Foreign teachers starve as super Nova implodes

Niseko seasonal workers and others expecting to slot straight into teaching jobs in other parts of Japan after winter should be aware it may not be easy.

With the provider of 5000 teaching positions gone, every other school is now inundated with ex-Nova teachers desperate to find jobs so they can afford to survive in expensive Japanese cities.

Many former Nova teachers are owed thousands of dollars in back pay, have been evicted from apartments owned by Nova, and claim not to be able to afford to even fly home.

In an extraordinary illustration of how desperate the situation is, Nova teachers are offering to teach English in exchange for food.

Another graphic indication is the total amount of unpaid salaries estimated to be more than ¥4billion (approx $US40 million), and the total liabilities of the company expected to exceed ¥100billion (approx $US1 billion).

Given the popularity of learning English across all ages of Japanese people, and the high price they are willing to pay for lessons, teaching has long been a fairly lucrative profession with an abundance of vacancies for any native English speaker to choose from.

For that reason the number of English language schools has increased dramatically in recent years and the competition has forced lesson prices down, in turn reducing teachers' wages.

The oversupply of English teachers following Nova's collapse is likely to see further deterioration in industry conditions.

Nozomu Sahashi established Nova in 1981 and remained at the helm until its collapse, when he went into hiding.

He was sacked in absentia after failing to attend an urgently convened board meeting, but according to latest press reports, has now been interviewed by government regulators who are considering pressing criminal charges stemming from the failure to pay employees.

His recent mismanagement of the company is widely blamed for its demise which saw Nova’s share price lose 90 percent of its value in the past year.

It has also been reported he secretly sold a 50 percent-plus stake in the company in March this year.

The company is now in the hands of administrators who hope to find a backer and revive the company.

According to government statistics, Nova owned a 60% share of industry student numbers in Japan in 2003.

The 'Nova Relief Fund' has been set up to help destitute teachers.

English schools in other Asian countries with high demand for English teachers like China and South Korea are now actively advertising for 'Ex-Nova staff' to leave Japan.