Most of the stories here are a collection of crafty smooth operators, getting back at their shitty bosses, cheating partners, HOAs and so on, and so forth. This is a story about me exposing a scummy chairman (let's call him Kusoda) and getting him retired. I didn't really have to do much, the old guy did most of the job himself, so I can't even tell, if it was really a 'pro'-revenge on my part, but retaliation it was, indeed.
For starters, me, a 25-years old guy. I'm a Ukrainian, who, just like millions others, found himself in less than pleasant situation after the 24th February of the 2022. My life has drastically changed, and sirens became my lullabies for a while. It was the last year of my bachelor degree, with the main subject being Japanese language. A few months after one quarantine was lifted, and here we are, stranded in another, but with bombs and rockets falling on living apartments from time to time. But, alongside really tragic crap, a lot of us got new opportunities. I'll have to clarify, that I've got multiple sclerosis to thank for my ability to leave Ukrainian borders, but this malady didn't play such a major role in this story. Unlike my upbringings. You see, I've been bullied in school for years, and it only stopped when I mustered the courage to beat my wrongdoers. I didn't do such a good job at it, but I did get 3 rather normal years at my school after that (all 11 classes are taught in the same building, so you're stuck with your 'pals' for the whole school life. It also made me who I am now - basically, I don't take shit from anyone, whether it's some punk, or a venerated elder. Sometimes, it makes my life miserable, sometimes it makes me quite an asshole, but in this case it really helped me a lot.
This story had started on in May, when our lecturer, who had been with us for 2 years by now, decided to get us out of the war-torn country, and just found us a language school in Japan, which would take us in. Many jumped in the train, and here goes the first interview in Zoom, in which Kusoda made his first appearance (he seemed reasonable back there). We were asked to introduce ourselves, our goals, our dreams, and all of that - none of it was really relevant, just as the level of Japanese (we not only had people from our university, but also people from other places - mostly student-girls, but there were a few other individuals, who I will introduce later) as they took everyone - there is a clear reason for that. They had a few conditions:
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they promised us 6 months of free education
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they promised us apartments to live in
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they promised us monetary support, equal to 150k yen (basically, 1k bucks) for the aforementioned six months, each month, after which you're on your own.
It was a pretty deal, and I really wished to get away from my fucked up family, so I had no hesitations.
So, one month in, and the school assigned a staff member to keep contact with us. We'll call her Karen (which means 'lovely' in Japanese, but it's not the case here). She was present during the interview, and sent us questionnaires about our goals (the same as during the interview, none of which mattered), helped with documents and paperwork, booked us tickets to the middle of July (free of charge for us, which they wanted us to think was their courtesy, but, as we'd later find out, they lost nothing on that), and, in the end, we had to wait until the due day. Basically, me moving from Kyiv to Warsaw is a whole different story, and only serves as an prologue to the drama which would unfold soon. Only 2 episodes matter here. Firstly, when we signed for our visa, we were told to use 'evacuation' as a reason for our plea, not 'education' - the school told us nothing about this procedure, and, in hindsight, this was a major red flag. Second remarkable thing happened is my last day there, in Poland, when I met two girls in the airport. The first one, Diana, would later become my coworker, and the second one, Taisia (not their real names, obviously), well, that 40-year old woman would turn out to be quite an eccentric actor in this play, but seemed rather normal back there. Boy, was I wrong about her.
Anyway, after what seemed like an eternity in limbo of crossed time zones and half a planet, we arrived in Narita, where we were separated due to COVID-19 limitations (I alone had been vaccinated, so I had a different place to go through custodes, my baggage was lost during the transfer, and I lost my way there, but, ultimately, we were all gathered by Karen and went out on a long way at a small bus, driven by an Indonesian guy. This is when my groupmate 'Alisa' made friends with Karen and started her career with the school - this would be important later.
We arrived at our confinements (miniature flats), where, due to quarantine measures, we had to spend a week. How we would eat? Well, the staff would 'borrow' 10k yen from each of us, and they would bring us food and drinks, while we were rotting inside our 'cells', trying to adapt to a new time zone. I won't tell you, where it was, as it'd reveal too much information, and neither I would tell you about where we went after that, but, along our way, we got... presents. 10k for each from the village where we spent our quarantine (which we had to hand over immediately; Karen said they'd give us what remained after they counted how much money they spent on us, but we never saw that money, obviously), 50k from our new city, and 150k from the prefecture. The Russia-Ukrainian war was still fresh, and so were the sympathies for us. We were given keys to our new apartments, we settled in, and slowly started to get in the rhythm.
At first, we were given bicycles to commute to the school, and then added to the existing learning groups, based on our level. I'm proud to say I got into the N2 level (the last before the N1, the highest one), and so did Alisa. What irked me, though, was how they shoved us into studies in the middle of it, right before the summer break during August. The material wasn't new to me, so I didn't worry. We were given free phones with a sketchy paper about how we're supposed to compensate its value if it's lost (google pixel from Softbank) - which would be equal to 130k yens; ridiculous? Well, softbank never wrote those conditions. We were also given free wi-fi routers with a sim-card in in, with a condition not to get it out of the flat. Fair enough. And also, we were given papers, stating our semi-formal relationship with the school, in which they AIMED to give us 6 months of educations. There was no contract, no formal agreement, nothing that would make us their students, we weren't even given those fancy plastic cards to identify us as learners. In fact, we weren't. We never had a student visa; instead of the temporary visa, we were given designated activities (basically, you've got a year, do whatever you want, just don't whore yourself), which was given to each 'evacuee' in Japan.
So, the time goes by, Karen posts a job offer to a hotel near the school. In the hotel, me and Diana were pouring drinks for the 'drink-all-you-want' events, in which people would come to the hotel's terrace and order booze, but the only reason I'm writing about it is because we were never properly registered as workers there. This would be important later. After a few days, we are gathered to discuss job opportunities. There was a field trip to a factory's office, then it was a mall with KFC and a doughnut shop. Basically, Kusoda's family owns all of those places, his brother's KFC franchise spans at least across half of Japan. There was also a discussion in the classroom during which a guy from the school was offering us workplaces. During the time, I asked him if the wages he'd shown were already including taxes. He confirmed. So, I took on a new job - since bar was but a temporary gig before the terrace closes in October, I took on KFC job. This is where I'll introduce a new major character: 'Karina', she was my neighbor and also decided to work at KFC. Well, our fists 3 days the manager cut our shifts by sending us home earlier, which really wasn't a good sign. But, oh boy, were there more.
Eventually, me and Diana are visited by Miki (another teacher, who I managed to get out of that shithole in the end), who said this: "I'm deeply sorry, but we have forgotten to inform you about the taxes. From now on, 20% will be deducted from your overall payment. The Ukrainian embassy is trying to lift this tax for you, so after they're done, we'd refund you everything". Upon hearing this, I tried to seem calm. On the inside, though...
I. Was. Livid.
There were many things leading to this. Me and Diana complaining to each other, me remembering what that guy said us, me, in the end, checking on the taxation system of Japan just to realize it was a progressive tax starting with around 80k per month, nowhere near my income back there. I was pissed, and decided to confront Karen on telegram. I'll will include the original and translation:
Me: 今からすごく無礼になる。(From now on, I'll be really rude)
どうしてですか？ (Why did you do this?) どうして俺達を騙した？ (Why did you fool us?)
Karen: どうしましたか？(What happened?)
Me: 俺はAさんに聞いた。(I've made a question to A-san (the guy who briefed us on work)
時給は税込とか、それとも税別？ (I asked him, if the wages he presented included taxes or not) 税込と答えられた。(He said the taxes are already included)
俺は最初からアルバイト覚悟を決めたが今さらの変化は正式の税さえなくて、ただ給与カットなんでしょう。(I was ready to work on (your) terms (basically, I meant that we're not legitimate workers), but this 'tax' doesn't seem legitimate, it seems more like pay cut) 結局、俺達はホテルで正式の職業者さえではない。(In the end, we're not even working in the hotel as officials employees)
Karen: 税金が高すぎるということですか (Are you saying that taxes are too high?)
Me: それは日本政府にの質問。(That would be a question to the Japanese government)
ただ、どうして今さら？ (I just want to know, why now?)
騙されたみたい。(This seems like a scam)
Karen: 落ち着いてください (Calm down)
そんな悪い言葉ばかり使っているなら私達も冷静に話すことができません。(If you keep using those bad words, we won't be able to have a normal conversation)
税金に納得できないなら、アルバイトを辞めたいなら辞めればいいと思います。(If you can't accept taxes, then I think it would it be better to just resign from the part-time job)
Me: 私は税金を払うなんてためらうもない。(I'm not afraid of paying taxes) でも、最初からです。(But this would have to be so from the start)
すみません。(I'm sorry (I tried to deescalate, but it didn't turn out so well)
Karen: ホテルが説明しなかったのは、申し訳なかったですが、私に騙す気持ちはありません。(I'm sorry you didn't get convinced in the hotel, but I've got no intention of lying to you (remember this statement))
納得しないなら、辞めて結構です (If you dislike it, then just leave, and that'd be the end of it)
税金を取られないように学校の勉強も、やめて、就職したほうがいいです。(If you don't want to pay taxes, then leave the school, studies, and your job)
Me: 続きますが。(I will continue (my studies and job)
ここからいくつこういうさープライズがでますか？(But, from now on, how many of these 'surprises' I'll have to encounter?)
Karen:そういう言い方は失礼です (This is a rude way to say it)
とても (Really)
ホテルの人たちだって、説明し忘れただけかもしれません。(You must have forgotten what the hotel stuff told you (just to be clear, the hotel stuff is also involved in this scam)) 悪い気持ちはありません。(We don't mean harm to you)
どんなアルバイトをしても税金があります。(No matter where you work part-time, your tax will still be deducted)
悪気はないんです。(There's no harm in it)
Me: 痛みほど承知致します。 (I understand it, painfully so)
ただ、これから、皆にそういうショックを励んでほしい、(But, I want to prevent others from such a shock)
Karen: そんなに、私達が嫌なら、学校もアルバイトも辞めれば解決しますね。(If you hate us this much, then just leave the school and job, and that'd be the end of it) 残念ですが。 (It's a pity)
本当にあなたの言葉には失望しました (I'm so disappointed with your words)
何でも自分でやればいいと思います。(I think you should do everything on your own)
日本政府も____も恨みたければ恨んでください。(If you want to hate someone, hate Japanese government and the school)
Me: そんなに怒るなら、申し訳ございません。(Well, I'm sorry I've angered you this much)
悪気なんかない、ただ、すべてを確かめたいだけです。(I mean no harm, but I need to make everything clear)
Karen: あなたが言った言葉は私は今まで誰にも言われたことがありません。(Nobody ever told me what you just said)
税金の説明を、ちゃんとしなかったのは私達が悪いかもしれません。(Maybe we really didn't explain it properly, and maybe it's our fault) そのことは申し訳なかったですが、話も聞かずに一方的に罵声を浴びせる人を、私も許さないです。(But even despite this thing making us look bad, you didn't listen to our side and now you're showering us in badmouthing, I can't forgive such a person)
ウクライナの人のビザは新しいので、会社によって税金があるのか、ないのか、よくわからない人もたくさんいるんですよ。(The visa for Ukrainians is a new one, so, depending on the company, there might or might not be taxes, many people don't understand that)
*Just to be clear, she WORKS with immigrants. She KNOWS that designated activities visa has been for a while, and she DOES know we have to pay taxes by ourselves, not let THEM do it for us.
日本人だって、初めてなんですよ。(It's a new thing even for Japanese) 受け入れるのが (Something to just accept)
どうやって皆に対して支援していくか、難しいんです。(It's a difficult question of how to help you all) そういうことを理解してやってください。(Please be conscious of that) サプライズもたくさんありますよ。(There WILL be a lot of surprises, sure)
私達もわからないこと、ルール、法律があるんです。(There are a lot of things, rules, and laws we too don't understand)
*Remember this sentence, this will be hilarious later
わかったときに説明すればいいんじゃないんですか (Shouldn't we just explain it when we realize it ourselves?)
*Again, just to be clear, they've had another batch of Ukrainian refugees for 3 months by then. More than enough time to figure everything out. And they sure did, she's just trying to gaslight me here.
なんでそんな怒るんですか。(Why are you treating us like this?) 本当に私はもうそういう態度の人とは話したくないです。(I really don't want to speak with someone who has such an attitude)
This is how it went. She deleted her telegram, but not her messages. Well, guess what happens next.
At first, I did apologize before her the following morning. Why? Well, I still didn't know much, and believed the school could somehow deport me (spoiler: no, they couldn't), and Karen was my supervisor, so I had to make sacrifices. This would be the last time I apologized to them. Ever.
Then, in less than a week, the 'tax' was lifted from us, and me and Diana got our stolen money back. I'll jump a few months forward, to when I did visit the tax office - basically, yeah, this 20% tax does exist, since, unless you're on your student or working visa as such, you're considered a non-resident (非居住者), and have to live 1 year in Japan - this is how they prevent work migration, but I'm still convinced that they steal this money from students from other parts of Asia, posing it as 'taxation' by not registering them properly.
Then something else happened. Apparently, Diana heard rumors that Karen was displeased with how many of us wanted to leave after 6 months with all the support money, and she decided to come up with 'measures'. We would later find out, what they were.
Afterwards, when the summer break ended, and everyone got back to school, we found out that instead of 150k each month, we'd be getting 250k each 3 months. We didn't know about it, even though all it took to find out was reading a brochure airport workers gave us. Meet Nippon Foundation, the organization of rich philanthropists, who took it upon themselves to help Ukrainian refugees. The very reason why Kusoda and his school decided to take us in. Ideally for the school, we'd have to receive this welfare (from the September of 2022 to the September of 2025, this is money for adaptation) and pay it to them. Good enough, right? Win-win for everyone involved. Yeah. But this isn't what would gonna be.
A couple weeks in September, I got 2 roommates (minor drunks, who we would argue about a lot of things, but, overall, up to some point we maintained peace), and something drastic happened. Karina came to our door, beaten. She lived with Taisia, who, as it turned out, would make threats like she'd claw out her eyes or slam her head against the sink. At first, Karina thought she was just slightly insane, but then she'd outright assault her, and I had to hold off that crazy lunatic of a woman, while my 2 roommates treated her. Basically, Taisia turned out to be an insane felon, who's boyfriend was a convict. She too came for money, but couldn't hold herself from forcing herself into her roommate's room and beating her. We called the police, and they turned out to be ABSOLUTELY USELESS! Japanese police is either ruthless as fuck, or, well, this:
"Ehm-m-m. P-p-p-please don't fight. Please call your teachers and live separately..."
Taisia was crying in broken English about how SHE'S a victim, how 'she knows Japan', and how they have to help her apprehend me (because I didn't let her assault further Karina). Also, turned out, that while we were waiting for cops to arrive, she had broken Karina's phone. Cool, right? That means she'd get punished for that?
Nope. The police didn't care, and the school, according to Karen "couldn't help you, if you 'lost' the precious phone'. They tried to bully Karina into compensation, but she's a hard gal. She had recorded her room's condition, and how it was before Taisia smashed her phone and after. In the end, Karen only separated Taisia from Karina in school and got her a new flat somewhere, which she had to pay for herself, apparently. Kusoda and Karen completely disregarded Karina and didn't throw Taisia away because they wanted her money. But even that wasn't as horrible as what followed next.
A day or two before Crimean bridge was blown up, Kusoda gathered us to announce something important. Alisa was there to translate his words for us. She didn't really do a good job, but some of that I can contribute to her not wanting to take sides. Especially when the hell broke loose.
It was then, when Kusoda decided to come up with some bullshit reason to force us pay for the school after just 2 months of our stay, 1 of which was the summer break, no less. This is when everything went south. Kusoda made those stupid papers, in which he explained his decision by 'changes in the circumstances of the war between Russia and Ukraine', but wouldn't answer what they were and how Ukraine has anything to do with his greed. I also asked about why he didn't use the money from the city budget, which the school could claim, allocated ESPECIALLY TO PREVENT CASES LIKE THAT, and he just fled.
Most of our group consisted of girls (obviously, only invalids like me or minors can leave Ukraine, if they're males), and some of them started to comply right away. In fact, most of them did, even those who protested initially. Only a minor part stopped attending school, but, for the most part, they didn't want to fight against the school.
I was not one of them. I called bullshit.
The next few weeks, me, my 2 roommates, and Karina started to devise a plan, search for information, we contacted our contacts, who linked us to that school, and even wrote to Ukrainian embassy to let them know what was going on. The next few weeks we were in a cold war with the school. None dared to make the first move, but the threat was imminent. Once, Karen even called me to whine about my roommates, since they wer always late, lousy, and - HOW HORRIBLE - talked to Karina and it 'made rumors circle', and how they're reporting their absense to the immigration office (this would be important later). I told that they could do whatever their want in their home. She told me: "Khe-khem! Excu-u-u-use me, WE gave your those homes". Yeah, it was another lie. They never gave us those homes, the city hall gave them keys to give it to US. They were in charge of supervising them, but that property was signed to us, the refugees.
Then October came, and I lost my job at the restaurant - the season ended. I tried to talk with manager, he even assured me I'd get another job offer, but it never came to be, as I knew too much of their tax frauds. Then, the school demanded that we should hand over our home wi-fi, because, apparently, the service time was going to be over soon. To my shame, I did just that (like everyone else), and only found out that I was scammed when I realized that those were routers, given by the city hall, and not the school. What's worse, they tried to sell us new routers for 30k yen, 200 bucks, and that'd be just the first payment. I called bullshit, again, and rallied people around me, claiming I'd be the one to provide them with a better option. Basically, I'd be the one to register softbank devises for, like, 8 people, including myself. And you know what? After I've announced MY price, the router suddenly became only 8k yen. Surprise-surprise.
Then comes the second meeting with Kusoda, in which he came up with even more bullshit reasons why he is so entitled to our money, how Russia is a dad, and Ukraine is a mom (yeah, a mom who was forcefully married to a psychopath, who would throw acid on her just to keep her in house. If we were to look at it from this angle, then yet, it works), how he wants to create a crane-shaped 'school of peace' in Bucha, and how we have alternative options, if we don't want to pay the school. Basically:
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pay the school
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pay to Kusoda's fund (option 1 but with extra step)
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pay to Ukrainian embassy
Many chose option 3, and so did I. But instead of outright giving them access to my bank account, I said I'd think about it for a weekend. I'd also participate in Kusoda's meetings with Karina, during which he forced Karen to apologize before her, but Karina wanted those words to sound from Kusoda's mouth, so she rejected the apology, and he called her a thief for not paying them, forgetting how they tried to scam her for the phone.
It was November, and the situation was only getting worse. I got my meeting with Kusoda, during which I told that if he wants to help Ukraine, then I'd gladly send my money to Ukrainian armed forced. This much he refused, but I reminded him that I still have an option to pay to the embassy (apparently, for humanitarian needs), and I wished to pay this money through the bank transfer and that I need a school worket to accompany me to confirm my actions. He AGAIN rejected, saying I couldn't just send these money through a bank transfer, and had to pay THEM, then he threatened me that the programm of support they wished to offer us (courses of teaching Japanese) would be jeopardized because of my actions. You could say 'cue malicious compliance', but I never complied. Not like HE wanted.
I walked away, I had 254k yen they demanded from me, and I headed straight to the bank. As luck would have it, Miki too was there, and I proudly gave her receipt from the terminal, stating that I indeed sent money to the Embassy of Ukraine. And what was the first thing she said was: "Why would you do such an egotistic thing?"
Me: "How am I egotistic, when Kusoda clearly said that I could do that? By the way, hand it over to him"
After that, our merry band started to look for the options of moving away. Well, my two roommates and Karina did, I only helped slightly when we all were united in our hate toward Kusoda. Oh, by the way, there was another meeting, during which he dedicate his all to shaming me, but I only called out his bullshit. He was even forced to say 'you are shut up', when he couldn't give me clear answers. I also had 2 of his idiotic tirades recorded on my phone - I sent them to different people, and some claimed I was an asshole for speaking this way to someone this old and powerful... Remember how I said I don't give a fuck about such things, and I'm not allowing to bully myself just because of that. Well, that's it.
By the way, remember what I said about KFC? Well, after what I've done, my shifts were suddenly cut down my two. And, by the middle of December, they'd be gone whatsoever. The old man tried to fuck me up, so I just shrugged my shoulders and found a new job through Hello Work organization, Japanese employment centre.
Then another actor comes to play - Ivan, a Russian guy, who's been living in Japan for years, not a militaristic war-crime denying fashist we would hate, and was hired by the city hall to investigate our mess. He was of a great help, and even gathered us to introduce the rest of Ukrainians to the Hello Work. Guess what happened that time. Kusoda happened. He barged inside with Alisa and his court of sycophants, and started accusing the city hall's workers in not contacting him first, so that his school could be in control of their offers. He wanted a lever of influence over others, so that he could always pull the same stunt as he did with me and KFC, but nobody let him do that. I even stood up for the poor Japanese dudes, as they were clearly not 'allowed' to speak up against Kusoda - he's a wealthy heir to the former prefecture gouverner, and his granddad clearly made his money during WW2. He's filthy rich, but it brought him no class or wit.
Anyway, Ivan, despite being promtly fired (he did stay in the city for a while, though), contacted me to his friends: a couple lawyers from Ukraine and a Japanese guy, who was is a journalist, and to whom I said what had happened and even showed Kusoda's promises and bullshit printed on paper. As for the lawyers, they sympathized with us and decided it would be the best course of actions to make Kusoda to establish a clear contract between us, refugees, and the school. Why he never did so, you might ask? Well, about that...
Slowly after, Kusoda asked me to accompany him and his court of all-lickers to the city hall. It's only 300 meters between it and school, but he'd taken a car. He tried to flatter me on our way there, but I dismissed him, as the bridge between us was already burned. In the end, he spent an hour berating staff for not giving him money from the city's budget, how he 'sends our attendance to the immigration office, and left. I stayed to ask a few questions.
But before that, let me explain what did he mean by sending attendance to immigration office.
Basically, each student with namesake visa has their attendance and success rates sent to immigration office, where it's decided whether or not they're worthy of staying in Japan. This is a major lever of influence over foreigners for schools and universities. You can get deported after a single report from a teaching institution, and there's nothing you can do against it. That... is if you're on a student visa. Which we were NOT. So his threats of sending our attendance to immigration office meant literally nothing, even in case some of us decides to go to university or something.
So, as to why he never got money from the budget.
At first, I believed they DID receive funds and only lied to us just to get more. The truth turned out much more ridiculous. In reality, Kusoda never saw a single yen from the city hall... BECAUSE HE NEVER MADE A CONTRACT WITH US! He literally couldn't prove that we were his students, and folks from the city hall couldn't do anything. They did try to find a loophole, but were either unsuccessful or unwilling (especially after he yelled at them just to make a point to me) to fill the elder's pockets, so he took it upon us. He didn't want a contract just to be able to spin the conditions however he liked, as it would give both parties clearly defined right and responsibilities one would not be able to easily change by a whim. Kusoda outplayed himself, plain and simple.
In the end, Miki encountered me and gave me my receipt, saying Kusoda couldn't 'accept my payment as legitimate', and I said I didn't care, and they could throw me out, for all I cared. She replied that I was their valued student, and they couldn't do it. So I asked her to run away before shit could hit the fan. She said I was kind, but I dismissed her words. She had to work 3 more months per contract, but she did listen to me. Apparently, Karen bullied her, so I couldn't bear her staying at that hellish place working for 1000 yen per hour, when the minimal wage was 965, or something.
I stayed, though. I attended the lectures as much as I could (when I couldn't, it was because my my multiple sclerosis, which got much worse due to stress and anxieties of war, both in Ukraine and Japan), and 'graduated' 1 week before the end of the term in March.
But that happened in the end of it. Before I dropped out, we exacted our revenge.
So, my female friends were contacted by a journalist from NHK, she too is a Ukrainian (she and her Japanese pal would betray me later, but that's a whole different story), who interviewed us about the school. By that time, Karina and my 2 roommates moved to Tokyo, but my fight wasn't over yet. Ivan prepared a TV venue for me, in which I could explain everything I told to his friend (he too was there) to a bunch of journalists. Funnily enough, they first took a an interview from Kusoda, during which he completely embarrassed himself by saying things like 'They're refugees-aristocrates, it's only fair that we deserve their money' (to be fair, Ukrainians were quite privileged compared to Syrians or Afganistani, but it doesn't justify his entitlement), or 'why would I need a contract? You don't need a contract when you want to eat ramen' (just to be clear, he meant that you don't need to form a contract to buy ramen from a store, which reveals that Kusoda lacks basic understanding of civil law, which defines receipt as a contract). Kusoda couldn't answer a simple question straight, kept belittling us, and made a fool of himself by acting immature before cameras.
Then it was my turn. My revenge.
I tried to be as polite and considerate as possible, I explained the situation and how the school scammed us multiple times, lied to us. I pushed all the blame to Kusoda, as only he and Karen were scums there, others did their best to help us, even though they were powerless against the entitled chairman, as 1) they're Japanese and they can't fanthom going against an elder; 2) he can throw them away any time, as it's a private company he owns. I said that his 'refugees-aristoctates' statement was a disgrace for refusing to comply with his ridiculous demands, that we wouldn't be in Japan if not for the war, that his egoism was ruining the school's reputation (at that point, they couldn't invite new refugees, as they were marked as unreliable guarantor), it's honor, and the lives of its staff. I told them everything. I wasn't too eloquent, and my speaking skills weren't too great, but I still made my point, and it ruined him.
After that, Kusoda tried to organize another interview, but quickly backed down on that. Turned out, that they were never going to transfer the money to the embassy, only if you demand proves, they'd do it (Diana did, and they did it quite reluctantly), and not every girl had guts to do that. This too went to journalists, by the way.
In the end, Kusoda resigned and his estranged daughter took over. Karen was fired too. To her my last message was:
"今までご心配してくれて、誠に感謝いたします。" (Which basically means "I'm honored to pay my gratitude for all the care you've shown to me", but, in the context, this was, basically, my way of saying 'fuck you, I don't wanna see you ever again')
Another teacher took Karen's place, I didn't know her that much, but I do know she's a good woman, and the school prospers now. Kusoda sits at his home now - he never lost his funds, so his pension will be filled with rich and luxury. That doesn't seem to make him happy, though. Last time I checked on him, he was trying to get elected by shitting on me, other Ukrainians, Chinese, promising to abolish value added taxes, and all the other nonsense. He barely had 80 readers on twitter, so, despite him having everything one could possibly want, he'd been crying in the void.
As for me, I got my 254k back, when the embassy refunded me the money, and, eventually, I moved towns. It's not a 'and everyone clapped' kind of story, as my problems were only starting, but when I look back on those 9 months of my life, I have no regrets at what I've done.
