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We Salute
Hideto Kono
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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.
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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
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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”).
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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 |
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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].”
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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 |
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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].”
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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.
Friedman
met with Ai Yi Lim (JEMBA-12), an associate with HVS International
(specialists in hotel consulting and appraisals worldwide);
Rona Puntawe (ICMP-03F), a senior executive in the human resources
department for the NTUC Income Insurance Cooperative; Lina
Tan (ICMP-03F), regional marketing manager and director of
Pericom Imaging (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.; John Koh (JEMBA-10)
who owns Newday Consulting; Lung-Nien Lee (JMP-15), the head
of corporate sales & structuring for the ASEAN region and
director of Citigroup; and Alfred Chow (CHEMBA-5), assistant
manager of the transaction services department for PricewaterhouseCoopers.
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Left to right: Alfred Chow, Ai Yi Lim,
Sandy Friedman, Rona Puntawe, and John Koh
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“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).
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