Who is this guy?

    You would ask who this guy is. So, let me introduce myself first.

(left: A sax guy, right: Yasu Miyata, just in case)

   My name is Yasuhiko “Yasu” Miyata. I live in Kobe, a cosmopolitan port city in the western part of Japan. (The city is, by the way, famous for well-marbled and very tender Kobe beef!)
    Working as a liaison and a software engineer for Fuji Xerox for 2+ years in Japan, and for its US parent company, Xerox for 5 years in Los Angels made me realize how challenging collaborative projects between US and Japanese companies are. I learned from my successful experiences (and, in reality, a few failures I saw) that profound understanding of cross-cultural dynamics is crucial to the success of any business projects that involve parties in the two very different countries.
     As a native Japanese who was born and educated in Tokyo, I instinctively understand the behavioral pattern and the way of thinking of Japanese people and companies. Also, my 5 years working experience with American people in LA, which is actually longer than at Japanese companies, gave me not just solid knowledge of American operations, but many views of how American businesses can establish and improve their business relationship with Japanese customers and vendors.
     My original background is information and communication engineering and I took a master’s degree in electrical engineering in Japan. Additionally, my current project for a hi-tech venture business in Kobe gave me insight on how to cultivate a new market in Japan as well as how a mid-sized business is run, which is quite different from large organizations.

     I went back to Japan in 2003 from LA. I enjoy life here in Japan, but I miss many things that I used to enjoy in the US. The thing I miss the most? Jay Leno's monologue! The Tonight Show is not aired in Japan! The problem is, I can’t learn good American jokes every night.

Comments

[Mamen]

This is Mamen, export manager of Sercedex, we are exporters of spanish products and I would like to be helped for you to make business in Japan. Please, let me know if you can help me.

I am looking forward on hearing from you.
Best regards.
Mamen.