Nova's failure won't weaken Japanese appetite to learn English
(From The Japan Times Nov. 4 issue)

Nova破たんの波紋

The tragedy of the English-teaching company Nova is a gripping and revealing one. That students should have their fees returned, and teachers and staff be paid their salaries goes without saying. That the company had serious management and leadership problems is equally obvious. Still, the Nova episode is reason to consider several aspects of Japanese society that shaped the rise and fall of one of the nation's best-known companies.

Before the revelations of so many problems, Nova seemed a clear example of the best side of Japanese economics. The company started with little more than rent for ekimae (station-front) office space and a cute pink bunny icon for advertising. That a multibillion-yen business could still be built from the ground up seemed to show that Japan's system was not too rigid to allow innovation. Yet, the sad ending shows that the system is not so lax that improprieties can continue forever.

Apparently, Nova's rise depended on alleged high-level contacts with various ministry-connected foundations and large investments by risk-taking entrepreneurs. Without that, and a reputedly autocratic management style, Nova could not have expanded so rapidly. The company, however, seemed unable to transform its initial pride and appeal into consistent strength and lasting quality. Ultimately, a combination of a good product, competent management and consumer-friendly attitude is the best business model.

When things go wrong for companies without those qualities, consumers are especially unforgiving. Nova did not endanger the health of children or poison anyone, but their betrayal of trust is inexcusable. The outrage of students, who handed over their hard-earned money, and teachers and staff, who gave precious work hours still uncompensated, seems more than justified. As if acting out some ancient tragic drama, excessive pride blinded the company's management to internal problems that were obvious to everyone else.

The estimated figures splashed across front pages are startlingly high. The outstanding debt stands at ¥40 billion plus. The language learning industry in Japan is a highly profitable one. People are willing to pay, but usually seek a balance of price and value. The wiser students must have tried to find the best teachers and arranged their schedules accordingly. Yet, even these savvy learners were cheated in the end. Discount education does not work.

The figure of 300,000 students nationwide is almost as staggering. That number means Nova is perhaps the largest language-education provider in Japan. The education ministry should be reminded that something in language education is sorely lacking. It seems almost as if public schools have simply been prepping students for Nova!?

These student numbers reveal how strongly people want to speak another language. Studying a language requires time and money, and clearly, people were ready to invest both. The broad awareness of the linguistic demands of globalization and the desire to get beyond the boundaries of Japan, if only for a couple of class hours per week, are remarkable. Students genuinely put their money where their mouths were.

At the same time, this episode has revealed the large number of foreigners willing to come to Japan. As they go about the difficult task of recovering their wages and start to look for other jobs, they will be deciding whether to stay longer or give up and go home. One imagines them all listing their phone numbers outside the scores of closed schools to offer private lessons. Over 6,000 foreign teachers were recruited to work at Nova. They may have come as a lark, but formed part of Japanese society for the time they were here. In this regard, Nova was a powerful force for internationalization.

Whatever the future holds for Nova after its bankruptcy filing and management restructuring, the need for English lessons will not disappear, nor will the push for internationalizing somehow reverse. Some students may give up, but most will continue to study in other ways. That English-language study has become such an important part of Japanese culture is no surprise, but its vast scope, not to mention its profitability, still amazes. Nova may have exploded, or imploded, but the positive reasons for its rise will remain, and begin to establish new and better approaches to learning English in Japan much sooner than we might imagine.

英会話学校Novaの破たんは、これまで隠されていた問題を浮き彫りにした。Nova が受講生に授業料を返還し、講師とスタッフに未払い給与を支払わねばならないのは言うまでもない。同事件は、有名英会話学校破たんの背景にある日本社会の様相について考える良い機会になる。

Novaが深刻な経営問題を抱えていたのは明らかだ。問題が表面化するまで、Novaは日本経済の自由な面を象徴しているように見えた。しかし、「駅前留学」を宣伝して急成長したNovaの破たんは、日本経済が不正を永久に許すほど甘くないことを示した。

苦労して稼いだ給料を授業料につぎ込んだ受講者、労働の対価を受け取っていない講師とスタッフの憤激は当然である。負債総額は400億円以上と伝えられている。受講者総数が30万人以上というNovaは英会話学校最大手だ。この数字をみても、日本人の外国語習得の欲求が強いことがわかる。

一方、給与支払いの滞っている外国人講師は、日本滞在を続けるか、帰国するかを決断せねばならない。6,000以上の外国人講師を雇っていたNovaは、国際化の大きな原動力だったのだ。

会社更生法適用を申請したNovaの今後は分からないが、英会話学校の需要はなくならないだろうし、日本の国際化の動きが逆転することもないだろう。

受講者の一部は勉強をやめるかもしれないが、大部分は他の方法で勉強を続けるだろう。英会話学校が日本文化の重要な一部になったことはさして驚くほどではないが、その収益性と広がりには驚く。Novaの成功の背景は今後も変わらない。英語教育の新しい方法が、予想していたよりも早く確立される可能性もある。