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

Today was the final day of Sahashi's trial, and in their closing statement, the prosecution asked that Sahashi be sentenced to five years in jail stating that his actions caused severe losses to students and employees, and that his taking money from the shayukai fund was no grounds for leniency. The defense reasserted that Sahashi is innocent and that he was trying to save the company from bankruptcy.

In his final statement, Sahashi expressed his desire to do as much as he can to repay the money taken from the fund. The judge will render his decision on August 26.

Day 6 of Sahashi's trial was today (funny, the papers seemed to have skipped reporting on the 4th and 5th sessions), and the notion that he might get off with a light sentence seems to have gained some ground. According to the Asahi shimbun, the judge threw out 2 depositions given by the assistant manager during the investigation in which he stated that Sahashi had instructed him to use money from the shayukai employee's fund.

Terrie Lloyd's column in Japan Today is supposed to be a look at the state of eikaiwa in Japan, but it's a poor effort stuffed with meaningless business-speak. Teaching English has been on a downward slide ever since Japan's asset bubble burst. The collapse of NOVA only served to make things worse. Let's take a look at the column.

In the forums, provides a link to a G.communication PDF. It seems that they have decided to rent out space at its Yaesu school. There's nothing unusual about this as businesses look for ways to generate revenue during the economic collapse. I've heard about parts manufacturers making confectioneries to help make ends meet. Still, it suggests that business isn't very good at the Yaesu school.

Regarding my comments previously made about people giving up their cars in favor of bicycles and car-sharing, here's a clip on Orix's car-sharing business:

While I'm on the subject of immigration, the Lower House passed a bill on new residency rules last Friday.

The big changes:

As of June 1st the Yokohama Immigration Office has moved from the goudou chousya building in Ishikawa-cho to a new facility [PDF] near Shin-Sugita Station on the Keihin-Tohoku Line.

Update on the Sahashi trial today. According to the Sankei shimbun, Sahashi testified that he didn't know how much money was in the shayukai employee's fund and didn't remember checking the balance himself. He also denied that taking money from the fund was his idea.

This is disturbing:

The farm ministry uncovered 879 cases of mislabeled food products last year but only disclosed 110 of them in order to protect the companies responsible, according to documents obtained from the ministry Saturday.

The 879 cases involve companies that were issued warnings or guidance by the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry or its regional offices during the year, the documents show. The documents were obtained through an information disclosure request.

As was reported last week, Japan's fertility rate is up but the population is still in decline:

Japan's fertility rate edged up for a third consecutive year in 2008, three years after dropping to a record low of 1.26 in 2005, the health ministry said Wednesday.

The total fertility rate, or the estimated number of children a woman would bear in her lifetime based on current birth trends, rose 0.03 point to an average of 1.37 compared with a year ago.

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