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Ex-Nova president sentenced to 2-year prison term for embezzlement
The former president of English conversation school Nova was handed a two-year prison sentence for corporate embezzlement by the Osaka High Court on Dec. 2. Nozomu Sahashi, 59, had been convicted of the offence by a lower court and sentenced to a three-year, six-month prison term in August last year. The high court decision on…
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Cram school buys out Shane English School
Cram school operator Eikoh Inc. said Friday it has acquired Shane English School to strengthen its English-language education for elementary school children ahead of the planned compulsory teaching of the language for fifth- and sixth-graders. Eikoh, based in the Kanto region, didn’t disclose how much it paid for the acquisition of shares in the four…
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Companies going all-out in English
Enhancing employee English-language skills has become a high-priority management challenge for Japanese corporations, regardless of their size and industry. This is especially true for companies whose survival hinges on developing new customers or clients in foreign markets. They are focusing in particular on fast-growing Asian economies, where English is becoming the common means of communication.…
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Foreigners victims, perpetrators of sekuhara
Japan sees progress on sexual harassment, but stories suggest it still has a long way to go While the Equal Employment Opportunity Law (EEOL) was passed in 1985, it was not until 1999 that revisions to the law included definitions of sexual harassment and legal penalties for employers. These penalties, however, only allow for making…
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Gaba teachers challenge ‘contractor’ status
Union fears employment model could mark first step on slippery slope for eikawa firms Long accustomed to being ignored, being forgotten proved too much to take for unionized teachers at Gaba language school. On Oct. 4, the General Union registered an official complaint and request for an investigation with the Ministry of Finance’s Securities and…
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50 Geos branches will be renamed
Nagoya-based investment fund Inayoshi Capital Partners said Thursday that about 50 of its 167 Geos foreign-language school branches will be renamed Nova X Geos after November. ICP also said it will close down about 20 Geos branches whose business areas are overlapping with those of Nova. The company said students of those schools will be…
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Retooled English school chains set to launch Nova x Geos brand
Nova x Geos, a new English conversation school brand integrating branches from the Nova and Geos chains, is scheduled to be established on Nov. 1, according to the chains’ parent firm. Masaki Inayoshi, chairman of investment company Inayoshi Capital Partners, said Wednesday that about 50 of Geos’ 167 branches nationwide would adopt the new brand…
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Language Schools Nova, Geos Get Yet Another New Owner
Restaurant operator G.communication Co. has sold its subsidiary that runs the language schools Nova and Geos to an investment fund managed by its founder and former chairman. The Oct. 1 transaction was apparently triggered by the fact that G.communication’s parent company, Foody’s Co., has been hit hard by the recent failure of Incubator Bank of…
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Geos, Nova English schools change ownership once again
G.communication Co. has sold off the failed English conversation school chain Geos, which it took over in April, along with the Nova chain of English schools, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. An investment company led by Masaki Inayoshi, who formerly served as chairman of G.communication, purchased the subsidiary of the Nagoya-based firm that ran both…
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Nova, Geos now under investment fund’s wing
Nagoya-based G. communication Co. last week sold Nova Corp. and Geos Corp., two major foreign language school chains, to an investment fund. The fund, Inayoshi Capital Partners, run by recently retired G. communication founder Masaki Inayoshi, acquired the stakes Friday by purchasing shares of G. education Co., a G. communication spokeswoman said. Seven Geos language…