Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1602/

Entering banking business

I went and interviewed at all the biggest companies in San Francisco, they all didn’t have jobs, except, god bless them, the banks. So I got three job offers: Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Mitsubishi bank. All three of them are still around today, which in hindsight is also pretty remarkable.

But because my uncle was into Japanese management styles, he said go work for the Japanese bank, you’re not gonna be a banker, just find out for me what it’s really like. As it turned out I was the first American management trainee hire they had made, and the best part I found out their management training program lasted ten years, what’s that all about.

But again the Japanese philosophy: if I hire you, you’re gonna work for me for your career. And if you’re gonna work for me for forty years, why wouldn’t I take ten years, train you in literally every single facet of banking, and then at the end of ten years, you know what you like, we know what you’re good at, and then we’ll figure out what you’re gonna do with the rest of your thirty years with us. It’s an incredible investment in people. No business, US business, would do that. But they did. And that’s standard practice for them. That made me very aware of investing in people. That gave me an entirely different perspective about corporate life as well. So he was right.


banking business economics finance Japanese business enterprises management

Date: April 25, 2018

Location: California, US

Interviewer: John Esaki

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Robert Fujioka was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1952. He attended the University of Michigan earning a BA degree and earned an MBA from the University of Hawai'i. He has been in the banking industry since 1974 and currently serves as Vice Chair, Japanese American National Museum Board of Trustees, a Trustee of the Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation, and the First Hawaiian Bank Foundation. (November 2018)

Kazuo Funai
en
ja
es
pt
Funai,Kazuo

Bad business deal (Japanese)

(1900-2005) Issei businessman

en
ja
es
pt
Kazuo Funai
en
ja
es
pt
Funai,Kazuo

Company in Tokyo burned down (Japanese)

(1900-2005) Issei businessman

en
ja
es
pt
Sam Naito
en
ja
es
pt
Naito,Sam

Starting an import business after World War II

(b. 1921) Nisei businessman. Established "Made in Oregon" retail stores

en
ja
es
pt
Bill Hashizume
en
ja
es
pt
Hashizume,Bill

Father’s success in farm business

(b. 1922) Canadian Nisei who was unable to return to Canada from Japan until 1952

en
ja
es
pt
Bill Hashizume
en
ja
es
pt
Hashizume,Bill

Liaison between the Americans and the Japanese

(b. 1922) Canadian Nisei who was unable to return to Canada from Japan until 1952

en
ja
es
pt
Bert A. Kobayashi
en
ja
es
pt
Kobayashi,Bert A.

Getting involved in the family business at age 19

(b.1944) Founder of Kobayashi Group, LLC

en
ja
es
pt
Bert A. Kobayashi
en
ja
es
pt
Kobayashi,Bert A.

A body, mind and spirit work ethic

(b.1944) Founder of Kobayashi Group, LLC

en
ja
es
pt
Shunji Nishimura
en
ja
es
pt
Nishimura,Shunji

Learning skills by watching others work (Japanese)

(1911-2010) Founder of JACTO group

en
ja
es
pt
Shunji Nishimura
en
ja
es
pt
Nishimura,Shunji

Repaying Brazil by educating the technicians (Japanese)

(1911-2010) Founder of JACTO group

en
ja
es
pt
BJ Kobayashi
en
ja
es
pt
Kobayashi,BJ

No question about going into the family business

Hawaiian businessman, developer.

en
ja
es
pt
BJ Kobayashi
en
ja
es
pt
Kobayashi,BJ

About Albert Chikanobu Kobayashi, Inc.

Hawaiian businessman, developer.

en
ja
es
pt
Miyoko Amano
en
ja
es
pt
Amano,Miyoko

Yoshitaro Amano’s Business in Japan (Japanese)

(b. 1929) President of Amano Museum

en
ja
es
pt
Miyoko Amano
en
ja
es
pt
Amano,Miyoko

Yoshitaro Amano’s Tuna Fishing Boat (Japanese)

(b. 1929) President of Amano Museum

en
ja
es
pt
Hiroshi Sakane
en
ja
es
pt
Sakane,Hiroshi

How Yoshitaro Amano got to South America (Japanese)

(b. 1948) Executive Director of Amano Museum

en
ja
es
pt
Hiroshi Sakane
en
ja
es
pt
Sakane,Hiroshi

Yoshitaro Amano continues his efforts in business in order to pursue his studies (Japanese)

(b. 1948) Executive Director of Amano Museum

en
ja
es
pt