nova

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.

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.

, a member raises a good question: "Are there any details re why they are having to do this [the class action suit]? I thought that it was already decided that NOVA had to refund students for unused lesson points."

If you were under the impression that everything for Nova will eventually turn out fine since there hasn't been much new to report, think again. According to the Daily Yomiuri [in Japanese], a class action lawsuit against Nova is in the works.

It's starting to become clearer as to how Nova found itself in deep legal trouble. The Daily Yomiuri is reporting that METI tolerated Nova's refund practices:

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry issued a document in June 2002 that tolerated English conversation school industry leader Nova Corp.'s controversial practice of minimizing refunds of students who terminated their contracts, according to sources close to the issue.

Travel agency H.I.S has been identified as a candidate for a possible tie up with Nova. The head of H.I.S., Hideo Sawada met with Nova President Nozomu Sahashi last month in Tokyo to ask about Nova's financial situation, but both parties denied that any any specific deal had been made.

Stating the obvious, the Japan Times reported: