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[Apsara]

I worked for Nova for a few years and in both schools I was at teachers more or less completely ignored the non-socialisation policy. The trainers were decent people who knew about it but turned a blind eye.
I didn't arrange parties with students in attendance but I attended plenty. I was also invited to the houses of several older students- lovely obasans who never really learned to string a sentence together but seemed to enjoy it anyway- and was force-fed a lot of food and loaded down with gifts.

The non-socialisation policy does have its uses- I was invited out on dates several times with students who I really did not want to date- it was a very easy way out to quote the policy! Socialising with students can also have negative aspects- one student used to find out where the teachers were hanging out that evening and began to follow me to the station when I left, eventually becoming a fully-fledged stalker- luckily I was about to leave Japan at the time (came back again, can't stay away), but the guy even followed me to Narita! I escaped him at passport control and happily have never seen him again.

As for keeping in touch with students long term, I stopped teaching English a few years ago and answered any emails I was sent for a while, but have lost touch with most. Last year however I attended the wedding of a former Nova student who went to live in my home country- the wedding came almost 10 years after I left that school. I also know of several former teachers who are married to former students, and one, my ex-roommate, who has a 6 year-old souvenir of her relationship with a student, a little girl called Aya Rose! The relationship with the student unfortunately didn't last...