Myth and Reality of Japanese Industry in the South

There is a general belief that before the Japanese establish their factories overseas they prepare well to deal with the natives and the local culture. Such a myth is reinforced when one learns that, in preparation for their overseas assignments, Japanese managers read a Chinese classic, Sun Tzu’s On War, as if they were soldiers preparing for a major battle. ¹ The school brochure of the Tennessee Meiji Gakuin High School in Sweetwater, Tennessee, even states that the mission of the school is “to educate children of the overseas Japanese kigyou senshi” meaning literally “combat soldiers in business enterprises.” It sounds as if Japanese industrialists prepare to do battle rather than business in Tennessee.