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

As reported in the The Age, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer quipped that Nova is doomed:

Now the landlords are getting into the act. According to the Nikkan Sports, a landlord in Kyoto has filed a lawsuit demanding 1.35 million yen in rent in arrears.

With METI ordering Nova to pay students their refunds, teachers have taken this to mean that they are getting the shaft. I've been getting notes like this in my inbox:

Who reckons we'll be paid on time this month?

Can I get a "hell no!"?

Well, I for one am not going to sit around and get bum raped again.

Well, that was fast. Right after the union submitted its written demand to METI, METI went right to work ordering Nova to pay its students their refunds.

The Japan Times, meanwhile, reports that Nova raised 70 million yen through the issuing of warrants for 200 million shares.

ABC Radio National devoted 8 minutes to the situation with Nova.

After filing a demand with the Labour Standard Inspection Office in Osaka at the end of September, the General Union and the Nova union submitted a written demand to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for them to take action regarding the delayed payment of teachers' and staff salaries and student refunds. Good. They are holding Nova's feet to the fire and ratcheting things up.

Oh joy! Nova president "Nozom" Sahashi has decided to tell everyone to hang tight just a little longer yet again. Maybe if he actually showed his face in public and explained things, people would start taking him seriously instead of trying to decipher the meaning of his brief faxes. Here's the new fax with a translation courtesy of .

The big news that was supposed to be announced on October 5th turned out to be a non-event. Instead, Nova submitted its business improvement plan which was rejected by JASDAQ for being light on details. JASDAQ gave Nova until October 19 to resubmit its report.

How bad is the report [PDF in Japanese]? Between now and the end of the fiscal year next March, Nova plans to do the following (p.6 of the report):

The Weekly Playboy gets into the act by reporting on Sahashi's dishonesty and teachers' rent woes. From the WaiWai column in the Mainichi Daily News:

Many of the roughly 5,000 NOVA teachers are furious at the way they've been treated.

So much for the supply of teachers from Australia. AACE, the Australia Asia Centre for Education Exchange, which does recruiting for Nova (and, if I recall correctly, also charges hefty processing fees), has finally had enough of Nova. The following announcement is on their website: