Nissan. Toshiba. Bridgestone. Sharp. Matsushita. Tabuchi. In these parts, the names of Japanese manufacturers are getting to be as familiar as Jack Daniel`s and the Grand Ole Opry.
The State of Tennessee has done remarkably well in attracting Japanese ventures. The latest announcement that Tennessee had snared another big Japanese company came earlier this month. Komatsu Ltd., the world`s second-largest maker of earthmoving equipment, after Caterpillar, is negotiating to buy an existing factory in Chattanooga for its first manufacturing venture in this country.
So what does Tennessee offer that the Japanese like so much? Some say it is a nonunion atmosphere, although unions do exist in Tennessee. (Even the Nashville Symphony went on strike in February.) Others say it is Tennessee`s climate. Still others, rising to the topic, point to such historical similarities between Japan and the South as the fact that both were defeated in war.
Whatever the explanation, Tennessee is making a name as a growing base for Japanese manufacturing. States such as California, with its traditional Pacific ties, and Georgia, with its Atlanta international gateway, have long been the most successful in attracting Japanese business, in financial services and distribution as well as manufacturing. Texas has done well, too. But Tennessee, Gov. Lamar Alexander says, has attracted 12 percent of all the Japanese capital investment in the United States, not bad ”for one of the country`s poorer states”–in terms of per-capita income, he adds.
While some governors have expressed reservations about the growing Japanese investment in the U.S., Alexander, a Republican, has made it clear that the Japanese are welcome in Tennessee.
The state says it has attracted 29 companies with investment of $1.1 billion and employment of 6,700. Many of these companies, however, turn out to be tiny operations, some with only one or two people.
The jewel in Tennessee is the new, highly automated and well-appointed, $660 million Nissan plant, gleaming white in the fields of Smyrna south of Nashville, turning out pickup trucks and soon to add a line of Sentra autos.
In addition, Toshiba assembles television sets and microwave ovens in Lebanon. Sharp does the same in Memphis. Bridgestone (thoroughly Japanese despite its English name) turns out radial truck tires in La Vergne, and Matsushita makes electronic components in Knoxville, as does Tabuchi Electric in Jackson.
Tennesseans say there is an affinity with Japan. Among the more high-flown explanations are that Japan and the South are a lot alike because both were latecomers to industrialization and both use courtesy to resolve conflicts.
Alexander, who will be making his seventh prospecting trip to Japan this year, gets into some comparisons of his own. He is doing the text for a book of photographs that will include shots, for example, of the Steam Train Museum at Kyoto and the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Museum.
Tokyo and Tennessee are on the same latitude, the governor will tell you; the climate and the terrain are similar. There is a lot of symbolism about the dogwood and the cherry blossom, the chrysanthemum and the magnolia.
”When I come here, I feel at home,” said Masahiko Zaitsu, chairman of Nissan Motor Corp. U.S.A., who visits the company`s Smyrna plant monthly from his post in Carson, Calif. The plant is operated by Nissan Motor Manufacturing Corp. U.S.A.
But perhaps none of the above explains why a big Japanese company makes the decision to put a plant in Tennessee. Another reason is that the state can be generous. The state government spent $12 million for new roads to the Nissan plant and $7 million to help train plant employees. Rutherford County, site of the plant, chipped in with a $10 million tax break.
Also, unions have traditionally been weak in this area. Tennessee is a
”right to work” state, which makes union organizing more difficult. According to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, the state`s productivity is higher than the U.S. average, and the average hourly wage is lower–$7.49 compared with $8.84 nationally.
These reasons go far toward explaining why Tennessee and the South have attracted foreign industry. But each situation is different, as the governor points out. For instance, Nissan has no union, but Toshiba and Bridgestone do. Marvin Runyon, the American president of Nissan Motor Manufacturing, says that at its Smyrna plant, Nissan pays wages ”comparable” to average earnings in the domestic auto industry.
”Nissan said that it would not compete on the basis of wages,” Runyon said. ”We`ll compete on technology and management.”
The United Automobile Workers has said that organizing the Smyrna plant is a prime objective, but so far it has not mounted a major campaign.
Virtually all the Japanese manufacturers mention Tennessee`s strategic location. ”There are things God gave us and we can`t take the credit for,”
Alexander said. Central location is one. Tennessee says it is within one day`s delivery of 76 percent of the major U.S. markets.
The Tennessee-Tokyo connection goes back to the late 1970s–Sharp and Toshiba began operations in the state in 1978, for example–and the early arrivals can tell prospective Japanese newcomers what Tennessee is really like.
To help curb misunderstandings about ”foreigners” settling in Tennessee, the state has set up a Japan Center at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro to foster mutual understanding.
The center also functions as a support group for Japanese living in Tennessee. It runs a school on Saturdays for Japanese children, offering classes in Japanese and mathematics.
But surprisingly few Japanese–perhaps 125 to 200–have come to Tennessee as a result of the new plants. While Bridgestone and Toshiba have Japanese managers overseeing operations, the big Nissan plant strives to keep Japanese in the background; Runyon says there are 17 currently and there will soon be just 13.
”It`s a very nice place, and I enjoy my job intensely,” said Toshioka Masuda, executive vice president and general manager at Toshiba America Inc. in Lebanon. ”But there`s just one thing,” he smiled. ”There are no good Japanese restaurants.”
Masuda said Toshiba chose Tennessee because of its location, the aid from the state government and the quality of the work force. The employees are
”friendly, kindly and very good persons,” he said, repeating an often-heard compliment about Tennessee`s strong work ethic.
The Nissan plant, equipped with 230 robots, plans to make Sentras starting March 26. The plant began making pickup trucks in June, 1983.
According to Zaitsu, the Nissan Motor chairman, Nissan looked at 64 sites in eight states before narrowing its choices to Smyrna and Cartersville, Ga., with Smyrna getting the final nod. Before that, Smyrna, about 18 miles southeast of Nashville, was known mainly for a colorful country mayor and as a speed trap on the road between Nashville and Chattanooga.
In Lebanon, Masuda, the general manager for Toshiba, said his philosophy was that a clean factory promotes the making of quality products. The plant, which employs 650, is planning to increase its television production by 50 percent, its second such expansion.
