Bloom In Japan

Well the circus has continued. It seems as though the Japanese government may have found someone gullible enough to take over NOVA. The problem is that this doesn’t do much to help out teachers or staff as far as money is concerned. Even if a company took over NOVA in its entirety, it would still be doubtful that we would see back wages, as they would probably restart everything under a new name and contract. We may be able to have a job though, which would be better than nothing I suppose. They are supposed to announce everything next week, so we shall see. As far as the scandal itself, the press here has been crucifying the moronic president. It seems as though the man could indeed be going to jail for a long time when all is said and done. Embezzlement, fraud, insider trading, etc etc etc. The man is a real class act. It was a real treat seeing his 3,000,000 Yen per month office, with 70,000,000 Yen worth of furnishings being paraded across television the past week. His “office” is more like a freaking love hotel, complete with sauna, twin bed, tea ceremony room, plasma TVs, and probably a hidden shrine to himself as god. It’s nice to know that the fucker was living his life of luxury while selling off his stake in the company and dooming fools like myself to a life of eating instant ramen and rice. If or hopefully when they actually catch up to the guy, I hope he is paired with an unfortunate cell mate in jail. Words can’t describe my disgust for the man.

In other news, I have decided on a new residence, and will be moving within 2 weeks. I have chosen a guest house in Ikebukuro, which is the closest section of downtown Tokyo to here. My room will be 50% larger, the house itself is decent enough, and the location is excellent. I will be within walking distance of every major subway/train line in Tokyo, which will save me tons of money in itself. Unfortunately I will be a good hour away from the woman, but I’m sure we will figure something out.

Yesterday was an interesting day. Thanks to a photographer from London, I can now pull a Zoolander and go around saying “I’m a model, idiot”. I spent the entire afternoon posing like a moron in various locations in Tokyo. The highlight of the day was doing a shoot in the middle of the clusterfuck that is Shibuya (the insanely crowded place featured in Lost in Translation). As we were shooting, a crowd of literally 30-40 people gathered around and began taking their own pictures with cameras and cell phones. Just another surreal moment in this crazy place. Unfortunately the gig was non-paying, but I got some free food and drink, and will be receiving a DVD full of all the pictures for use in my portfolio. All in all it was a fun experience, and well worth it.

Beyond that, I have been busy in general and have plenty of stuff that I need to throw up on the page. I start training tomorrow with the new company, so that will be quite exciting. I need to head into Tokyo right now though, so that I can try to find a cheap black suit for the new job. Until next time, peace outs.

So it happened. NOVA effectively went bankrupt on Friday, as the board of directors sacked the idiot president and then proceeded to file for protection from creditors. Technically the company isn’t dead yet, but it’s going to take a massive company with a set of big ones to take everything over and try to get the Usagi back on its feet. The company itself is only ~45 BILLION Yen in debt, which is about $450,000,000. I really don’t see anyone with half a brain wanting to get involved in that BS. As for current operations, every branch has been closed indefinitely, leaving half a million students and five thousand-odd employees floating in an abyss of uncertainty. I’d say the chances of anyone seeing any money from this point forward are about 1 in 100.

Where does this leave me? Well thanks for asking. Basically I will be trying to survive on credit and free food samples at local grocery stores for the next 2 months. I have a new employer, but won’t see any money from them until Christmas day. One of the two jobs I’m waiting to hear back on would give me some cash a lot sooner, but the other one is the exact same Xmas scenerio. Alas, I am still completely commited to staying in this wonderful place, so I will be fighting tooth and nail to do so. I will most likely need to move out of my current apartment rather quickly, and have plans to move into downtown Tokyo. Unfortunately, I have zero concrete information on anything at the moment, so it’s a little hard to make plans. At any rate, yea the situation sucks, but whatever; I am willing to put up with a load of BS if I am able to remain here for as long as I’d like. Let the games begin…

Well the 19th came and went and nobody got paid. Instead we were presented with another vague fax stating that we are now scheduled to be paid on the 25th. Nobody believes this, and a large percentage of teachers have stopped working. There is chatter on some forums that the company is going to officially call it quits this week, so it may be all over after all. I have 2 interviews in the next few days which may decide my future in Japan. The annoyance and frustration is quickly turning into anger, as a single man (NOVA’s president) is threatening my very existence in this country. Not to mention the countless other lives that may literally be ruined by this collapse. If/when it becomes official, the government better investigate and throw that asshole behind bars for a very long time.

say anything bad about Japanese people again (not that I have in the past). Imagine yourself getting on the last train from downtown after a night of drinking, but that train stops 3 stations from your home. If you are me, you ignore common sense and walk the remaining distance instead of taking a taxi. Needless to say, I somehow underestimated the work involved with walking from said station back home, and began an hour+ journey into the heart of Japan by myself, equipped with only a compass and a faint idea of which direction to go. After about 45 minutes of wandering, I fell upon an AM/PM store (like a 7/11), and proceeded to ask for directions. After another 25 minutes of “communication”, what am I presented with? Not more directions, but a worker from the konbini equipped with a pedal bicycle, ready to freaking take me all the way to my home station. When he rolled up I immediately tried to refuse the hospitality, but after bickering back and forth I finally accepted the fact that Japanese people are quite possibly the nicest people on the planet, and received a ride all the way home. I wanted to pay a large sum to show my gratitude, but ended up convincing said friend to take a small amount of money for my appreciation for the entirely unnecessary amount of work that he applied. Seriously, would this sort of thing happen anywhere else on planet Earth?

Edit: This was written immediately after getting back, so I was a little drunk…But the point is the same. Having some kid half my size insist on taking me to my home station, at 1:30 AM, on an old rusty bicycle, was easily the nicest thing any stranger has ever done for me. I am still a little shocked to be honest.