From classroom to boardroom: entrepreneurs from Japan's teaching programs lay stakes many miles from home

Japan, Inc., August, 2003 by Marcus Chidgey

With a network marketing strategy that is proclaimed to be one of the best in the business, World Link is rivaling major players like NTT. It has been featured on CNN Headline and Business Asia news and in a raft of articles in the Japanese press. With an HQ in Wisconsin, USA and a Customer Service Center in Tokyo, it's a truly international operation.

Not content with winning a sizeable chunk of the international calls market, World Link has just launched its first domestic discount service, gearing up to save businesses and residential customers thousands of yen on their bills. "After nine years in the industry building our customer base and developing good relationships with our suppliers, it's our purchasing power that has really helped," says Pavloski. "What we save, we pass on as far as possible to our customers. Now for the first time, we can offer these savings on national rate calls."

Asked about his drive and motivation, he says, "For me, coming to Japan was never about building a career in EFL teaching. When I arrived I knew I'd be setting up in business in some form or other. Teaching English was the way in--it provided me with the chance to breathe and assess my options."

Clearly, foreign language teaching opens up a new world of possibilities, changing preconceptions and disrupting the best-laid career plans. From innovative business startups to life-altering personal relationships, many ex-English teachers find that their destinies have been shaped by their time in Japan.

INTERNET LINKS

Below is just a small handful of the sites that have been set up by graduates of the JET program.

www.jetsetjapan.com

www.go-mad.org

www.alexandrapress.com

www.worldlinkjapan.com

www.mojogroup.com

www.rikai.co.uk

www.rikai.co.uk

www.go-girls.jp

Marcus Chidgey was an ALT in 2000--2001 in Kurashiki-shi, Okayama prefecture.

* MARCUS CHIDGEY: was an Assistant Language Teacher on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program between July 2000 and 2001. He taught at two senior high schools in Kurashiki City. He currently resides in London, where he is the CEO of Captive Minds (www.captiveminds.co.uk), a marketing agency that specializes in promoting film and television productions.