School's closure in Japan exposes tough times for foreign teachers

Nova, the largest language school, declared bankruptcy last week.

from the October 30, 2007 edition

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Arriving a month ago after graduating from the University of Idaho, Derek Archer calls himself "one of the poor saps who got here when all this was happening. The trainers said, 'Don't worry.' But then our area manager said, 'You have six days to get out of your apartment.' I was totally lost."

His student, an elderly woman, offered to put him up for two months. "I'm [fortunate].... Others are scraping for food money."

TV news sob stories of impoverished blond-haired, blue-eyed refugees was not the intention of Japan's kokusaika, or internationalization. During the bubble economy of the late 1980s, thousands of Westerners earned $3,000 a month to chat with Japanese at national schools such as ECC, Geos, and Nova. But wages have stagnated or declined. Some schools have closed.

Teachers say Nova grew too big, with nearly half the market. "This is a crisis created by a company operating in very improper ways," says Bob Tench, who taught with Nova for 13 years.

Nova teachers joined the National Union of General Workers in the 1990s. Union representative Catherine Campbell says firms abuse the yearly-contract system. "Teaching in Japan ... [is] a really hard situation if you are serious about a long-term job."

Ms. Campbell says Japan's Industry Ministry didn't monitor Nova early on, and then overreacted by banning long-term deals with students. "After that, Nova just started bleeding customers."

About 2,000 Japanese staff have not been paid since July, while many students are threatening legal action to get refunds. But Osaka District Court on Friday granted Nova court protection amid reports that Nova owes ¥43.9 billion. The Jasdaq Securities Exchange suspended trading in Nova stock.

Calls to Nova's offices went unanswered.

Mr. Tench says teachers should be treated as professionals rather than tourists who speak a language. Some teachers say they fear a new trend of schools hiring cheaper college grads from the Philippines.

Still, many teachers vow to stay on. Sam Gordon, who came to Japan five years ago, says he became attached to his students. "I don`t want to go back to America, I have no job there. Now foreign teachers have a bad image in Japan. I feel bad for the students, too. They didn't even get to say goodbye to their teachers."

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