This is a list of some Japanese (or Japanese owned and controlled) companies.
Some of the names that make this list may surprise you, depicted by '*':
*7/11 Convenience Stores: US operations owned by Ito-Yokado, Japan
Acura (Honda Motor Company, cars)
*ABC-TV Building, New York City
Aiwa (consumer electronics, stereos)
*Brother (electronic typewriters)
*Bridgestone Tire Company (tires)
*Bruce Springsteen (works for SONY, his record contract is with SONY)
C. Itoh (computer printers)
Canon (laser printers, cameras, photocopiers, consumer electronics)
*CBS Records/Columbia House Records (owned by SONY)
*Cineplex Odeon (movie theater chain; about 50% owned by Matsushita)
*Citizen (watch company)
*Clarion (musical instruments)
*Columbia Pictures (owned by SONY)
Denon (cassette tapes, consumer electronics, stereos)
*Dunlop Tire and Rubber (owned by Sumitomo keiretsu)
*Epic Records (owned by SONY)
Epson (computer company)
*Firestone Tire and Rubber (owned by Bridgestone Tire Company, Japan)
*Fisher Electronics (stereo maker; owned by Sanyo)
Fuji Film (film and chemical products)
Fujitsu (nuclear and breeder reactors, consumer electronics, heavy
industry, telecommunications)
Geisha Foods (tuna and canned food products in the USA)
Hino (heavy truck maker)
Hitachi Industries (heavy industry, railroad, appliances & electronics)
Honda (autos, motorcycles, small trucks)
*The IBM Building, Atlanta GA
Infiniti cars (Nissan Motor)
Isuzu (autos)
*JVC (Japan Victor Company; owned by Matsushita Industrial Electric)
Kao (computer disks and supplies)
Kawasaki Heavy Industries (motorcycles, trains, industrial steel)
*Kenwood Electronics (stereo maker)
Kikkomann Foods
*Kirin Breweries [one of the largest brewers of Coca Cola in America [Yen p54]
Komatsu (A heavy equipment maker)
*Konami (video games)
Konica (photocopiers, cameras)
Kubota (heavy equipment, backhoes, tractors, bulldozers)
Kyocera (computer and electronics maker)
*Lexus Automobile (Toyota Motor Company)
*Loews Theatres (owned by SONY)
Makita (power tools)
*Matsushita Industrial Electric Company (consumer electronics, telecom)
*Maxell (cassette tapes)
Mazda (autos)
*MCA Home Entertainment (home videos; tv shows,ie.Dragnet..etc)(Matsushita)
*Michael Jackson (works for SONY, his record contract is with SONY)
Minolta (copiers, fax machines, electronics)
Mita (photocopiers)
Mitsubishi (a huge keiretsu;...banking, steel, autos, trucks, lead
pencils, electronics, electricity generation, bicycles...and on and on)
Mitsui (another huge keiretsu, similar to Mitsubishi)
Miyata (bicycles)
Mizuno (golf equipment)
Murata (fax machines and electronics)
*NEC (Nippon Electric Company; computers, telecom, cash registers, TV's,
electronics)
Nikko (consumer electronics, stereos)
Nintendo Electronics (video games)
Nishiki (bicycles)
Nissan (autos, power boats, trucking and heavy transport vehicles)
*Nomura Securities (financial firm)
Okidata (computer printers and accessories)
*Olympus (cameras)
*Omron (medical equipment, cash registers)
Onkyo (electronics and stereo maker)
Panasonic (Matsushita Industrial Electric Company)
*Pebble Beach Golf Course California (Japanese Investors)
Pentax (cameras)
*Pentel (lead pencil company...Japan has a huge share of the lead pencil
market, look at your lead pencil, its probably Japanese)
*Photofast Photo Labs
*Pilot (lead pencil company)
*Pioneer (Stereo and electronics maker)
*Quasar (Matsushita Industrial Electric Company) (Televisions, VCR's)
*Raven (computer printers, faxes and accessories) (Matsushita Industrial)
Ricoh (they make computer printers)
*Roland (musical instruments)
*Rockafeller Center Building in New York City (Japanese holding company)
[NBC-TV is located there]
*Ryobi (power tools)
Sanyo (electronics)
*Seattle Mariners Pro Baseball Team (Owned by Nintendo)
Sega (video games)
Seiko (Watches)
*Sharp (copiers, faxes, TV's, electronics)
Shimano (bicycles, fishing gear)
*Shiseido (perfumes, cosmetics, a rising star in pharmaceutical)
Sony (electronics, movie production)
*Spencer's (Shopping mall novelty store chain; owned by Matsushita)
*Star Electronics (they make computer printers)
*Stouffer Foods & Snacks
Subaru (autos)
Sumitomo (banks, heavy industry, trains, shipbuilding, steel, electronics)
*Suntour (bicycle shifters & mechanical accessories)
Suzuki (autos, motor bikes)
*TDK (cassette tapes)
Taito (video arcade games)
*Tokyo Disneyland (majority share belongs to a Japanese holding company)
Tomy (toy company)
Toshiba (electronics, electrical, home appliances, heavy industry,
nuclear reactors)
*Toyo Rubber (Tire & Rubber goods)
Toyota (autos, heavy transport trucks, industrial machinery)
*TriStar Pictures (movie company, owned by SONY)
*Universal Pictures (Matsushita Industrial Electric Company)
*U.S. News and World Report Building, Washington D.C.
*Westin Hotels (Aoki Corporation, Japan)
Yamaha (motorcycles, musical instruments)
Yokohama Tire and Rubber (tire and rubber goods)
*YKK (zipper company (look at the zipper on your clothes, its probably YKK
as this company has an over 50% market share in the world))
*Japan owns over 80% of all prime Honolulu hotel/resort real estate
*Japan owns over 40% of all prime downtown Los Angeles commercial real estate
America (or anyone else for that matter), owns very little real-estate in
Japan as it is Japanese practice through various means not to allow us to.
Chevy Nova car (Toyota) Chevy Sprint/Pontiac Firefly (Suzuki) Dodge Colt (Mitsubishi) Dodge Stealth (Mitsubishi) Eagle Talon (Mitsubishi) Ford Mercury Villager (Nissan) Ford Mercury Tracer (Mazda) Ford Probe (The body & styling is by Ford, the engineering & 'guts' is Mazda) GM's Geo cars (mostly Japanese) HP printers (many of them are really Japanese) Macintosh Powerbook Computer (some are SONYs) Some Radio Shack Portable computers Some Sears major appliances, TVs, and electronics (Matsushita and others)
JAPANNO (see also the introduction): An unauthorized translation of a best selling book in Japan "A Japan that can say no (to America)!" about why Japan is now number one and should take the place of the US as world leader. By Shintaro Ishihara (Japanese Parliament Member) and Akio Morita (SONY CEO). This is a good analysis of many of America's problems. Note the version of this book sold in stores is a phony. 1/2 of the original version is missing (Akio Morita removed his part fearing it would hurt SONY's sales in the U.S.) and there is a new appendix specifically written for American consumption, much of which seems to be false).
MATSUSHITA.PBS: Transcript of a shocking PBS Frontline special about how a Japanese cartel wiped out the US TV industry and went on to take over the rest of world consumer electronics.
LOSEWAR.PBS: Transcript of another excellent PBS Frontline special about how yet another Japanese cartel conspired and took over the world supply of small computer and electronic displays. Good segments on how Honda used unethical (and possibly illegal) measures to drive U.S. auto parts makers out of business and a segment on the Nintendo cartel.
The following article referred to in the above paper is available via the Internet Computer Network at FTP Site: slopoke.mlb.semi.harris.com in directory: pub/doc/misc
AGNTLIST: The list of 'foreign agents' (with figures): former high level U.S. government public officials who later used their inside government contacts to work as agents for foreign interests in order to make quick money while betraying America. Many of them made over a million dollars doing this.
The Japanese government and industries have treated the America that rebuilt (with US taxpayer dollars) and helped Japan so much after World War II with contempt and insolence. We had accepted their closed market and opened ours to them so they could rebuild their country and become full members of the peaceful world. Instead, their government and their industries chose to use this generosity as weapons against us in order to destroy our companies, our jobs, and our nation. America should respond swiftly and soundly: If Japan won't play by our rules, then until things change, we should play by theirs: meaning we close our market to Japan, and we forbid Japan from owning our major corporations and technology, like they do to us.
I used to buy lots of Japanese products, probably for the same reasons you might now. Others may not know the full consequences of their decisions like you do now. Telling them is important. If you know an effective way to get this message out to people, then it would be wise to do so, don't wait for someone else to do it for you.
America belongs to you and you have to do something for it once in a while. This is one of those times. She needs your help. If you have questions, please ask. Use this network and fax machines to organize yourselves to get this message out. Put copies of this article in lounges or on the company/school computer network. Send this article to the media, your representatives, or your favorite political party or anonymously to company upper management. Leave copies in airline seat magazine pouches. Scatter copies of it into the 4 winds or call radio/TV talk shows and tell the people. These are all things which can be done.
If you are a student or recent graduate, you probably already realize much more than your parents do that your standard of living is likely to be a considerably lower than theirs was. You are much more likely to have trouble finding a good job upon graduation than they ever had. That is how this problem affects you directly. As a result, you may wish to get your friends & family to tell others and organize or inform student groups to get the word out about this problem. If you don't act, its you (and your kids someday) who will suffer the most as a result of all this, so its up to you.
In the meantime, one very good way to get people aware of the topic is to get them a copy of Rising Sun (by Michael Crichton) as a birthday or Christmas present. It is much better than the movie version and is a very good factually based fiction murder mystery book on the subject. It is a #1 best seller.
Remember that a problem like this can be fought, one American at a time. of America when you do business and remember that exclusive self-centered thinking will only make problems in America worse than they are. That is the true lesson of the 1980's. Self centeredness doesn't work in the long run. If we were as loyal to each other as the Japanese are to each other, we wouldn't be in the economic and social mess we are now. Remember that, and expect it from your family, friends and associates. If you don't get what you expect, let them know.
Hopefully in the future, the economic war will be called off and our two countries will live peacefully and with co-operation. I look forward to that day.
I run a mailing list which occasionally distributes articles like this one. If you'd like to be on the email receiver list, please send me a note (to the address below).
Andre Robotewskyj; ar12@midway.uchicago.edu