Notes from Gifu

Recently, Nagoya Writes had its first open reading in a couple of months, and only three people read pieces. We used to have eight to twelve readers.

One of the reasons for the low turnout is the bad job market for English instructors. I realized before that many teachers can’t get tenure and that many have to teach at more than one place in order to survive financially. I heard the horror stories of how foreign staff were treated, but I didn’t think it really affected me, a retired lawyer. Now I realize that what happens to them affects me.

As John Donne wrote “No man is an island, entire of itself.” What happens in the English instruction business affects the entire expatriate community.

Back in the 1960s, most expatriates were either military or missionaries. Now, most are involved in English education in some way. There are the occasional lawyer, IT type, and businessman, but the vast majority of them teach English.

The market for English instructors hasn’t been good recently, but it was a way for people to come to Japan for a while, and for some that “while” has been twenty or more years. I have seen friends give up and return to wherever they were from. Recently, things got worse.

Something happened to change the dynamics of the English instruction business. NOVA, the largest chain of English schools in Japan, is facing major financial difficulties. People are not being paid on time, and rent isn’t being paid. Things got so bad that the Australian government has told hundreds of Australian teachers in Japan should “start making contingency plans.”

Now, the expatriate community in Nagoya is large enough to support a writers group, a theater group, and various computer clubs, but is small enough that many expatriates know each other. I hope that we will keep our critical mass despite all this, and that my friends can stay here, but if not, this is still my home.