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

The Asahi Shimbun reported on a look at what you have probably already seen: Sahashi's lavish office. As the walls slowly close in on him, the media has started to dogpile on him for the fat, juicy target he is. Nothing sells newspapers like a corrupt head of a company falling hard.

The Christian Science Monitor ran a piece on Nova's collapse that views eikaiwa through rose-colored glasses. This quote in particular caught my attention because it conflates all Westerners working Japan with eikaiwa teachers and illustrates some seriously delusional thinking about the realities of eikaiwa.

Here's an example:

Sahashi's hand in running Nova into the ground is becoming clearer by the day. In part one of a three-part series,The Daily Yomiuri illustrates that even when he was about score with a tie up between Nova and Marui, he sabotaged the entire deal:

In a meeting held in late May in Tokyo, Nova's management was in the final stages of discussions over a capital and business tie-up with leading retailer Marui Co.

Uh-oh! Nova's liabilities may be larger than initially thought. According to the Asahi Shimbun (article at the bottom of the page), Nova's liabilities could swell to 70 billion yen from the 40 billion yen initially reported. This is because of Nova's accounting methods that listed only a portion of the lesson fees paid up front as a liability.

Nova announced today [PDF]that former president Nozomu Sahashi no longer owns the 70%+ stake in the company he once had.

As of March 31, 2007, Sahashi owned 24,002,900 shares with voting rights (a 35.55% stake) that ranked him second in terms of holdings. As of September 30, he owns 10,841,900 shares with voting rights (a 16.02％ stake) that places him at the top in terms of holdings.

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."

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.