Nova (eikaiwa) - History

History

The Nova Group was founded in August 1981 and was led by CEO Nozomu Sahashi. Nova's corporate headquarters were in Osaka. The company was the largest employer of foreign nationals in Japan, employing 7,000 foreign workers, 5,000 of whom were employed as language instructors. Each year, Nova hired between 2,500 and 2,600 foreign teachers to replace those who had left. Although instructors were not required to have actual educational training, the company provided a salary bonus for teachers with an accredited TEFL certificate, any Masters Degree, or a degree in education. Teachers were admitted directly after university graduation with any degree that allowed them to obtain a work visa. Instructors from participating countries who can obtain a Working Holiday Visa were admitted without a degree. They worked fewer hours and earned less pay than full-time instructors.

Sahashi originally established the company with two high school graduates from Sweden and Canada whom he met via a friend who was studying abroad in Paris. They opened the first classroom in Shinsaibashi, Osaka. The name Nova (an astronomical term for a stellar explosion) was chosen by Sahashi as he felt it would appeal to prospective students. In November 1996, Nova's initial public offering was met with several demonstrations in front of Nomura Securities and the Tokyo Stock Exchange. A complaint filed by The Nova Union stated that the company was violating Japanese exchange laws by falsely stating that there were no unions at Nova, nor pending litigation, and that labor relations between the company and its employees were amicable and untroubled.

Since 1997, Nova steadily expanded the number of its schools as its business grew, going from 239 schools to 623 in 2004. By 2002, Nova had captured 50% of total market share by revenue (61.5 billion yen) and in 2003, Nova had gained a 66% market share by number of students, some 410,000 students in total. However 2005 saw Nova lose ground in total sales revenue.

The company was in the red in the business year ending in March for the second consecutive year, posting net losses of 3 billion yen in fiscal 2005 and 2.4 billion yen in fiscal 2006 after a failed expansion attempt. The number of students fell to 418,000 by the end of March: down 12.1 percent from a year earlier. On 20 September 2007, NOVA announced it was considering a large-scale closure of up to 200 branches.