NOVA teacher murdered in Chiba Prefecture
[A newer post on this subject can be found here]
Kyodo news is reporting the following:
body of a young woman was found Monday night in a bathtub placed on the balcony of an apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, the police said.
The police believe the woman has been murdered and that the body is that of a 22-year-old woman from Britain who worked at a language school.
The apartment belongs to a Japanese man in his 20s, whom she knew. The bathtub contained a large amount of sand, covering all parts of the body except for part of a hand.
The man, who has been missing, is being sought by the police.
The case came to light as another English woman, who lived with the victim, contacted the police Monday afternoon, saying she had not come home and that she could not contact her by mobile phone.
Let’s hope the person responsible for this gruesome crime is captured by the police as soon as possible.
Update: Some video news reports on the crime (Including footage of the infamous bathtub):
Update 2: Kyodo News has released further details on the incident, including the victim’s name and employer:
Police on Tuesday were searching for a 28-year-old Japanese man who fled from his apartment where the body of a 22-year-old British woman was found in a bathtub on the balcony. Police have issued a warrant for the man, Tatsuya Ichihashi. The woman, who was identified as Lindsay Ann Hawker, worked as a teacher for Nova. She went missing on Sunday after she left her home in Funabashi, leaving a note behind which cited the address of the apartment in which she was found.
[...]
Police went to the apartment mentioned in the woman’s note. When they tried to question Ichibashi, he took off and remains at large.
NOVA has denied that Ichibashi was one of their students and that he had been dating Ms. Hawker. BBC News offers more information:
The BBC’s correspondent said the teacher, from the Midlands, was reported missing by her flatmates on Monday afternoon after she disappeared from her home on Sunday.
Local media reported that Ms Hawker, who worked at the Koiwa school in Tokyo, had been in Japan for only a few months and was a popular teacher, he added.
They said she went to the apartment each Saturday to give English lessons to 28-year-old Tatsuya Ichihashi.
Anyone know if the NOVA policy of forbidding interactions between students and instructors outside of the classroom is still in effect, or are they now allowing students to teach private lessons outside of the classroom?
Update 3: Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor for The Times, has posted an appeal for information regarding this murder case. If you know anything, please contact him so that this story can get proper coverage in the international press.
Full RSS Feed
That footage gives me shivers. I feel so bad for her poor family her parents must be deverstated. I hope they catch the man that is responsiable for this fast.
If anyone has information on this case which they wish to share with a sympathetic and responsible correspondent in Japan, please be in touch.
Richard Lloyd Parry
Asia Editor
The Times
mob. 090-9373-7305
office. 03-3270-3481
richard.lloydparry@thetimes.co.uk
Thanks.
How on earth, if the police went to his apartment, did he manage to get away from them???
I don’t have any firsthand material, Mr. Perry, but I can answer James’ request regarding student-teacher socializing.
Unless something has changed as of late, AEON is the only member of the eikaiwa (out of NOVA, GEOS, AEON, and ECC) to have a policy which allows students and teachers to socialize outside of class. NOVA forbade such interaction, and I believe still forbids it.
None of the eikaiwa allow teachers to have private students outside of school, as this is in violation of their work visas (assuming they received any money for such lessons; it’s still not allowed even if you don’t, because why would the students pay for lessons at eikaiwa when they can talk to you for free?) Of course, they have no way of enforcing this other than keeping you under constant surveilance, so it’s broken all the time.
I’ll keep researching this – any GEOS or NOVA teachers have a policy manual handy?
Sad story, my thoughts go out to her family.
The NOVA non-fraternization policy is a bit of a gray area these days, and is not rigidly enforced or brought up by the management, but most teachers tend to keep it a secret just in case.
Lots of NOVA teachers supplement their income by teaching non-NOVA students in their free time, so I expect this was the case.
This is a terrible incident. It doesn’t surprise me that the police let the suspect escape. They displayed staggering ineptitude during the Lucie Blackman case a few years ago, as you can read in this Time Magazine Article
Of course it’s a gray area – I should have mentioned… although the eikaiwa policies prohibit such interaction, it happens everywhere, because it’s such a ridiculous policy… forbidding teachers to socialize with some of the people they spend the most time with in Japan? People who can speak to them in English? As much as the eikaiwa would like to believe that just because they sponsored teachers, they somehow gain control of their personal lives, they don’t…
I understand the reasoning behind these policies (#1: bad publicity), but that doesn’t change the fact they are simply absurd.
Turner, teaching private students (on a visa that allows you to legally teach) does not violate your work visa. The visa in no way shape or form restricts you to only work for the employer who sponsored it. It may be in violation of their employment contracts, but it does not violate any visa regulations.
And if we can be more explicit, the NOVA policy doesn’t, if I read correctly, forbid teaching students that are non-Nova. Fraternization with nova students is against nova policy, however. While I cannot provide more information than these news stories do, I do work at Nova and with someone close to the victim and the alleged suspect was not a Nova student.
Paul – I know that, I was just responding to James’ call.
Ken – I did not know that; I could have sworn work visas tie you directly to the companies that sponsor them (i.e. aren’t they allowed to revoke one year visas, if you are terminated?). Good to know.
almost all teachers i knew who worked for nova (2 years ago) had private students. i had about 10 who i saw weekly at their homes, or in mine. i found them through websites and through recruitment companies and my AT (assistant trainer and immediate manager) said that although nova frowned upon other employment, they did not forbid it.
Work visas are issued by Japanese immigration and can only be revoked by immigration. Your employer initially “sponsors” you, which is to say, they hire you, they fill out the paperwork and they submit it to immigration for you. After you receive a work visa you are legally entitled to work anywhere until that visa expires. Your employer has no power to revoke your visa once it’s issued.