JASPectives

Kenny Nashimoto
Hitachi Automotive Products

Have you noticed that hometowns tend to have a unique scent, reminding us that we are "home again"?  Almost two years ago I arrived at the Bluegrass Airport in Lexington for my second chance to work in Kentucky.  I seemed to recall the flavor of Kentucky, which I had missed for nearly ten years.  I felt I had "returned" to Kentucky, rather than "come" to Kentucky.  

My first visit to Kentucky was in July of 1989, just before I was married.  I became a big fan of Kentucky during this four-month stay because it was just the right season for playing outside.  However, in some ways I was shocked by the difference between Americans and Japanese.  In particular, the American lifestyle devotes significant time to family, whereas I was used to devoting most of my time to my work.  Also, there was always daylight in Kentucky long after work!

I visited Kentucky for a short time again in 1990-91 for projects in my field.  Then, in February of 1993, I was finally assigned to work as an expatriate in Kentucky.  My family felt worried when they arrived in Kentucky three months after me, especially because we had a one-year-old child.  Fortunately, volunteer English teachers and Japanese  colleagues' wives helped us very much to establish our American life.  I felt again, as in my previous visits, that Kentuckians' hospitality is very special.  This special hospitality made our family comfortable and safe during these days in the United States. 

While living in Kentucky in 1995, our second child arrived.  We remember always feeling kindness from everyone in Kentucky, especially my wife as the time came to deliver.  She always remembers the baby shower thrown for her.  In Japan, mothers stay in the hospital with their new babies for ten days or more.  We knew it was a shorter time in America but reality was a surprise when they sent us home after just two days!  I took a week off work to help give the baby baths, take care of our older son, clean around the house, etc...  All this may be natural in this country but was not common in Japan in those days.  That was good experience for me at that time.  For my wife, the opportunity to spend time in the United States gave her a boost of confidence in her life. 

The time flew by and we were assigned back to Japan in February of 1998.  Our first son had grown from one year old to five years.  Our second son was already two years old!  We were filled with great memories and Kentucky had become a second hometown to our family. 

On my current assignment, I have already been in Kentucky two years.  Because of my children's school, I am away from my family this time around.  But I am living comfortably, getting lots of help from Kentuckians, and enjoying your hospitality, your lifestyle, and your long daylight again. 

It is difficult to be apart from my family but they have visited here twice during holidays.  They met old friends and shared memories.  It makes me happy to see that we are all still connected to each other.  I do not know how long my current stay in Kentucky will last but I hope to keep making friends and memories in my Kentucky home.

第二の故郷　ケンタッキー

故郷というのは不思議なもので、その土地特有の香りがあります。

約２年前の２００８年４月２日、二度目の米国赴任のためにレキシントン空港に降り立ちました。

１０年ぶりに懐かしい香りを感じると共に、赴任というよりも「帰ってきた」という思いが強かった記憶があります。

私が初めてケンタッキーに来たのは、１９８９年７月。出張で４ヶ月ほど滞在したのですが、１年中で一番良い季節であったこともあり、この初めての滞在でケンタッキーの大ファンになりました。

退勤後の太陽の高さ、家族との時間を大切にするケンタッキー人のライフスタイルなどは、家庭を顧みずに仕事ばかりしていた私には十分なショックを与えてくれました。

その後、１９９０年、９１年と続けて短期で出張する機会もあり、そのような業務のつながりもあってか１９９３年の２月にこちらで仕事することになりました。家族は３ヶ月ほど遅れてからこちらに来たのですが、上の子が１歳になったばかりということもあり、最初はだいぶ不安だったようです。

しかし米国人ボランティアの英語の先生方や、日本人の同僚の奥さまたちの助けもあり、何とか米国生活を軌道に乗せることができました。

私自身も出張中に感じていたのですが、ケンタッキー人のホスピタリティは特別なもので、これがあってこそ家族がこちらで安心して生活できたのではと考えております。

１９９５年にはこちらで下の子が生まれました。ケンタッキー人は臨月の身重な妻にいろいろな場面で気を使ってくれて有り難かったし、生まれる直前にベビーシャワーをやってくれたりして、周囲のサポートをいつも感じることができました。

子供が生まれると日本では、母子共に１週間から１０日くらい病院に入院するのが当たり前なのですが、生後２日後に退院させられてしまうのには驚きました。

そういう話を聞いてはいたので、一週間会社を休んで上の子の面倒をみたり、妻がゆっくり休めるように家事をこなしたり、子供をお風呂に入れたりと、こちらでは当たり前なのかも知れませんが、日本ではなかなかできないことを経験できました。妻もアメリカで子供を生んだことがかなりの自信になったようです。

過ぎた日は早いもので、１９９８年２月に帰国しました。１歳だった上の子は幼稚園に通う５歳に、こちらで生まれた下の子は２歳になっていました。

私たちの家族にとっても５年住んだケンタッキーは第二の故郷であり、懐かしい思い出でいっぱいです。

こちらに２度目の赴任になってから２年になりました。今回は子供の学校の都合で単身でこちらで生活していますが相変わらず、「退勤後の太陽の高さ」「家庭第一」「ホスピタリティ」を感じながら毎日を助けられながら送っております。これはケンタッキー人にとっては常識でも、我々にとっては一種のカルチャーギャップなのかも知れません。

今回は単身生活とは言いながらも家族も長期連休を利用して年に１度こちらに遊びにきており、昔の友達と会っては懐かしそうにしています。

今後何年こちらに滞在するかは定かではないのですが、より多くのケンタッキー人と仲良くなって多くの思い出をつくって行きたいと思います。

By Sara G Smith
President, Smith Management Group

Limitations on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions (GHG – includes carbon dioxide and related gases) are no longer a distant threat.  With the December 7^th declaration by U.S. EPA that GHG are a danger to human health and the environment, we have begun a wild ride – one which does not have a clear outcome.  The question as to whether Congress or EPA would act first has been answered with EPA’s announcement.  We will be especially vulnerable in Kentucky to the changes coming.  Many of our industries will be subject to the rule, as a general stationary fuel source or due to their particular industry – or both.  At a minimum, many industries will be required to work through some complex calculations to determine if they are in or out.

Because of the “endangerment finding”, EPA now MUST regulate GHG under the Clean Air Act.  Currently, that means any facility emitting over 250-tons per year of GHG would be regulated.  CO2 emissions are common and come from both natural and man-made sources.  Each of us individually emits between ½ and one ton of CO2 annually.  A 250-ton per year limit could mean that a large elementary school may require a permit.  To counteract that departure from common sense, EPA is developing a “tailoring rule” to raise the permitting limit to 25,000 tons per year.  Whether EPA actually has the power to change the regulation in this way remains to be seen.

You are now required to monitor and report GHG emissions over 25,000 tons per year.  Compliance with this regulation, effective December 29, 2009, will increase costs for affected manufacturers substantially.  The regulation (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0171), consisting of over 1200 pages, could be the subject of an article by itself.  Critical dates are coming up quickly – and some are already past.  Monitoring and measuring your emissions begins January 1, 2010, and the first report is due in April 2011.  If you won’t be able to install required monitoring equipment and procedures by April 1, 2010, you may have some pretty big trouble.  Extension requests had to be substantively supported and submitted by January 28, 2009!

Now is the time to learn about this rule and whether it applies to your facility.  SMG is presenting a seminar on the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule on February 23, 2010 at 3:00pm.  We will review the rule in general and go through a case study to learn how to work through the specific requirements.

Next we can expect the addition of GHG to the air permitting process, with requirements of “Best Available Control Technology” (BACT), although EPA notes that they don’t know what BACT is yet. 

All of this is happening without Congress moving on cap and trade legislation.  In fact, EPA’s actions can be characterized as part of a game of chicken the administration is playing with Congress.

Kentucky stands in the center of the controversy due to our heavy dependence on coal for electricity (greater than 92%) and our currently low electric rates which have attracted industries that use large amounts of electricity, like aluminum smelters. 

Kentucky has few alternatives to replace coal as our primary source of electricity.  Alternative energy from solar and wind will provide very little to our energy mix, purely as a function of our geography.  Biomass can be developed to provide some fuel for power generation but may not provide more than a small change.  Nuclear generation takes over twenty years to permit and develop, and currently cannot be legally sited in Kentucky.

There is significant debate and discussion about the impact of these restrictions on electric generating industries, but little attention has been paid to the impact on general industry and manufacturers – whether through substantially increased energy prices or direct regulatory control of greenhouse gas emissions.

Litigation is a certainty.  EPA’s actions will likely be attacked by the environmental community questioning whether EPA has the power to alter the PSD threshold from 250-tons per year to 25,000 tons per year.  Impacted industry and energy producers will likely question EPA’s authority to add GHG to the list of regulated pollutants, as carbon dioxide is both a valuable commodity and essential to life.  GHG are vastly different from the types of pollutants currently regulated under the Clean Air Act.

Wait and see is not a viable response to this issue.  The impact of the proposed actions is too significant to allow others to make decisions that can significantly impact our economy.

Sara G. Smith is President of Smith Management Group, an environmental and energy development consulting firm in Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky.  SMG provides permitting and compliance assistance to manufacturing clients and has been involved in energy policy development, siting and permitting of energy facilities.

Who are the people in this 1982 picture taken outside the Emperor's Palace? 

Far Left:            Robert Brown, JASK Chair

Crying Baby:     Matt Krebs, JASK Executive Director

Taking Picture: Glen Krebs, JASK Founding Member and former Chair
*(Matt’s Grandpa is holding him)

Robert, Glen, and Matt have each shared comments about being foreigners in Japan in the early 80's and what they learned from the experience. 

From Robert Brown:

In the 1980s, I was working for a great Japanese company, Mitsui & Co. After several years in the New York office, I was transferred to the Tokyo head office.  For me, I found it a fairly easy transition from one big city, New York, to another, Tokyo. It was particularly easier than the transition I had made from Kentucky, small and modest size cities, to New York City, a big city.  I am still intrigued that large cities in their size have more in common even across cultures, than different size cities in the same culture. One reason is that being surrounded by a well-established pattern in Tokyo made the adjustment fairly easy.  I stayed in a Mitsui dorm, I worked in Mitsui's downtown Tokyo building with a view of the Imperial Palace, I could eat lunch in the building, and I attended Japanese courses during the day for the first three months.  The evenings were spent with Japanese colleagues or attending Masters of Science courses at Jochi Daigaku (Sophia University) on Japanese business practices.  My living was established and filled with activities. My fiancé, however, came to Japan, where we were married. Not having a job, she found the days very long until she started teaching English. 

One day, I received a telephone call at work from an attorney who had just arrived in Tokyo.  He was referred to me by one of his law professors, who also taught courses during the summers in Tokyo.  Recognizing the adjustment that many people have to Tokyo, I agreed to meet him for lunch.  I quickly realized that this attorney was not going to have any adjustment problems.  He spoke Japanese better that I did and had brought his family with him.  Over the next two years, our families spent many weekends visiting each other or places in Tokyo.  One of my favorite memories was going to the Imperial Palace for the Emperor's birthday. On such occasions, the Emperor would come out on his balcony, waive at the crowds and have his picture taken from afar.  I only have blurry pictures of this occasion since I had my new camera on the wrong setting.  There is a small white spot in one of the pictures, which could be the Emperor waving but it could be anything.  My good friend, Glen, however, did bring his camera and did have the correct setting, as you can see from the picture above.  As you can see, I am practicing my parental skills by staring down a crying baby.  That baby is Matt Krebs, our executive director. 

 

From Glen Krebs:

Tomodachi: the Japanese word loosely translates as 'friend' or 'friends.'  When I moved to Japan in 1981 to begin working for a Japanese law firm, my pregnant wife and two small children accompanied me.  The law professor who helped me get the job also suggested that I try to find a friend of his who was working for Mitsui & Co. in Tokyo.  I followed my professor’s advice and made a new friend in Japan.  When my new friend was sick he gave me his basketball tickets.  Our families participated in many cultural events together – including paying our respects to the Emperor on his birthday at the Imperial Palace.  We even helped celebrate my new friend’s wedding in Japan.

We made many great friends during our two year stay in Japan.  Some were Americans, others were Japanese.  We have maintained contact with several of them during the past thirty years.  It is cliché to say that relationships are important when doing business in Japan, but for our family, the relationships we made in Japan in the early 1980s shaped our lives and even the lives of our children.  Since coming to Kentucky, our relationships with Japanese friends have multiplied and continue to enrich our lives. 

Last year I was reminded of the impact of the friendship of John Manjiro and Captain Whitfield.  Their relationship has lasted for many generations.  I hope the same can be said for the Brown – Krebs friendship which is currently in its second generation.

From Matt Krebs:

For the record: I did do more than cry (see picture above) when I was in Japan in the 1980s.  In fact, I began a lifetime of friendship with the Japanese.  The home in Yokohama where I spent two years as a baby was across the street from a Japanese high school.  Of course at that time, I knew nothing about law firms, trading companies, or even the Japanese language.  However, I remember that the teenagers from the school used to enjoy walking by our house as they left school. 

As a blonde-haired little American boy I would stand, stare and smile as the students would hurl their newly acquired English phrases at me: “This is a pen,” or, “My name is Yoshi.”  I could only babble back to them but they enjoyed the interaction with foreigners, and so did I.  I must have begun to learn that our words do not matter as much as our enthusiastic reaching out across the Japan/America border.  Thirty years later I appreciate more profoundly that Japanese families have come to Kentucky and I am proud that JASK creates opportunities for us to warmly welcome our Japanese friends.  I am glad to have moved beyond: “This is a pen!”