I was reading the news today and came across a few articles I thought were worth mentioning.
- Reuters reports how Golf-Japan’s ‘Tiger’ Ishikawa turns professional at 16 - Just turned 16 and he’s worth over $10 Million USD over the next 5 years. That’s pretty cool!
- Google/AFP reports Japan police receive 400th secret pledge to poor after 33 years - “The police station in Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo, received the first envelope in August 1974, which contained 1,000 yen, or nine dollars at the current rate. It did not bear a sender’s name but enclosed a piece of paper only saying: “Please use this for the unprivileged people.” This money came in every month and gradually increased. This week they received the 400th envelope which brings the total amount donated to 1,744,000 yen over time. Awesome! It’s nice to know that somebody cares that much.
- CNN Money is reporting that Japan’s Softbank wins more new subscribers in December than KDDI, DoCoMo - I like the name DoCoMo, it’s fun to say. Docomo docomo docomo… but I like Softbank’s service (friends with Softbank + woman who talks a lot = cheaper than DoCoMo). What’s the key to Softbank’s increase in success? I blame Cameron Diaz. She’s all over the place with her softbank phone she’s not even talking in the commercials
photo courtesy of sleepycat
Continue reading ‘Recent Japan News’
Xbox 360 outsells PS3 in Japan for 1 week, and still gets beat by Wii. At first I thought it was amazing since PS3 and the Wii are both from Japanese companies. Then I got to thinking… it’s only 1 week of sales where this happened and everybody has their good and bad days with sales. In the week ending November 4th, Xbox 360 consoles saw a 475% week over week increase, and beat Sony’s PS3 sales - by a narrow margin. Sony’s hardware sales figures came in at 17,434 units while the Xbox 360 just edged it with 17,637 units sold. Can they thank Halo 3 for the increase in sales? Read the full article at Pocket-Lint.co.uk and there’s a really interesting article about this over at Joystiq.com which is worth checking out.
Today Reuters reported that Walt Disney Co. (the #2 U.S. entertainment company followed by Time Warner who is #1) is getting into mobile phone business in Japan in the spring of 2008. Disney plans on using the network of Japan’s #3 cell phone company, Softbank. The two companies will develop cell phones together and Disney aims to get about 1 million users by targeting families with an offer of handsets and downloads featuring Disney characters. I’m sure it’ll be a hit with the kids. Launching cell phone services in Japan requires a huge initial investment and can cost around one trillion yen (or 8.7 billion U.S. dollars) to build a network of base stations according to TopNews.
People are still talking about Nova and what’s to come but there’s no solid solution for foreigners who worked for Nova besides returning to their home country… and who really wants to do that? Japan kicks ass! Today there is an interesting article over at Japan Today regarding people who used to work for Nova. “EF invites Nova instructors to teach in China for Olympics” which could be interesting. I wonder what the pay would be.
A Switzerland-based English language institute on Wednesday invited instructors who lost jobs because of the failure of Nova Corp to teach English in China where demand for English learning is expected to shoot up ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. EF Education First Ltd, which has been chosen as an official language partner of the Olympics, is seeking about 1,000 English instructors who can teach English in such major Chinese cities as Beijing and Shanghai, Molly Fitzpatrick from the institute said at a press conference in Tokyo.
In other news, 12 companies apply for sponsorship to rebuild Nova. Continue reading ‘Teaching English in China (Nova)?’
Can you imagine just walking around and then getting hit by a falling person? Maybe you just ate some ramen or breakfast, maybe you just got back from a week of beer baths, maybe you just picked up a newspaper… and when you’re almost to your apartment complex there’s another tenant plunging 11 stories to her death… and the worst part is she’s going to land on you! Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A week ago I read about this tragedy over at Japan Today.
A woman leapt from an 11-story apartment in Tokyo on Wednesday evening, striking and seriously injuring a 47-year-old man who was walking along a nearby sidewalk, police said.
That’s insanity. And what is up with so many people committing suicide over here in Japan? Life’s not that tough, really.
Does this exist in other countries? I’m talking about Love Hotels. There are different themed rooms to choose from, they make money (nearly 3 trillion yen in annual sales), but the downside is they’ve been associated with with gangs and red-light districts. Booooo 
I read about Love Hotel investing today on Yahoo:
Japan’s secretive love hotels are opening up to European investors as one player in the sector prepares for a debut on London’s stock market this month.
Japan Leisure Hotels, which owns five love hotels worth some 21 million pounds ($43.68 million USD) in Japan, hopes to lure investors to its IPO with an 8 percent dividend and promises of fast growth — shedding light on a sector that is often associated with sleaze and organized crime.
Japan’s 25,000 or so love hotels have long provided discreet hideaways for couples, some featuring Karaoke machines or vibrating beds. Guernsey-based Japan Leisure Hotels rents out rooms for short stays lasting only a few hours, but the company’s director believes this system doesn’t just appeal to thrill-seekers…
Continue reading ‘Investing in Love Hotels!’
Nova English teacher = you’re screwed and that sucks. Over 4,000 teachers are out of a job! Over 400,000 students haven’t gotten a refund! Nova is bankrupt! This is all total shiznit! It looks like things have come to an end for Nova English teachers that are here on a work visa in hopes of some income and a cultural experience. You’re probably left with very few options such as… finding another job teaching english, or working at some short term job, or working at a bar/club frequented by English speaking Gaijin. (Here’s another job search related link) If you can’t find a job then you can always head back to your home country. For some of you it may not be possible due financial difficulty (aka not being paid by the man) which basically means you’re screwed. If I were in a situation of not being able to find a job replacement I’d either save the money I had to buy a ticket with (while spending the rest partying it up) or in the case I had $0 I’d have my friends/family wire me some money or buy an e-ticket for me to get the hell out of dodge! If you plan on getting a plane ticket you should act soon because after December 20th the rates go up due to the holiday season. If you wait longer than that you’ll just be super screwed. By the way I can’t imagine having a family and working for Nova and not getting paid. Nova carries a debt worth 40 billion Yen. They might have to refund students before paying out salaries and who knows when that could happen. It could be six months or longer.
I read in many places about emergency loans this, emergency loans that, hoping to get an emergency loan from the Embassy blah blah blah. Good luck with that! I can’t find any information on the web regarding this type of loan. The U.S. Embassy website (tokyo.usembassy.gov) mentions nothing about a loan or emergency funds for people employed by Nova. They do say this:
If you require financial assistance, you could request that your family wire funds through the U.S. Department of State here or purchase an e-ticket on your behalf.
Continue reading ‘Were you a Nova English teacher?’
NOVA Corp is the Japan’s largest English conversation school chain. And for those who teach English in Japan and are employed by Nova I say… DOH! I read the news back in April of 2007 when Nova got busted for breaking the law (they refused to refund tuition fees to students who canceled their contracts.) And recently people have not been getting paid for their work. Today things have gotten worse and Nova has filed for protection from the courts.
I wonder what this means for current employees and their work visas. Not only that but if an employees income stops or is slowed it could mean trouble for their living expenses. Damn.
Check out the news from Yahoo
Nova Corp , the largest operator of English language schools in Japan, said on Friday that it has filed for court protection from creditors amid efforts to turn around its business.
Following the company’s announcement, the Jasdaq Securities Exchange said it would delist Nova’s shares on Nov. 27.
Nova, which operates over 900 schools in Japan, posted net losses for the past two business years and said it held a total 43.9 billion yen in debt as of July.
More on this:
Aussie teachers lose jobs in Japanese school shutdown
Google News
Nova applies for court protection from creditors; president missing, 4 execs resign
Scandal-tainted school Nova granted court protection from creditors
Are you ready Starting November 20th 2007 Japan will start to fingerprint and photograph people entering Japan. The fingerprints, photographs and other biometric data of foreign visitors will be stored in a computer for cross-checking with a list of wanted criminals and people who have been deported in the past. Investigative authorities will have access to the data.
The prints will remain on record for 70 years. According to the new procedures, if requested, the Justice Ministry will turn over the data to the police and other government agencies.
This excludes ethnic Koreans and other permanent residents with special status, those under 16, those visiting Japan for diplomatic or official purposes, and those invited by the state.
Japan Times said an estimated 6-7 million foreigners entering Japan every year will be covered by the ordinance.
Wal-Mart is in Japan. I couldn’t believe it and recently I’ve spotted the “GreatValue” brand that’s owned by Wal-Mart in a few grocery stores here. Sure the brand is generic but they sure do rack the price up here in Japan vs. the United States GreatValue price (uber lame!). I just read that Wal-Mart got into the Japan market back in 2002 and owns 50.9% of the struggling Japanese copmany Seiyu. Wal-Mart said it would offer 140 yen per Seiyu common share with the goal of taking full ownership of this drowning company. That would be about $878 Million. Let’s convert to yen as of the current currency conversion rate…
878,000,000 in USD would be 100,495,879,196 Yen. That’s why the Yen is so cool when you’re an American… it sounds like a shit load of money. 10 dollars? Oh hellz no! 1,000 Yen! That’s where it’s at! Continue reading ‘Wal-Mart in Japan (aka Seiyu 西å‹ã‚°ãƒ«ãƒ¼ãƒ—)’
