A ‘Cornerstone’ of Engagement, Japanese Consulate Marks Half a Century in Atlanta

Former Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is just waiting on one final piece to complete his ensemble.

The recently inducted member of Japan’s the Order of the Rising Sun received his medal with gold and silver stars at the Consul General Mio Maeda’s home last November.

Donning the regalia upon his return to the residence June 5, Mr. Deal joked that the rest of the outfit was likely in the mail.

“I expect probably in the near future they will give me the samurai sword,” the 81-year-old former governor said to laughter from the audience of dignitaries, legislators, executives and economic development officials who came together for a reception marking the 50-year anniversary of the Consulate General of Japan’s presence in Atlanta.

Along with sushi stations, guests sampled Yakult yogurt drinks and Marukan rice vinegar and other Japanese products under a tent behind the residence, where they could also try out water-balloon yoyo fishing while sipping Japanese beers. Fukuoka, Atlanta’s Japanese sister city, was showcased at a display in the dining room, along with companies like construction firm Shimizu and stationery provider Tombow.

“It has been a great honor for the state to have this distinction,” Mr. Deal said in his remarks, praising the consulate not only for its own work but also for its leadership within Atlanta’s diplomatic corps.

Beyond what it meant to him personally, the former governor said the honor Japan bestowed on him last year had a practical effect in furthering cultural exchange between the U.S. and Japan.

“My granddaughter, who drove me down tonight, was with me on the last occasion when I got these awards, and she was so impressed by it that she decided she was going to begin to take Japanese as a language,” Mr. Deal said.

That small effect is emblematic of the way cultural exchange has accompanied the expansion of commercial ties started with YKK’s investment in Georgia, also 50 years ago as of this year.

In 1974, when the Japanese consulate opened in Atlanta, Braves legend Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, surpassing Babe Ruth‘s record, and the N.C. State Wolfpack basketball team won the national championship, Mr. Maeda said.

The region has been winning ever since. Events like Animazement in North Carolina, JapanFest in Georgia and the Daikin Festival in Alabama and the Bon Dance Festival in South Carolina, all of which draw tens of thousands, are proof of the grassroots goodwill that has developed as some 1,500 Japanese companies have spread throughout the region, he added.

“They are very much rooted in the local communities, creating more than 100,000 jobs for locals,” Mr. Maeda said.

In Georgia, Japanese investment is transforming rural communities, forestalling economic decline by enabling people to stay and work where they’ve grown up, said Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

“Those are not just numbers. Those are lives. Those are people whose lives have changed, families that are better, communities that are better off,” Mr. Wilson said in toasting the relationship.

He gave then-Gov. Jimmy Carter credit for seeing the opportunity in Japan 50 years ago, creating a trade and investment office that Mr. Wilson and other Georgia delegates celebrated in Tokyo last October.

“How wildly outrageous is that in 1973 The Governor said we’re going to look internationally to find new opportunities for Georgians?” Mr. Wilson said.

Even now, the Southeast U.S. remains at the vanguard of a U.S.-Japan relationship that has grown stronger during the last few years as officials have prioritized supply-chain resiliency and eyed China’s rise with renewed skepticism.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a state visit to the U.S. in April, marking a high-point in the allies’ longstanding friendship, Mr. Maeda said, adding that the consulate has been the “cornerstone of Japan’s relations with this region.”

In a statement read aloud at the event in his absence, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock praised Japan as an “essential ally with the United States in defending democracy, championing human rights and unleashing economic prosperity around the world.”

The Ebenezer Baptist Church pastor also added some civil-rights flair:

“The beauty and resilience of the Japanese people even inspired Georgia’s own Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In a 1967 letter addressed to the people of Japan, Dr. King wrote, ‘Japan stands as one possible bridge between East and West and is endowed with a historic opportunity to mediate the tensions which currently exist between East and West rich and poor, white and color peoples of the world.’”

Alabama is following Georgia’s lead in setting up a legislative group dedicated to promoting its economic and trade ties with Japan, said Mike Shaw, a state representative from Alabama’s 47th district in Hoover. Mr. Shaw helped found the Japan Alabama Legislative Exchange, which was approved unanimously in the state’s House of Representatives May 1.

“A consulate is not a building, it’s people, it’s relationships, and that’s what’s exciting to me,” said Mr. Shaw in congratulating the consulate for underpinning “50 years of learning from each other.”

Like Mr. Deal’s granddaughter, Mr. Shaw’s daughter studied Japanese and even lived in Japan for a few years, the legislator said.

“We’ve had great international exchange programs for our young people,” Mr. Deal added. “And that is one of the best ways I think, for us to get to know each other.”