I was told about this article by a fellow coworker and decided to have a read. It touches on some well-known flaws with the company and reports on the overall health of the company, its “employees”, and the constant thorn in its side: the union. Warning: this article reveals how little the instructors are actually paid and the lack of benefits that they receive.

While I agree with some of the union’s arguments (and I thank them for trying), I think they’re fighting an uphill battle. The point is, the system works. As long as the company can keep instructors teaching as independent contractors - which they almost certainly will due to the appealing flexibility of being a contractor - and keep getting students to join, they will never change their current system. In addition, Japanese law tends to be pretty sticky and full of red tape that even if the union is able to get the instructors basic rights, it probably won’t happen any time soon. Plus, if it did, that would mean a huge jump in extra costs for the company, possibly driving it to bankruptcy. The article does mention that the profit and loss statement is in the red after all. It’s a sorry game for the instructors, so it’s best to take it with a grain of salt. Either that, or jump ship early. That’s what I’m doing.