on Nova. The report aired on NHK on June 30 at 7:30 AM, and had more to do with problem surrounding ALT dispatch companies than Nova. Fortunately, the report has found its way onto YouTube.