Winter 2004, Vol. 25, No. 2 (PDF Version)

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• We Salute Hideto Kono: A Message from JAIMS President Glenn Miyataki
• Megatrends Author John Naisbitt to Speak at JAIMS Public Forum
• Spring 2004 ICMP Closing Ceremony
• JAIMS Welcomes New Students
  
• Furuichi Blogs His Heart in San Francisco
  
• Fall 2004 ICMP Bloggers
  
• Tokyo Portion Summer 2004
  
• Visiting Faculty Perspectives
  
• The 2003-2004 CHEMBA Class at BLCU
  
• The JAIMS Alumni Database
  
• BEP Companies
  
• JAIMS Bond in Singapore
  
• Aloha to Heath Barlow
  
• Alumni Bulletin
  

We Salute Hideto Kono

On October 2, 2004, Mr. Hideto Kono, our third President who led JAIMS from 1988-94, suffered a cardiac arrest while snorkeling off the Galapagos Islands and passed away shortly after. His loss came very suddenly, and we are still in shock as the entire JAIMS family extends our deepest condolences to his wife, Fannie; sons, Dwight, Dayne, and Daryn; daughter, Laurel Hayama; eight grandchildren; and sisters, Chieko Hamai, Kimiko Matsumoto, and Amy Enright. Hideto was a profound educator and public servant, an executive as well as a long-range planner, and a cross-cultural ambassador and translator whose parents came from Hiroshima Prefecture, his ancestral home. During his six years at JAIMS, he provided the pivotal direction that brought JAIMS into today’s global era. Through his vision and insights, he “fathered” the Japan-focused MBA program (JEMBA) in 1990 in partnership with the University of Hawaii College of Business Administration (UHCBA). As a tribute to Hideto’s efforts and the support of Fujitsu Limited and UHCBA, the program is now in its 15th year and is one of the most unique MBA programs in the world with almost 300 graduates in Japan, the United States, Europe, and in other Asian countries.

Hideto Kono

Hideto had many friends and admirers, and prominent colleagues had much to say about him. As posted by Beverly Creamer in the October 12, 2004 edition of The Honolulu Advertiser:

Hideto Kono helped chart the state’s future immediately after statehood in 1959 by reorganizing the territorial government, and later served as a key member of Governor George Ariyoshi’s Cabinet. Ariyoshi called Kono “a futuristic man” – who as his director of Planning and Economic Development, shouldered the duties of developing 12 state strategic plans to guide a future of balanced growth from the mid-1970s into the 1980s.

“We often talked about making a difference, and what a difference Hideto has made,” said Ariyoshi in remembering Kono, who was both colleague and friend.

U.S. Senator Dan K. Inouye called Kono not only a great American but a friend. “Hawaii will miss his leadership and I will miss my friend,” said Inouye from Washington.

Fujio Matsuda, who stepped into Kono’s shoes as president of JAIMS when Kono left in 1994, said Kono had a remarkable ability to get results, even under difficult circumstances. “When you do broadly based long-term planning (as Kono did under Ariyoshi) involving several dozen professionals, department heads and community members, it’s like herding cats,” said Matsuda. “They go all over the place. He was able to keep everyone focused.”

Kent Keith, who served under Kono in the Department of Planning and Economic Development during Ariyoshi’s governorship before taking over from Kono, called Kono a visionary, saying it was he who oversaw a period of tremendous excitement at the end of the 1970s as Hawaii pushed forward to find and build sources of renewable energy. “He had the wonderful long-term perspective and was willing to make opportunities for the state that were environmentally sound and socially acceptable,” said Keith. Under Kono – and during the energy crisis of the 1970s – Keith said the state launched work on numerous renewable energy sources including ocean thermal, geothermal, wind, solar and biomass.

After Kono left public service, he went on to become president of JAIMS. “Mr. Kono was the kind of person where if you went in to his office asking him for money for a certain thing, you’d come out feeling like he had given you a million dollars even though he actually gave you nothing,” said Blair Odo (vice president for academic affairs who worked for Kono). “He made you feel so good you’d walk out of his office happy, even without the budget.”

Later Kono also played an important role at the Japan-Hawaii Cultural Center and with the Urasenke Tea Group.

Kono was born in Kaumana on the Big Island in 1922 and served in the highly decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II and in the Military Intelligence Service. He was also president of Castle & Cooke East Asia Ltd., chairman of the Hawaii State Public Utilities Commission and recipient of the Emperor’s Award from Japan.

Hideto was a true role model and symbolized all that JAIMS stood for in today’s complex world. He was a man of spotless integrity with unquestioned loyalty and dedication to every mission he pursued. He was a man of honor who never forgot his roots. Most of all, he was a genuine, caring person whose respect, kindness, and consideration toward others were without peer. As several who knew him well have said, “Hideto was truly a samurai, one of the few remaining here in Hawaii.” He brought credibility to JAIMS.

Hideto, thank you for all that you have done for JAIMS. We will continue to further your work for many, many years to come.

With kindest regards.

Glenn K. Miyataki, Ph.D.
President

Megatrends Author John Naisbitt to Speak at JAIMS Public Forum

In 1982, an author and futurist named John Naisbitt published his book, Megatrends, which became a runaway sensation, enjoying 60 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. In this book, Naisbitt correctly predicted: • The shift from the industrial age to the information age; • The advent of national economies into a global economy, now called “globalization,” a term that was not familiar during that period; and, • Networks as a way of radically transforming and increasing public access to goods, services, and data on a global scale (known as the “Internet”).

John Naisbitt

By special engagement, JAIMS will host a public forum featuring Naisbitt from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Thursday, January 20, 2005 at the Halekulani Hotel in Honolulu.

At the forum entitled, “Evolutionary Trends and Future Mindsets,” Naisbitt will present material from his latest book, The Elephant in the Boa Constrictor (to be published in 2005), and will discuss the new Megatrends shaping these early years of the 21st century.

“We are pleased to bring to Hawaii this renowned author and futurist,” said JAIMS President Glenn Miyataki. “The Hawaii community and participants from Japan will benefit from the insights of John Naisbitt, who regularly advises major corporations around the globe.”

Naisbitt authored a number of significant books in addition to Megatrends. In his books and talks, Naisbitt discusses the major technological and social revolutions that were put into play during the last two decades of the 20th century, and he explains how they will be absorbed and perfected in decades to come. Several of these revolutions include information technology, economic reform in China, the unification of Europe, and America as an empire.

In his 40 years of business experience, Naisbitt has been an executive with IBM and Eastman Kodak, as well as a successful entrepreneur. He studied political science at the University of Utah, Harvard University, and Cornell University. He holds 15 honorary doctorates in the humanities and sciences and has been a visiting fellow at Harvard University; and in 1991 and 1992, he was a visiting professor at Moscow State University. He is currently distinguished international fellow at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur. Naisbitt is the first non-Asian to hold this appointment. He is also on the faculty at Nanjing University in China.

In conjunction with the forum, JAIMS and Naisbitt will also lead a roundtable discussion for senior executives from Japan, the United States and other countries. Attendance at the roundtable is by invitation only.
Event sponsors include aio Group, Proudfoot Japan, AIG Hawaii, First Insurance Company of Hawaii, GGP Ala Moana LLC, Hawaiian Host, Inc., Imanaka Kudo & Fujimoto, and Island Insurance Companies, Ltd.

The cost to attend the forum is $250 per person. As a recipient of the JAIMS Global Horizons, you receive a discounted rate of $200 per person or $175 each for three or more. The fee also includes a continental breakfast at 8 a.m. and a complimentary copy of Naisbitt’s new book when it becomes available.

For more information, please contact Roxanne Kam, special assistant to the president, at (808) 396-7130, fax at (808) 396-7111, or email at rox@jaims.org.

Spring 2004 ICMP Closing Ceremony

On July 21, 2004, the students of the spring 2004 class of ICMP received their Certificates of Completion during closing ceremonies at JAIMS. Awards were also conferred to students with special achievements:

President's Business Plan Award

First Place: Junichi Mitani, Akihiko Ota, and Clarisse Stoerkel

Second Place: Hideaki Furuichi, Tae Joon Lee, Teruhiro Tanaka, and Mayumi Yahata

Third Place: Hiroshi Funakoshi, Pastraporn Rittikosi, Teruhiko Suga, and Masaki Yoshida

Francis A. Wong Award for Leadership

Clarisse Stoerkel

Students' Choice Award

Po Yin Esther Liu

Floyd Takeuchi

As closing ceremony speaker, Floyd Takeuchi, president and chief operating officer of the aio Group, offered words of inspiration to the departing class. He said that the greatest lessons come from the people of Hawaii and their ability to coexist in harmony. “Despite the multitude of cultures, religions, and races who call Hawaii home, the ability of its people to share in the aloha spirit is nothing short of revolutionary,” Takeuchi said. “It is my hope that you take these lessons of aloha out of these islands to pursue your dreams...” he said, “Please leave Hawaii as a revolutionary and as a true believer [in the aloha spirit].”

The class of 19 came from six different countries: France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and Thailand. Twelve of the graduates continued through the Business Exchange Program where they interned with U.S. companies for two months.

JAIMS Welcomes New Students

This fall, JAIMS opened its doors to a new group of JEMBA, CHEMBA, and ICMP students.

Every JEMBA and CHEMBA class has been noted for its diversity in culture and experience, and this year is no exception. The current class of MBA hopefuls consists of 18 JEMBA students and 9 CHEMBA students. They hail from nine countries: Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States.

Classes are in full swing and will continue until the start of their three-month internships next August.

The fall 2004 ICMP term is also well under way. This term, the ICMP class consists of 16 students hailing from six countries: Cambodia, France, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, and Thailand. Fall term ICMP students usually look forward to participating in festive U.S. holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving for the first time. Their studies will continue until January 2005 where some will take advantage of the Business Exchange Program and intern with U.S. companies for two months.

Furuichi Blogs His Heart in San Francisco

This past summer was one to remember for JAIMS alumnus Hideaki Furuichi. As one of the 12 ICMP spring 2004 students to participate in the Business Exchange Program (BEP), Furuichi worked as an intern at SyMech, Inc. in San Francisco. What was unique was that he shared his experience with hundreds of people on the Web.

Over the span of two months, Furuichi shared his private insecurities, philosophical musings, and love of nature in a blog hosted on the JAIMS Web site.

Within a week, Furuichi’s blog received close to 200 unique visits from readers in the United States, Japan, the Philippines, and Canada. With camera in hand, Furuichi shared stunning photos of his adventures in Muir Woods, Yosemite National Park, Whistler Mountain, and the scenery of San Francisco.

However, all was not play. Working at a small company such as SyMech, Inc. presented great opportunities for Furuichi to learn about U.S. business. SyMech, Inc. CEO, Jonathan Cook, was generous with his time and often made himself available to Furuichi’s inquisitive questions. Cook taught Furuichi that everything about a successful business usually comes down to good communication.

Furuichi found that his blog was an important means of communication in itself, allowing him to enjoy his BEP experience to the fullest.

“The blog helped me to initiate a joyful communication,” he wrote in one of his final entries, “I heard from people such as my friends, my Hawaii host family, staff, an alumnus, and a future student of JAIMS.”

Furuichi’s communication was not limited to others, however; he found that his blog allowed a communication within himself as well.

“By writing explicitly what I was happy about, an unconscious joy became a conscious one. This enabled me to create a plan to maximize my joy in the stay.”

Furuichi began his blog on July 23, 2004 and entered over 50 entries until the end of his internship in September. He has returned to Japan continuing his career at Fujitsu, Ltd.

Tokyo Portion Summer 2004
Contributed by Akio Nakazawa, Manager, Japan Business Program

August is O-bon time in Japan. Schools are closed, companies give time-off to their employees, and people return to their hometowns to pay respect to their ancestors. This is when we launched the very first JEMBA two-week in-country language training program. Japanese language classes were held until the end of July 2004 with the last two weeks reserved for intensive language training – including the JEMBA Speech Contest.

The main objective of this period was to prepare our students to live and work in Tokyo: shopping, riding trains, buying cellular phones, opening bank accounts, introducing themselves at the office, and so forth. The JEMBA Tokyo Portion provided them with real-world experience before their internships began.

Language lessons were taught by instructors from the Inter-University Center of Japanese Studies (IUC) at the Union-Biru (Labor Union Building of Fujitsu) at Musashi-Nakahara in Kawasaki. Administered by Stanford University and with 12 universities as members, it is the most prestigious language study institution in Japan since the 1960s.

There were three levels of classes with four instructors, who never spoke a word of English in class or out. Although all of the students tried to trick the instructors into speaking English, they had no success. Using the same textbooks used at IUC, faculty engaged in conversation and classroom instruction strictly in Japanese.

During class breaks, congregating around a smoke-filtering machine, a student commented, “I didn’t know I could understand this much Japanese.” Within days, many of the students found their confidence in Japanese language and culture growing more and more.

On August 17, 2004, JEMBA students joined in a party with executives from their internship companies at Fujitsu Headquarters. By then it was obvious that all of the JEMBA students were ready to live and work in Tokyo. The inaugural JEMBA Tokyo Portion was a rousing success for everyone.

Visiting Faculty Perspectives: Philippe Byosiere, Ph.D.

A JAIMS cohort is a smorgasbord of diversity: functional diversity in terms of educational background (from philosophy to psychology and physics to engineering), diversity in terms of professional experience (from financial institutions to manufacturing companies to NGOs) and definitely cross-cultural diversity. Every corner of the world is represented in a JAIMS MBA cohort.

Compared to most traditional MBA programs which are also very diverse and heterogeneous, when scanning the names in each JAIMS MBA cohort, one is tricked in making stereotypical attributions with regard to individual characteristics such as national origin, ethnicity, gender only to find out that the preconceived attributions are wrong.

In a world without borders that is the way it should be. The fact of the matter is that it is the individual, the person, the human being behind the name and face what counts and nothing else.

Philippe Byosiere, Ph.D.
Professor, Doshisha Business School

The 2003-2004 CHEMBA Class at BLCU
Contributed by Yen Chun, Manager, China Business Program

On a pleasant summer night on August 1, 2004, the 2003-2004 CHEMBA class gathered at a lively Chinese restaurant for the opening ceremony of the intensive language-training program hosted by the Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). President Qu Delin of BLCU gave them a warm heartfelt welcome. JAIMS President Glenn Miyataki and BLCU staff and faculty also joined the ceremony.

This was the first year JAIMS held the intensive language training at BLCU. CHEMBA students attended business Mandarin classes in the mornings and visited companies in the afternoons. They enjoyed the tours and sampled beer at Yanjing Beer Group, which ranks 13th on the world beer market. They asked excellent questions when meeting with the officials at the Zhong Guan Cun Science Park, a place where the government helps returned Chinese citizens start their “incubators” or start-up companies.

The CHEMBA class at Zhong Guan Cun Science Park

As closing ceremony speaker, Floyd Takeuchi, president and chief operating officer of the aio Group, offered words of inspiration to the departing class. He said that the greatest lessons come from the people of Hawaii and their ability to coexist in harmony. “Despite the multitude of cultures, religions, and races who call Hawaii home, the ability of its people to share in the aloha spirit is nothing short of revolutionary,” Takeuchi said. “It is my hope that you take these lessons of aloha out of these islands to pursue your dreams...” he said, “Please leave Hawaii as a revolutionary and as a true believer [in the aloha spirit].”

They were also at the site of Jianwai SOHO (Small Office Home Office) and were amazed how SOHO sells all their apartments before they were even built. They found the presentation at Fujitsu (China) Co. Ltd interesting and educational. Students not only appreciated Fujitsu’s thorough presentation on marketing strategies for China, but also were very impressed by President Takeda’s language skills in Chinese, Japanese, and English. Some students observed the “Language Bridge,” an international speech competition in Mandarin held at the Peking University. They were inspired by the “foreigners” who spoke like native Chinese.

The BLCU environment was a perfect place to learn language. The campus was both quiet and beautiful. It was filled with lotus flowers of many colors in full bloom. The campus had an extensive sports facility and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. We saw students from different parts of the world including 90 students from Columbia University. There were many cafeterias and dining rooms with different ethnic foods including Xinjiang, Korean, etc. The food was inexpensive and delicious.

CHEMBA students studied hard and played hard. They went to the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, Tian An Men, and even went strolling through the beautiful little Hutongs (alleys) where Beijing residents used to live. They enjoyed sampling Chinese minority foods at restaurants, checking out the massage places and meeting Chinese people as well as foreigners at bars.

Thanks to BLCU’s arrangement, students felt the two weeks in Beijing was time well spent. They commented that being immersed in China – in both the language and culture – they could actually put into practice what had been theoretically learned in Hawaii. They all felt they benefited from this experience in getting adjusted to the China environment and preparing them for the internship before it started.

The JAIMS Alumni Database

The JAIMS Alumni Database enables friends and classmates to connect with each other, rebuild friendships, and establish personal or professional networks.

Although the Database is available to JAIMS staff and alumni worldwide, the privacy of our alumni is very important to JAIMS. Only registered and authorized users will have access to JAIMS alumni records.

Alumni have access to their own records and may edit and update their profile at anytime. In addition, alumni may search for their classmates’ and friends’ contact information using a simple form. E-mail addresses are available unless indicated otherwise by alumni who have chosen to opt out. Those who wish to opt out must register and uncheck the "show e-mail" option in their personal and/or business profile.

The JAIMS Online Alumni Database can be accessed via the JAIMS homepage or at http://www.jaims.org/alumnidb. Please e-mail info@jaims.org for more information.

BEP Companies

JAIMS would like to thank the following organizations for hosting our spring 2004 ICMP students in the Business Exchange Program (BEP):

889 Global Solutions Ltd.

Genesis Hotel Development LLC

International Business Incubator (IBI)

The Japan America Society of Chicago

JapanWorks Co., LLC

Knickerbocker Village NY, Inc.

The League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc.

Mandarin Oriental, Miami

Occidental Underwriters of Hawaii

SyMech, Inc.

Tenri Cultural Institute of New York

Transitive Corporation

Here are just some of the comments JAIMS has received from BEP companies.

“I think it is a wonderful program, and IBI looks forward to continuing its close relationship with JAIMS and the BEP program. We have tremendous respect for the quality of students and feel honored to have the opportunity to work with them and provide them opportunities to gain practical experience working in the U.S. and expand upon and grow their already significant skills and capabilities.” –International Business Incubator, Omar Mencin, Business Development Manager

“I think this program is excellent. The hands-on experience is very crucial for crossing the bicultural barriers.” –Occidental Underwriters of Hawaii, Mark Goto, Brokerage Manager

“We have thoroughly enjoyed participating in the BEP program, and have gained a vast amount of knowledge from the varying interns that we receive each year.”

“We applaud JAIMS for continuing such good work and continually look forward to future endeavors and relationships.” –Japan America Society of Chicago, Erika Kono, Director

JAIMS Bond in Singapore

On the evening of September 1, 2004, six members of Singapore's JAIMS Bond Club met at the Marche restaurant, located in Suntac City, Singapore, with JAIMS instructor, Dr. Sandy Friedman.

“A most enjoyable evening was had by all in sharing stories of good times in Hawai‘i – particularly at JAIMS – and in sharing stories of successes,” said Friedman, “The JAIMS Bond continues to grow.”

Friedman was in Singapore, where he had lived and worked several years ago, to attend his daughter's operatic performance in The Merry Widow. While in Singapore, Friedman also visited with several educational organizations in order to learn first-hand how Singapore is reaching out to Asia in order to make Singapore an educational destination area.

Aloha

We bid a fond aloha to a dear member of our JAIMS family, Heath Barlow (JEMBA-14). Heath was an exceptional student and was, in fact, the very first recipient of the Norman Weissman scholarship. However, he was far more than that. Heath took on many roles to those who knew him and could not be bound by any single definition. We, the staff and faculty at JAIMS, can only leave you with the words his classmates chose to describe Heath:

Heath Aaron Barlow
April 21, 1975 – August 28, 2004
Optimistic • Inspirational • Loquacious • Addicting • Festive • Next • Bacchanalian • Motivating • Open • Friendly • Charismatic • Metrosexual • Big Brother • Wily • People-loving • Curious • Excited • Sunny • Moxie

We are forever grateful for having known him.

Heath passed away in his sleep while in Tokyo on August 28, 2004. He had been in Japan for the internship portion of the JEMBA program and had just completed his first week at his host company, Sunny Side Up, Inc. JAIMS and the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa College of Business will award Heath a posthumous degree and certificate at his class’ graduation ceremonies in Tokyo this November. Heath’s family has set up a Web site to share in his memory (http://www.HeathBarlow.com).