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

Citing a tough financial situation, Hiroshima-based David English House has closed its doors as of September 1 and filed for bankruptcy.

While some of its schools will close, a number of its teachers will go independent and take over existing contracts and keep other schools open. For the most part, it sounds it will be business as usual for its students.

Apart from its English schools, DEH was also known for its distance learning courses through the University of Birmingham (MA in TEFL) and the University of Sheffield (MA in Advanced Japanese [no longer offered]). I did a Master's in Advanced Japanese at the University of Sheffield through DEH a few years ago and have nothing but good things to say. It was well-organized and a lot of hard work, but a lot of fun, too.

Like many readers here, zakzak wonders about the odd combination of restaurant companies and English conversation schools.

As you know by now, G.communication, which operates Nova and GEOS, which in turn was owned by Foodys, is now owned by Hanshin Shuhan after it acquired Foodys' 50.9% share of the company. Foodys sold its shares in G.communication in order raise money when its main bank, the Incubator Bank of Japan, was shut down by the Financial Services Agency on suspicion of obstructing an FSA audit. According a source that spoke with zakzak, Foodys sold its shares on the condition that Hanshin Shuhan assumed the loan that Foodys used to buy its stake in g.communication.

Zakzak then delves into the histories of the companies involved.

• G.communication started out as a juku and branched off into the restaurant business in 2000. It started growing and acquiring more restaurants around 2005 through a series of mergers and acquisitions.
• In October 2007, it took over Nova.
• However, G.communication's mergers and acquisitions left it short of cash and its president, Masaki Inayoshi, sold his shares in October 2009.
• The shares were sold to Foodys and Venture Link. Both companies are members of the Incubator bank of Japan's network for SMEs.
• Foody's, being the largest shareholder in g.communication with a 50.9% share, jumped on the M&A bandwagon with G.communication only to have its plans go off the rails when the Icubator Bank was shut down.
• Now that Hanshin Shuhan owns G.communication, it says it will continue to operate the eikaiwa business as usual.
• Hanshin Shuhan is a liquor distributor started by its 34-year old president, Higaki Shuusaku, in 2001.
• Hanshin Shuhan was new to the distribution business but quickly made an impact by leaving free refrigerators stuffed with drinks in offices, and then making the rounds collecting money for the drinks that had been consumed. The company raked in the money by taking a page out of the Toyama okigusuri method where medicine kits were distributed to homes and customers paid for what they used. From 2009, Hanshin Shuhan also got on the M&A bandwagon.
• In May 2009, it acquired Gyukaku through a take over of Asrapport Dining. In April of this year, it acquired liquor distributor Daishuhan from the Japan Asia Group. It's latest acquisition is G.communication.

Zakzak asks, "Where is the money for these M&As coming from?" One of Hanshin Shuhan's major shareholders are limited investment partnerships with investment enterprise Orix #10 being mentioned. An executive in a business research firms tells zakzak that Hanshin Shuhan is more an investment company than anything else. If true, izakayas and eikaiwa make for strange bedfellows in the world of mergers and acquisitions.

Comment: When I was a kid I was really into trading hockey cards and playing games like "knock down," farthies" and "scramble." I get the sense that the same thing is being done with GEOS and Nova, except that they aren't particularly valuable--kind of like picking up some 4th-liner pylon in a game of "scramble." They are minor players in larger deals and will eventually find themselves discarded and clothes-pegged in the spokes of some unlucky investor's bicycle.

This comes via allblacks in the forums who quotes a reliable source:

All ex nova employees who received part of their unpaid wages after the bankruptcy (most of you should have received 80% of what was owed to you). The trustees are in the process of organizing a further payment of part of the remaining unpaid amount. If you have changed your address since the last payment you will need to contact the trustees and inform them.

It sounds like former teachers could be receiving the remainder of their unpaid wages. Hopefully I can update this with something more concrete in the near future.

UPDATE 8/20. A reader provides this memo:

With Rakuten and Fast Retailing making English the first language in their offices, the Daily Yomiuri Online says that it has given English conversation schools a much needed boost:

During the April-June period, Berlitz Japan, Inc., an operator of foreign language schools, saw the number of its corporate customers and individual regular students who are company employees jump 50 percent from a year earlier. Its summer short program also has attracted about 2-1/2 times as many students as in the previous year.

Another English school operator, Gaba Corp., enjoyed a similar boost, with corporate contracts up 12 percent year on year in the first half of 2010.

Well, that's good news for two schools, but what about the rest? The article notes that Fast Retailing plans on hiring non-Japanese staff. If they can already speak English, then it won't translate into new business for the eikaiwas. So, are things looking good in eikaiwa or is this article seeing things through rose-colored glasses?

Nova and GEOS are under new management. The new boss is Kobe-based food and beverage importer and distributor Hanshin Shuhan. According to the Yomiuri shimbun, Foodys, the current parent company of Nova and GEOS, is to hand over its 50.98% share in the eikaiwa schools to Hanshin Shuhan by the end of August.

Foodys was forced to give up its shares in G.communication after running into cash problems when its main bank, the Incubator Bank of Japan, was shut down by the Financial Services Agency on suspicion of obstructing an FSA audit. Hanshin Shuhan has agreed to assume the loan Foodys used to acquire G.communication along with shares in the company. The brief blurb ends with Masaki Inayoshi, the Chairman and President of G-Communication group, resigning effective August 10.

If eikaiwa ever was a McJob, Hanshin Shuhan is helping to reinforce that image by marketing themselves as a "fast food and fast beverage company." What does it say about the state of eikaiwa when it has stronger links to the restaurant business than it does with language learning? Moreover, it's not reassuring that G.communication's masters were connected to a bank engaged in shady business practices, although "eikaiwa" and "shady business practices" do seem to go hand in hand in recent years.

UPDATE 8/19: Many comments have been about what would a food & beverage company find attractive about owning an English conversation school. As noted in the comments, one reason may have to do Hanshin Shuhan wanting part of G.communication's restaurant business. A short article on Searchina says that G.communication restaurants G.taste, G.networks, and Sakai will become "grandchild companies" (indirect subsidiaries) of Hanshin Shuhan. An article in the Kobe Shimbun says that in Hanshin Shuhan hopes to beef up its restaurant biz with the inclusion of G.communication's stores.

As for the English conversation schools, the article simply states that Hanshin Shuhan will continue operating them as usual. It doesn't sound like they have any big plans for Nova and GEOS, does it? It makes me wonder if the schools will get lost in the shuffle as the company focuses on merging its restaurant operations instead.

Those are the infamous words of Bob Lewis, co-pilot of the Enola Gay, following the world's first use of a nuclear weapon. What have we done, indeed.

Sixty-five years on, the dropping of the bombs is still being debated, and there are persuasive arguments to be made for and against.

When we talk about the strategy and reasoning behind dropping the bombs we ignore the all important human factor in the world's first use of nuclear weapons-- the unspeakable horror of the attack. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki instantly wiped out hundreds of thousands of lives and the suffering of the survivors continues to this day.

As Howard Zinn notes, the use of nuclear weapons was made possible through years of dehumanizing the enemy that prepared the public for the use of such weapons. When the enemy isn't seen as human, it's easy to dismiss their deaths as necessary.

One aspect of WWII that is forgotten is that at Casablanca in 1943, the Allies made the deliberate and systematic targeting of civilian populations in Germany and Japan a part of their bombing campaign. Even if you believe the war to be a just and righteous war, how does the indiscriminate bombing of civilians make one righteous? How does one justify such a thing?

I ask this question because Hiroshima wasn't a military target and I'm not convinced that that not using the bomb would have resulted in the deaths of half a million or a million more Allied soldiers. I believe history will not be kind to the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and ultimately see them acts of terrorism and a crime against humanity.

It doesn't look like the lawsuit will end any time soon:

The current focus of negotiations is the amount of notice union members should give the company ahead of industrial action. Initially, Berlitz Japan offered to drop their lawsuit if teachers gave a week's notice before striking. Begunto proposed five minutes. Since teachers typically only learn the next day's schedule the night before, the judge instructed the company to come up with a better offer.

Asked how much notice unions legally have to give before striking, Langley replied, "None. Zero. That's one of the beauties of a strike: You just strike."

In the latest round of talks held Thursday, Berlitz Japan requested contract teachers give strike notification by 3 p.m. the day before, and per-lesson teachers by 5 p.m. Begunto pointed out to the judge that per-lesson teachers don't receive their schedule until 6 p.m. the day before. Union executives have taken the offer back to members for consideration

That's quite the chutzpah from Berlitz. I don't know why they want advance notice of industrial reaction when it hasn't stopped them from screwing over their teachers:

One, who didn't want to be named, received word of his dismissal just before shipping out to Afghanistan as a U.S. Army reservist at the end of July 2009. Berlitz Japan had allowed the teacher to take unpaid leave for military duty several times before the strike. But after being the only teacher at his Yokohama branch to walk out, he began getting complaints from students.

According to Begunto members, after being ordered to deploy to Afghanistan, Berlitz Japan told the teacher he could take a leave of absence of less than a year, and that he'd have to quit if he needed more than a year. Two days before he left for Afghanistan the company fired him. According to the dismissal letter, his performance was subpar and was hurting the company's image.

Take unpaid leave and then get summarily fired anyway for reasons which you cannot defend since you are conveniently unable to communicate with the company. The same thing applies if you become seriously ill:

Another of the teachers named in the suit, Catherine Campbell, was fired earlier this month after taking too long to recover from late-stage breast cancer cancer [sic]. In June 2009, Campbell took a year of unpaid leave to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Because Berlitz Japan failed to enroll Campbell in the shakai hoken health insurance scheme, she was unable to receive the two-thirds wage coverage it provides and had to live with her parents in Canada during treatment. The company denied Campbell's request to extend her leave from June to Sept. 2010 and fired her for failing to return to work.

Berlitz Japan work rules allow for leave-of-absence extensions where the company deems it necessary.

Never mind that this is unpaid leave, it's Catherine's fault for not healing faster. Her situation is also a good example of why it's important to pay into a health insurance scheme. She would not have been financially crippled had she been enrolled in the company's shakai hoken health insurance plan. Insurance is always a waste of money until you need it, eh?

As the article points out, the heart of the dispute is a battle for a wage increase. The teachers went on strike for a 4.6% increase after going without a raise for 16 years while Berlitz and its parent company, Benesse, enjoyed record profits.

One of the reasons why conditions are so bad in eikaiwa is because the schools have been allowed to get away with their shady practices and abuse for so long. Part of it has to do with the lack of regulation of the industry, but another reason is that few teachers have chosen to stand up to their employers. It's always been easier to jump ship and find something better. But with Japan's moribund economy, those days are over. There are few good options left for teachers: 1) Don't teach English in Japan (don't bother with it in the first place) or 2) Don't be a pushover in the first place.

As I've said before, this is worth fighting for. You can't let yourself be pushed around. The alternative is to let eikaiwa schools forever stomp on you.

In other news, Louis Carlet is the executive president of Zenkoku Ippan (Tozen):

On Dec. 3, 2008, Berlitz Japan claimed the strike was illegal and sued for a total of ¥110 million in damages. Named in the suit were the five teachers volunteering as Begunto executives, as well as two union officials: the president of the National Union of General Workers Tokyo Nambu, Yujiro Hiraga , and Carlet, former NUGW case officer for Begunto and currently executive president of Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union (Tozen).

Hoofin' has the details on how that happened.

UPDATE: The author of the article, James McCrostie, was kind enough to email me and offer a few extra morsels that didn't make the editor's cut:

• To add insult to Catherine Campbell's fight with cancer, Benesse supports the Pink Ribbon campaign through their health insurance union （ベネッセ健康保険組合） [PDF, see p.3].

• Union members told James McCrostie in an interview that the fight against Begunto really seems to be part of a wider policy of union busting at Benesse Corp. In April, Simul International fired the president of their union, someone with 12 years experience at the company. Also, Berlitz threw away 15 years of established practices for collective bargaining in English. Two lawyers from the law firm suing the Berlitz teachers now run Berlitz's side of negotiations in Japanese and demand the union provide an interpreter. During negotiations, Berlitz managers ask the lawyers for permission before they speak. The law firm in question is famous in Japanese legal circles for union busting.

Stay classy, Berlitz.

UPDATE 7/27: Something just didn't sit right with me after re-reading the article and it's the union's case with the Army Reservist. It's a weak case, especially when it looks like Berlitz was being reasonable in granting several unpaid leaves. Expecting to be able to take multiple unpaid leaves and still keep your job is a stretch in Japan. It's also difficult to see how the union could pin his dismissal on him being the only one in his school to strike. It seems like a moot point to argue when all Berlitz has to do is point out that the teacher has been away from work for extended periods of time.

For the life of me, I cannot wrap my head around why Kim Hyon Hui is in Japan. She blows up KAL flight 858 in 1987, killing all aboard, is arrested, sentenced to death, pardoned, marries one of her bodyguards, writes a book about her days as a spy, and now leads a presumably comfortable but secluded life in South Korea. But because she met some of the Japanese abductees, Japan has seen fit to let her into the country despite her crimes where she has been kicking back at Yukio's summer pad in Karuizawa and is slated to take a helicopter tour of Mt. Fuji today. What the hell?

Unless she has a photographic memory or has extensively traveled to North Korea in recent years, Kim hasn't been a source of information for a very long time. Anything she knows about the abductees is over 20 years old now. She may have some comforting words to say to the Iizukas or Yokotas but that's about it. Sure enough, Shigeru Yokota, father of Megumi, said as much:

北朝鮮による拉致被害者・横田めぐみさんの両親の滋さんと早紀江さんは２２日朝、長野県軽井沢町で記者会見を開き、来日中の大韓航空機爆破事件実行犯の金賢姫（キム・ヒョンヒ）元死刑囚との面会した結果について、

滋さんによると、金元死刑囚はめぐみさんの写真は何度か見たことはあるが、会ったのは１度だけだと話したという。早紀江さんは「めぐみと近しいところにいた金さんと会えて、夢のようだった」と話し、金元死刑囚にベージュ色の上着をお土産としてプレゼントしたと話した。

Kim had nothing to offer that he hasn't already heard. Moreover, she only met Megumi once. But that hasn't stopped Prime Minister Naoto Kan from saying that he hopes Kim's visit will help resolve the abductee issue. Really? If this is Japan's idea of a diplomatic gesture, then its efforts to bring some sort of closure to the abductee issue are truly dead in the water. Let's have bread and circuses instead. After watching the coverage on TV, the one thing that sticks in my mind is this: Why is Japan pallin' around with a terrorist?

*I can't believe I quoted Sarah Palin. I feel dirty, but this visit by Kim doesn't make any sense to me.

This got buried in my stack of stuff to do, but why not haul out the rotten corpse that is Fortress Japan for another round of flogging? To recap, the Consumer Affairs Agency shut down Fortress Japan in February for six months over its coercive methods of signing up new students. The agency's report [PDF] contains five case studies that illustrate how Fortress Japan did business.

You are probably already familiar with Fortress Japan's sleazy conduct, but the stupidity of its victims also shines through. Why did they sign? Where they mentally worn down to the point of being unable to leave the room or were they scared into signing? Fortress Japan's suspension ends August 18 and I wonder if they will return to their dirty tricks if they return at all. Here's a summary of the case studies.

CASE 1

In March 2009, Employee Z from Fortress Japan stopped Consumer A, who was in the midst of looking for a job, in a train station and asked if he would answer a questionnaire. He agreed.

Days later, Z called A on the mobile phone number he left on the questionnaire. She identified herself as Z from Global Trinity and asked A if remembered the questionnaire from the other day. For the next 20 minutes, she told him about an information session that would be useful in A's job, saying that it included one-on-one counseling, that it was popular, and that seats would fill up quickly. A was interested and said he would attend the session at Fortress Japan.

A went to Fortress Japan at the appointed time and date, where Z led him into small room. Using newspaper clippings, Z proceeded to explain to A the importance of being able to speak English and how it would benefit him in a severe the job market. Z also produced a pamphlet which she used to introduce Global Trinity to A, explaining that it offered employment skills and personal development seminars in order to succeed in finding a job as well as English lessons that A could take at any time without any restrictions.

A, realizing that two and half hours had elapsed and that Z wasn't about to finish, informed Z that he was leaving. Z replied that she was almost done and to wait a bit longer. On hearing the exchange, Z's boss jumped in to tell A that Z's presentation was almost finished. So, A let Z continue. A asked how much English lessons were after thinking that studying English would give him an edge in his job search. Z replied that she would tell him the next time they met. Wanting to know how much lessons cost, he arranged for another meeting.

Days after the first meeting, A returned to Fortress Japan where Z led him to the same small room and proceeded to talk about importance of English and the lesson fees. Z informed A that it cost 570,000 yen for 10 months and that A could take any number of lessons at any time he wanted in any course offered, all at the same price. On hearing the cost, A informed Z that he wanted to talk things over with his parents since he had no savings and couldn't carry a loan by working part-time. Z told him that A could increase his hours at his part-time job. A replied that getting more hours would be difficult, to which Z replied that he would be a failure in life and accomplish nothing if he didn't start now, and that he should work more hours. Z also pressured A into making the decision himself by saying that A was an adult and didn't need his parents to make decisions for him. Just then, Z's boss, Y, appeared and told A the reason he couldn't decide was because he didn't have the resolve and was weak. A signed a contract, thinking that they would not let him leave unless he did so.

A later took a level check at a Global Trinity school and was told he was at Level 1. Just as he was about to start his studies based on the curriculum for his level, he was unable to book a lesson three out of four times he tried. Moreover, A found that there were times when the lesson schedule that was released two weeks in advance of classes was suddenly released only 3 days in advance, making it difficult for A to book a class. He was never able to take lessons as he intended due the large number of Level 1 students all trying to make lessons reservations.

CASE 2

In April 2009, Employee X from Fortress Japan stopped Consumer B at a train station while he was on his way to university and asked him if he would fill out a questionnaire about English. B agreed.

That night, X called B on the mobile phone number he gave on the questionnaire. She identified herself as X from Global Trinity and thanked B for his help with the questionnaire at the train station earlier that day. She asked about B's university life and search for a job, and informed him of a popular English conversation information session that was filling up fast. Since B was aware how important being able to speak English was, he made an appointment with X for the next day.

B met X at the train station closest to Fortress Japan, where X escorted him to the building where Fortress Japan had an office. B was led into a small, partitioned room on a different floor than Fortress Japan. X then began a one-way spiel and informed B that Fortress Japan operated an English conversation school and job seminars, and that it had a lot of good things to offer. X also informed B that taking Fortress Japan's English lessons and job seminars would make him a go-getter, instilling within him assertiveness, responsibility, and ambition. X asked B to come tomorrow for a more detailed explanation about the English lessons. Since B was interested in studying English, he agreed to meet the next day.

The next day, B went to the same place to hear more about the English lessons. As with the previous day, X told him about the lessons and job seminars. Interested in signing a contract, B asked about how much it all cost. X didn't answer his question and repeatedly told B that the English lessons were a great opportunity for busy university students such as himself as he could take lessons any time he wanted. B thought that taking the classes would change him. After speaking for nearly four hours, X informed B that she would discuss lesson fees the next time they met and that he should come again tomorrow. Although B was busy that day, he made an appointment for another day.

Several days later, B met with X to talk about lesson fees. As with previous meetings, X again repeatedly told B of the importance of English and job seminars, telling him that English lessons were a great opportunity for busy university students such as himself since he could take lessons any time he wanted. Concerned about how much everything cost, he asked about the price. X told him it was 500,000 yen for 10 months and that he could make a lump sum payment or pay in 24 monthly installments of 24,000 yen by credit card. Knowing it would be difficult to make monthly payments of 24,000 yen and go to school at the same time, B asked for some time to think things over. X pressured B into making a decision by telling him things such as, "500,000 may seem expensive, but it's an investment in yourself. It's cheap when you consider you'll be able to speak English," and "You can decide on your own. You're older than 20." X pressured B for more than two hours before he finally signed a contract.

After signing the contract and going to the school to find out if he could take lessons any time he wanted to, the receptionist told him that all lessons had to be booked and that there was a curriculum for each particular language level. B realized that he would not be able to take lessons at a time of his choosing.

When B tried to book lessons in the fee time he had in between his university studies, classes were filled quickly and he was only able to make a reservation about half the time he tried.

CASE 3

In the Spring of 2008, University Student C, who had filled out a questionnaire on English conversation while on his way to school, received a call on his mobile phone from an unknown number but decided not to answer.

In May 2009, he received a call on his mobile phone and answered it. The person on the line was W from Fortress Japan. She introduced herself, told C that he had filled in a questionnaire at the train station a year ago, and asked him how his studies were progressing. She engaged in small talk while asking him about his search for a job, and then asked if he was interested in visiting an English conversation school that would help him with his job hunt. C was interested in studying English and arranged for a meeting at the school. C went to the school and was taken to a room. There, W informed him that "companies demand assertiveness, responsibility, and go-getters," and "English will help your search for a job. You need it in today's society." W made C anxious by telling him he wouldn't make it in society without being able to speak English or that he would earn less if he could not speak English. Since W didn't tell C about the English conversation school, C made an appointment to meet the next day.

C went to Fortress Japan the next day and after W reminded him again of the importance of English, told him that while all lessons have to be reserved, he could make a reservation without any restrictions at any time and that he was free to choose the day of the lesson. C liked the idea of being able to take lessons whenever he wanted but when he asked about the price, W told him it was 500,000 yen for 10 months, or monthly payments of 24,000 yen by consumer credit loan, and that this was considerably cheaper than other English conversation schools. C replied that a 500,000 loan was out of the question. W ignored C's rejection, telling him it wouldn't be a problem since he had a part-time job. Despite his job, he was a student with an unstable income. C said no and expressed his desire to go home and think it over. W refused to let him go, saying things like he would "regret it if he didn't decide now," or that she needed a decision right now or "You're a failure as a working adult." Wanting to leave as quickly as he could, C signed a contract, believing he had no other choice.

When C tried to book a lesson, he found he was unable to since the class schedule for the next half month was released two weeks in advance. The school was flooded with reservations. Moreover, C's university and part-time job schedules were set a month in advance, and when he tried to make a reservation that fit his schedule, he would only be able to fit in lessons once or twice a week. C tried more than 20 times to book a lesson but could never get the dates he wanted. Ultimately, he was never able to take more than half of the lessons he intended as they were all booked.

CASE 4

In June 2009, Consumer D was stopped in front of the entrance of his university by V, who introduced herself as being from Trinity, an English conversation school and job hunting juku. She asked D if he would take 30 seconds and fill out a questionnaire. V told D that Trinity was holding a free job search seminar and that he should attend. D was worried about his job prospects and decided that it would be a good idea to attend.

Days later, D met V at the train station closest to Trinity, where V escorted him to a small booth on the 9th floor of the building that Trinity occupied. V used newspaper clippings to illustrate how bad the job market was while explaining to D for three hours how difficult it would be to find a job and that companies want people who can speak English and are good communicators. D understood the need for personal development but didn't hear anything about how much everything cost, so he asked about the price. V replied that she would talk about prices during the second meeting, but D didn't seem like a university student who would have problems with money, so he should come to the next meeting tomorrow. D decided that he would make up his mind after learning about the price and promised to attend the second meeting the next day.

When D showed up at the appointed time the next day, V introduced him to U, who would be giving the presentation that day. U informed D that while the English lessons were by reservation-only, he could take as many lessons as he wanted during the 8-month course. U then spoke about the price of the lessons, informing D that it cost 650,000 yen, or under 30,000 yen a month in 24 monthly consumer loan payments. D thought the course was expensive and clearly refused to sign a contract as he wanted time to think it over. U, looking disappointed, told him that talking to his parents was pointless since they'd be the ones footing the bill and that it was too bad that D couldn't make the decision himself. When D explained that he had no choice but to talk with his parents since he probably wouldn't be able to get more hours at his part-time job, U replied that he should take responsibility for signing the contract without his parents input. The back and forth continued for some time. Finally, D decided to work more hours at his job and said he would join the school.

CASE 5

In August 2009, Consumer E was passing through a train station during his search for a job when he was stopped by T, who asked him if he would fill out a questionnaire about his job hunt. T asked E if he was interested in studying English and whether he felt that it was important. E thought both were important and filled out the questionnaire, leaving his name and phone number on the form.

That evening, T called E using the information on the questionnaire and introduced herself as T from Hearts. She then asked E about university life and his search for a job, and asked if he was interested in attending a free job seminar. E had just started looking for a job and thought the seminar would be crowded with people but would be worth attending for the information. He agreed to attend.

Days later, E went to the train station where he first met T. S escorted him to a booth and told him that today was decision day. E replied with a vague, "I see" although his intention was to listen to the spiel and go home without joining Hearts.

S started her presentation by saying that with the Hearts program, E would have to work part-time and earn money on his own. When E replied that he didn't have a part-time job, didn't have time for a job, and didn't intend on getting one, S attacked him for not having a job as it would hurt his job prospects. She said things like, "Not being able to work and go to school at the same time gives a bad impression because society demands that you do various things at the same time," and " Businesses don't like to hire people dependent on their parents because they've had to deal with complaints about their child's employment environment." After some time, S asked E if he had any questions. E replied that Hearts had something to offer but wasn't sure if he wanted to study there. S asked why he was confused, to which E replied, "I have university, seminars, and my own job hunting to worry about so doing a part-time job and studying at Hearts is impossible." S told him that he could do both.

Since the discussion was going nowhere, E asked to see some information about prices. S showed him a chart that said that it would cost 20,000 yen a month, a price that even a university student could afford it while working part-time. E felt that 20,000 a month was doable but the chart that S showed him listed a lump sum price of 500,000 yen payable in monthly installments of 20,000 yen over three years. E pointed out that at 20,000 yen a month, the cost would be more than 600,000 yen. He didn't have the money or time for a part time job, let alone study at Hearts. S tried to persuade him by saying the money was an investment in himself which would yield huge returns and that it was important to work and do something for yourself while he was still young. Again, E declined, "It all sounds good but I have my doubts about some things and am not quite convinced." S asked why he was confused again, to which E replied, " I'm not interested. I'm surrounded by highly-motivated friends at university who are more interesting." S countered by saying that there were plenty of people like that at Hearts and that relying on those close by wasn't a good thing. It was better for him to create his own environment. E thought the discussion was never going to end, so he made himself clear, "I'm really not interested right now."

S, however, pressed on saying, "You think like an old man," "All you think about is risk, not the challenge. You're young but indecisive. If you fail, it's better to do so while in university. It's better to do something and regret it than regret not doing something," and "You can take the lessons when your schedule allows it and you can take as many as you want at no extra charge." E was firm, "The risk is considerable if I fail given the large amount of money involved and other things may take a backseat if I start studying at Hearts. There are other ways than Hearts to grow personally, so I can't make a decision right now." S was persistent in maintaining that joining Hearts was the only way to succeed despite E's many protests, "You're being evasive. You're saying that activities beyond money, your schedule, and Hearts are more important so you can avoid having to make a decision." E kept refusing for over three hours but S wouldn't take no for an answer, so E decided to sign the contract.

It was only when E went to take an English level check that he learned the truth: He had to book lessons, but there was only about one class a week for a given curriculum, he could only make one reservation at a time, and he had to go to the school in person to book a lesson for the same day.

F*cked Gaijin links to an entry by Jim Gannon on jetwit.com about how the JET Program has been put on the chopping block by the DJP jjigyo shiwake government waste panel.

As an exercise in teaching English, I think it can be said that JET is an abject failure. Japan has one of the lowest TOEIC scores in Asia and 23 years of JET have done nothing to improve it. As Gannon notes, the budget panel sees JET as a teaching program, not a cultural exchange project, hence its recommendations to essentially do do away with it [PDF in Japanese].

If you're a JET Alumni, you of course don't want to see the program go, but Gannon also notes that intellectuals and policy leaders are trying to convince Japan rethink its position. More importantly, Gannon writes, "For its part, the US State Department also seems to be taking the position that the JET Program makes valuable contributions to the long-term underpinnings of US-Japan relations and cutting it will be harmful."

Even if you believe the JET Program to be wasted effort in teaching English, this is where the real value in JET exists: the goodwill that Japan has bought over the years is invaluable. Teaching and cultural exchange aside, the JET Program has succeeded in creating a corps of "ambassadors" that are interested in and like Japan, and these people tend to want to continue to stay connected to Japan in some way after JET.

I know a few ex-JETS who have gone on to work at embassies in Japan, and I wonder what the ratio of people who go on to work in some Japan-related government or NPO capacity really is. If JET does get the axe, then Japan doesn't just lose a teaching program, but a valuable diplomatic tool as the State Department suggests.