ABSTRACT
In Smyrna, Tennesee, a small town nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, 240,000 cars and trucks a year roll off the assembly line at the Nissan Motor Manufacturing Corporation. The plant is the fourth largest Japanese-owned manufacturing facility in the United States, employing over 3,000 workers and revitalizing a rural and underdeveloped area. It is also a symbol of the growing impact of Japan's enormous wave of direct investment in the United States. Japanese-owned auto plants have sprung up in Flat Rock, Michigan; Georgetown, Kentucky; and Marysville, Ohio, the site of Honda America.
