Drug busts, a murder, and the METI

is in trouble! But what else is new?

I spent the entire day yesterday in front of this computer. Most of that time was spent reformatting this blog but I also had time to do some Japan-related searching. I have been in the dark about what's been going on in Japan, and specifically what's been happening to NOVA since I quit on January 13th. On June 13th, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry imposed a 6-month ban on NOVA, preventing it from signing up new students to contracts longer than 1 year (this is aimed at the core of NOVA's business since 90% of their revenue come from new contracts). The sanctions are in response to NOVA policies for refunds on canceled contracts. There is a law in Japan that says you have eight days to cancel contracts without penalties but NOVA claims this law doesn't apply to them. That's where the problem seems to lie from what I've read. Officials at the ministry described NOVA as "organized and malicious" and have received over 7,000 complaints against the company since 1996.

Unrelated, shortly after I left Japan 7 NOVA employees were charged with possession (of cocaine and marijuana) in the Tokyo area. This was all over the national media. The charges result from a drug bust made back in November, while I was still an employee but safely in Nagoya and drug-free. I remember hearing about this at work and it seemed like nothing was going to happen to them. They might still get off but NOVA's instructors aren't new to drug charges. In response to the charges against two teachers in 1994, NOVA started its drug-testing policy. This was fought in court but before I went to Japan I remember I had to sign a form that said I would consent to be tested. According to the union, no instructors were ever required to take a drug test.

Additionally, on March 27 of this year, a 22-year old NOVA employee, Lindsay Ann Hawker, was found murdered in a sand-filled bathtub in Chiba. The police suspect one of her students but he remains at large.

Financially, the company is in rough shape but that's not new. I looked up the following data on Yahoo! Finance this morning. The company's stock has been on a steady slide since at least 2 years ago. When the news of NOVA's most recent troubles was released, the stock tumbled 25% in just a few days.

So what does all this mean? Everyone who maintains a blog is predicting the end of NOVA. They say all of this is irrefutable proof the company is fucked. One guy advised all current employees to not even bother quitting, but to just not return and start looking for another job immediately. I think everyone needs to calm the fuck down. I'm not sure what the steady slide in NOVA's share price means, other than it's a great time to buy if NOVA doesn't go under. As for the the sanctions against NOVA, they're only for 6 months and they can still sign up students as long as the contracts are for less than one year. I know NOVA has recently opened schools in Taiwan and earlier this year some spokesman for the company said they have plans for mainland Chinese schools as well. This is a lot of bad press all at one time, but I don't think I should cross NOVA off of my list of places to apply to.