American Club (eikaiwa)
Encyclopedia
For other uses, see American Club (disambiguation)
is a company based in the Motoimaizumi district of Utsunomiya, Tochigi
, Japan, which has been involved in the "eikaiwa
" (English conversation) business. It was sued for withheld wages twice, by two groups of employees. The first lawsuit took place in December 1994 and the second in January 1996. The wages sought in the lawsuits totaled the equivalent of over US$65,000.
Though published news reports indicated the American Club was closed, and its directors ignored a court summons and subsequent court order to pay wages in the second lawsuit, its business registration indicates the company is still a legally operating entity, with 30 million yen in equity (approximately US$365,000 as of February 2011). Furthermore, the business registration clearly states it is "not closed" (「...閉鎖されていない...」) and gives no indication it has ever been in a state of bankruptcy.
The business registration also indicates that the Shimotsuke Shinbun
, a newspaper that ran stories on the lawsuits, advertises the American Club's services in its pages.
Though the company primarily operated as an English school in the 1980s and '90s, according to its business registration it is also involved in numerous other business activities such as restaurants and bars, athletic clubs, hotels, printing/publishing, video and software rental and employment services.
economy of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The classes were mainly taught by native English-speaking teachers from the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand. At its peak, it had a main school in Utsunomiya, and six branch schools in Mibu, Mooka
, Oyama
, Tochigi
City (all in Tochigi Prefecture
), Koga
(in Ibaraki Prefecture
) and Sendai (in Miyagi Prefecture
).
and took the company's president, Hiroaki (aka "Morio") Sugimoto, and director, Isao (aka “Yasuaki”) Konno, to court. These employees received three months in back wages on December 26, 1994, with a stipulation insisted on by Sugimoto that "teachers will refrain from damaging the company's reputation".
Though the school had serious problems making its payroll between 1994 and 1996, it continued to recruit and hire new employees (both before the December 1994 lawsuit and after it) from overseas through a broker in Vancouver, Canada, as well as from within Japan, through The Japan Times
"help wanted" ads. Many of The Japan Times ads were for positions at an affiliated school Sugimoto ran - International Business and Language Senmon Gakkou (aka IBL, which according to its business registration is, like American Club, still a legally functioning entity).
Sugimoto was the landlord of the American Club spaces in Utsunomiya, and collected rent from the American Club through another company he owns, Mimasu Shoji, when the schools' teachers and secretaries were not being paid.
By December 1995 the school was again three months late paying employees' wages. By this time Sugimoto had legally resigned his position as president of the company, and Konno became its president. However, on the business registrations for the Oyama and Mooka schools, Sugimoto's name was the only one listed as being responsible for the school.
After the 1996 New Year's holidays, Konno fled. In a letter to an American Club employee he claimed Sugimoto had threatened him and his (Konno's) wife with harassment from sound trucks
operated by right wing
organizations if Konno tried to declare bankruptcy for the American Club. In the letter Konno explained that because Sugimoto relied on the financial solvency of the American Club in order to obtain business loans, he (Sugimoto) could not afford to have the American Club be declared bankrupt by its own president.
After this, Yasuki Yamauchi of Fukuoka City, more than 1,000 kilometers from Utsunomiya, assumed legal responsibility for the school. According to a January 25, 1996 article on the American Club in the Asahi Shinbun, a reporter from the newspaper made a call to the company's phone number in Fukuoka, but the person who answered the phone hung up on the reporter. None of the teachers met Yamauchi, and with no one coming forward to take charge of the company, the teachers eventually stopped working for it. However, after the American Club stopped holding English classes in 1996, Sugimoto continued to run IBL (which was government-supported).
With no income received after three months, many teachers returned to their home countries. The total amount of delinquent wages owed all employees during the lawsuits totaled the equivalent of more than US$100,000. Also, students, who had paid in advance for as much as a year's worth of classes, lost an undetermined amount of money. In addition, rent on the company’s spaces in branch schools, as well as rent on the teachers’ apartments (which had been deducted by the company from teachers’ pay) was as much as a year in arrears by the time of the second lawsuit.
. Articles were also run by a local English language newspaper: Networking (now defunct). The Networking articles outlined the root causes of the lawsuits (specifically the events leading up to the first lawsuit) and focused on the immigrant employees involved. Later, MacLaren wrote several essays, which were published in the letters to the editor sections in BusinessWeek
,The Japan Times
and the Mainichi Daily News. MacLaren also provided The Japan Times with a list of organizations he had contacted in order to help resolve the pay problems, which the Japan Times subsequently published numerous times.
is a company based in the Motoimaizumi district of Utsunomiya, Tochigi
Utsunomiya, Tochigi
is the capital and most populous city of Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. In October 2010 the city had an estimated population of 510,416 and a population density of 1,224.49 people per square kilometer. The total area is 416.84 km². had a population of 888,005 in the 2000 Census...
, Japan, which has been involved in the "eikaiwa
Eikaiwa
or often shortened to , are English conversation schools, usually privately operated, in Japan. It is a combination of the word and.Although the Japanese public education system mandates that English be taught as part of the curriculum from fifth grade, the focus is generally on English grammar...
" (English conversation) business. It was sued for withheld wages twice, by two groups of employees. The first lawsuit took place in December 1994 and the second in January 1996. The wages sought in the lawsuits totaled the equivalent of over US$65,000.
Though published news reports indicated the American Club was closed, and its directors ignored a court summons and subsequent court order to pay wages in the second lawsuit, its business registration indicates the company is still a legally operating entity, with 30 million yen in equity (approximately US$365,000 as of February 2011). Furthermore, the business registration clearly states it is "not closed" (「...閉鎖されていない...」) and gives no indication it has ever been in a state of bankruptcy.
The business registration also indicates that the Shimotsuke Shinbun
Shimotsuke Shinbun
Shimotsuke Shinbun （下野新聞） is a newspaper based in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. According to its website it was established in 1878 and has a circulation of over 320,000....
, a newspaper that ran stories on the lawsuits, advertises the American Club's services in its pages.
Though the company primarily operated as an English school in the 1980s and '90s, according to its business registration it is also involved in numerous other business activities such as restaurants and bars, athletic clubs, hotels, printing/publishing, video and software rental and employment services.
Early history
The American Club began operating on July 15, 1986, and recruited students for English classes during the Japanese asset price bubbleJapanese asset price bubble
The was an economic bubble in Japan from 1986 to 1991, in which real estate and stock prices were greatly inflated. The bubble's collapse lasted for more than a decade with stock prices initially bottoming in 2003, although they would descend even further amidst the global crisis in 2008. The...
economy of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The classes were mainly taught by native English-speaking teachers from the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand. At its peak, it had a main school in Utsunomiya, and six branch schools in Mibu, Mooka
Mooka, Tochigi
is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 66,988 and the density of 599.39 persons per km²...
, Oyama
Oyama
Oyama may refer to:*Oyama, Tochigi, a city in Japan*Ōyama, Ōita, a town in Japan*Oyama, Shizuoka, a town in Japan*Ōyama, Kanagawa, a mountain in Japan*Oyama , a male actor who plays female parts in Kabuki...
, Tochigi
Tochigi
Tochigi can refer to:* Tochigi Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture* Tochigi, Tochigi, a city in Tochigi prefecture, Japan* Tochigi Station, a railroad station in Tochigi city, Japan.* Tochigi S.C., a Japanese soccer club...
City (all in Tochigi Prefecture
Tochigi Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the Kantō region on the island of Honshū, Japan. The capital is the city of Utsunomiya.Nikkō, whose ancient Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples UNESCO has recognized by naming them a World Heritage Site, is in this prefecture...
), Koga
Koga
-People:* Koga is a Japanese kuge family name* Harue Koga was a Japanese painter active in the Taishō period* Hiroyasu Koga, Yukio Mishima's kaishakunin* Masao Koga, was a Japanese composer, guitarist and pop musician...
(in Ibaraki Prefecture
Ibaraki Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan, located in the Kantō region on the main island of Honshu. The capital is Mito.-History:Ibaraki Prefecture was previously known as Hitachi Province...
) and Sendai (in Miyagi Prefecture
Miyagi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku Region on Honshu island. The capital is Sendai.- History :Miyagi Prefecture was formerly part of the province of Mutsu. Mutsu Province, on northern Honshu, was one of the last provinces to be formed as land was taken from the indigenous Emishi, and became the...
).
Financial problems and first lawsuit over unpaid wages
After the burst of Japan's bubble economy in the early 1990s, the American Club began to suffer. In summer 1994, employees' wages were late. By October of that year, the school had stopped paying wages at all. A group of employees, led by Don MacLaren, subsequently organized, formed a branch union through Japan's National Union of General WorkersNational Union of General Workers
The The National Union of General Workers is the shortened, English title of the National Union of General Workers National Council , a national labour union council established in 1991...
and took the company's president, Hiroaki (aka "Morio") Sugimoto, and director, Isao (aka “Yasuaki”) Konno, to court. These employees received three months in back wages on December 26, 1994, with a stipulation insisted on by Sugimoto that "teachers will refrain from damaging the company's reputation".
Though the school had serious problems making its payroll between 1994 and 1996, it continued to recruit and hire new employees (both before the December 1994 lawsuit and after it) from overseas through a broker in Vancouver, Canada, as well as from within Japan, through The Japan Times
The Japan Times
The Japan Times is an English language newspaper published in Japan. Unlike its competitors, the Daily Yomiuri and the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, it is not affiliated with a Japanese language media organization...
"help wanted" ads. Many of The Japan Times ads were for positions at an affiliated school Sugimoto ran - International Business and Language Senmon Gakkou (aka IBL, which according to its business registration is, like American Club, still a legally functioning entity).
Sugimoto was the landlord of the American Club spaces in Utsunomiya, and collected rent from the American Club through another company he owns, Mimasu Shoji, when the schools' teachers and secretaries were not being paid.
By December 1995 the school was again three months late paying employees' wages. By this time Sugimoto had legally resigned his position as president of the company, and Konno became its president. However, on the business registrations for the Oyama and Mooka schools, Sugimoto's name was the only one listed as being responsible for the school.
After the 1996 New Year's holidays, Konno fled. In a letter to an American Club employee he claimed Sugimoto had threatened him and his (Konno's) wife with harassment from sound trucks
Sound trucks in Japan
Sound trucks in Japan are used by political parties and candidates to express their views. In addition, vendors and others in Japan use sound trucks for the purpose of selling goods, collecting recyclable materials, etc...
operated by right wing
Uyoku dantai
Uyoku dantai are Japanese nationalist right-wing groups.In 1996, the National Police Agency estimated that there are over 1000 right wing groups in Japan with about 100,000 members in total.-Tennō period:...
organizations if Konno tried to declare bankruptcy for the American Club. In the letter Konno explained that because Sugimoto relied on the financial solvency of the American Club in order to obtain business loans, he (Sugimoto) could not afford to have the American Club be declared bankrupt by its own president.
After this, Yasuki Yamauchi of Fukuoka City, more than 1,000 kilometers from Utsunomiya, assumed legal responsibility for the school. According to a January 25, 1996 article on the American Club in the Asahi Shinbun, a reporter from the newspaper made a call to the company's phone number in Fukuoka, but the person who answered the phone hung up on the reporter. None of the teachers met Yamauchi, and with no one coming forward to take charge of the company, the teachers eventually stopped working for it. However, after the American Club stopped holding English classes in 1996, Sugimoto continued to run IBL (which was government-supported).
Second lawsuit over unpaid wages
A second lawsuit was filed by employees for three months in unpaid wages in January 1996, but none of the company's directors showed up in court and they ignored the subsequent court order to pay. Eventually the employees received 80% of their back wages through the Labor Standards Office of the Japanese government.With no income received after three months, many teachers returned to their home countries. The total amount of delinquent wages owed all employees during the lawsuits totaled the equivalent of more than US$100,000. Also, students, who had paid in advance for as much as a year's worth of classes, lost an undetermined amount of money. In addition, rent on the company’s spaces in branch schools, as well as rent on the teachers’ apartments (which had been deducted by the company from teachers’ pay) was as much as a year in arrears by the time of the second lawsuit.
News reports
During the course of the second lawsuit, in January 1996, articles were run in the local edition of Japanese language newspapers: The Asahi Shinbun and the Shimotsuke ShinbunShimotsuke Shinbun
Shimotsuke Shinbun （下野新聞） is a newspaper based in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. According to its website it was established in 1878 and has a circulation of over 320,000....
. Articles were also run by a local English language newspaper: Networking (now defunct). The Networking articles outlined the root causes of the lawsuits (specifically the events leading up to the first lawsuit) and focused on the immigrant employees involved. Later, MacLaren wrote several essays, which were published in the letters to the editor sections in BusinessWeek
BusinessWeek
Bloomberg Businessweek, commonly and formerly known as BusinessWeek, is a weekly business magazine published by Bloomberg L.P. It is currently headquartered in New York City.- History :...
,The Japan Times
The Japan Times
The Japan Times is an English language newspaper published in Japan. Unlike its competitors, the Daily Yomiuri and the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, it is not affiliated with a Japanese language media organization...
and the Mainichi Daily News. MacLaren also provided The Japan Times with a list of organizations he had contacted in order to help resolve the pay problems, which the Japan Times subsequently published numerous times.