Akio Morita participated in some of these delegations. He had a
different perspective. He had done what was unthinkable for a Japanese
executive at that time: he had moved with his wife Yoshiko and
their children to New York in order to immerse himself in the American
environment. He wanted to learn everything he could about American
business, consumers, and culture. Today, Japanese executives
sometimes do a tour of duty in the U.S., but too often live in their
own walled-off environments, rarely getting to know Americans well
and sometimes rarely even having to speak English. With Akio, it was
just the opposite. He and Yoshiko plunged themselves into every
aspect of American life from business to politics, media, the arts, and
the education of their kids. This seminal experience made him a genuine
expert on American life and was incredibly valuable to him
throughout his career.
the head of Nippon Steel, which had emerged as one of the world’s
largest steel companies, and from many other CEOs of what were by
then world-class Japanese companies, I heard the ritualized incantation
about how Japan was a “humble island nation with no natural
resources still suffering from the devastation of the war.” This “poor”
nation could not possibly make the changes Americans wanted, I was
told over and over.