Global Atlanta’s coverage from the annual SEUS-Japan conference in Tokyo is sponsored by NFP:
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TOKYO — For Japanese expatriates, being sent across the world to set up a factory can be stressful, if not daunting, with visa issues, housing and school districts piling up before departure.
But for those coming to Georgia, they don’t have to be pioneers, and they need not go it alone.
The Georgia Association of Japan, known colloquially as Georgia-Kai, has volunteered to support Japanese executives in that process for 40 years, a show of commitment that netted the group special recognition from Gov. Brian Kemp this week at the Southeast U.S.-Japan alliance conference in Tokyo.
Mr. Kemp presented the Gov. George Busbee Award, named after the governor in charge when the conference started 49 years ago, to these “informal ambassadors” during the state’s kickoff reception. See the last Busbee winner here
“Wanting to create a community of Georgia Japanese expats, they formed Georgia-Kai as a way to stay connected. The members have also promoted Georgia as a wonderful place for Japanese companies, their employees and for their families to live, work and do business,” Mr. Kemp said.
Founded in 1985, about a decade after the first Japanese companies arrived in the state, Georgia-Kai draws from a massive pool of “alumni” — both returned students and executives from a wide cross-section of industries — from some 400 companies that have set up shop in Georgia, mostly in manufacturing, since the 1970s.
Membership swelled in the 1990s to about 200, and now sits at about 100 people who pay 5,000 yen, about $33 per year, to join the club.
Along with hosting social gatherings like dinners, Christmas parties and occasional hikes, Georgia Kai publishes bi-monthly newsletter, aptly titled “On My Mind” in a nod to the state song, that has been running for decades.
But it’s the organization’s role in underpinning investment ties that have led to an estimated 40,000 jobs that ended up catching the eye of state leaders. In an example of how success begets success in business recruitment, returned Japanese executives counsel those set to embark on their Peach State journeys about where to live, work, study and eat — and how to interact culturally with Americans.
“Because our members are diversfied in different industries … there’s always someone who can assist, give advice to a new company who wants to go to Georgia,” Mitsui Okada, management advisor in overseas business development for $18 billion construction giant Kajima Corp. and chairman of the Georgia-Kai, told Global Atlanta. “It’s a sort of a supporting role for people who are going to the U.S.”
Mr. Okada was sent to Kajima’s North American headquarters in Atlanta in the early 1990s. While there, he and his wife had three children in three years.
‘The water is good” in Atlanta, joked Mr. Okada, who accepted the award from Mr. Kemp.
Mr. Okada has only been back once to Georgia, when his kids were still too young to remember, but he interacts with the state often, drumming up business for Kajima with Japanese companies investing in the U.S., often in the Southeast’s automotive belt.
Understanding the differences in business culture is essential for executives who want to succeed in America, he noted.
“In Japan, the client is God,” Mr. Okada told Global Atlanta, noting that American firms are more willing to haggle with their customers on change orders and pricing. “So when people get used to doing business in Japan or, say, Southeast Asia, they get kind of shocked.”
Mayumi Yamamoto, who markets major sporting events, likewise has only returned once since graduating from Georgia State University in 1992.
“After I graduated, I got an internship at the CNN,” she said. “Before that, I had a part-time job in JETRO.”
Why is she still involved after so many years away? “Just to have fun.”
That mission was accomplished at the reception, where the 60-strong Georgia delegation mingled with one another, caught up with Japanese contacts and met up with potential new prospects.
The state’s new representative for its now 52-year-old Tokyo office, Takao Yamamoto, was there making the rounds, as was new Japanese Consul General Kenichi Matsuda and his two immediate predecessors, Mio Maeda and Takashi Shinozuka.
“This is a market that we’re committed to,” said Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson. “This is a market that continues to invest, and we’re very excited about being here.”
