One of the more prominent Japanese-Americans in Japan is Glen Fukushima, who's had past roles leading the ACCJ, Cadence Japan, and NCR Japan. Recently, I was informed that he'll be heading up Airbus Japan.
On the surface, Fukushima has a tough road ahead of him because 3 major Japanese manufacturers are supplying parts for Boeing's new Dreamliner. Therefore the Japanese government has incentives to buy Boeing to support those businesses.
Steve Clemons, who is EVP of the New America Foundation and Director of the Japan Policy Research Institute, has some of the only analysis of Fukushima's move to Airbus.
I imagine that part of Fukushima's calculus is that there is no international economic strategy out of the White House any longer -- except the absence of strategy. And thus, his self-adopted ethic of fighting for American political and economic leverage in Japan makes no sense when the President and his cabinet hardly give a damn about Japanese markets or market-opening abroad generally any longer.
I wish Fukushima the best- it will be extremely challenging to sell Airbus to Japanese. However, as Airbus has no market share in Japan, there's no where to go but up. It will be interesting to see if Airbus can crack this pseudo-monopoly in Japan.
Big Earthquake in American Trade Circles: Glen Fukushima Goes to Airbus [thewashingtonnote.com]
NBR'S JAPAN FORUM (GENERAL) New position and address [nbr.org]
AIRBUS REINFORCES PRESENCE IN JAPAN WITH NEW APPOINTMENTS [airbus.com]
Airbus Appoints New Japan Unit President [findlaw.com]
A Dogfight over Airbus' Next Pilot [businessweek.com]
