Cultural Brand Strategist: Managing expectations across borders. Bridging the gap between Western brand identity and Japanese cultural reality, backed by three decades of technical, creative, and marketing leadership.
Unlike other ethnicities in the U.S., the vast majority of us Asians identify by our specific ethnic backgrounds. The day we go by "Yellow" (the official future color code for the Americanization of Asians in the U.S.) so that we fit neatly among White, Black, and Brown people, I say, "Maybe so, sir, but not … Continue reading Being an American with 123 years of Japanese Ancestry in the United States
Nowadays, with the internet, everybody expresses what they think without any accountability for what they say. Feelings and opinions often overshadow facts, so itโs no shock to hear comments like, โI do not care about Asians. What have they done for the Black community?โ To be clear, solidarity is not a zero-sum game, but here … Continue reading Japanese American Activists in the Civil Rights Movement, Here Are the Facts, Not My Feelings
Thatโs how I felt when I submitted my immediate response to their editorial, so it was not a one-way street. Yeah, that picture is of my dad (far left) who was interned at Rohwer (individual number 26285F). This is a personal response I originally published on Oishii-desu.com after The Denver Post used the internment of … Continue reading Cultural Critique: Exploiting My Fatherโs Internment for Political Narrative
โYouโre racist, heโs racist, sheโs racist, your family is racist, they canโt be racist cuz black, and most importantly, youโre all racist, except me.โ Yeaaah ok, right. This sounds like every unhinged individual who canโt effectively communicate an issue and defaults to the blanket labels of โracist,โ โfascist,โ and โNazi.โ When I hear that, I … Continue reading Epistemology: โYou’re Racistโ
Brand Audit: Kawahiro โ How a Chinese-Made Knife Brand Fabricates Japanese Identity to Capture Premium Pricing Independent Cultural & Strategic AssessmentGreg Taniguchi Brand Audit Executive Summary Kawahiro is a mass-produced kitchen knife brand manufactured in Yangjiang, China (a major hub for cutlery production). Despite its entirely Chinese origin, operations, and ownership structure, the brand employs … Continue reading Brand Audit: Kawahiro
Brand Audit: The Bastardization of โRamenโ in the U.S. Market โ How American Producers Have Turned a Protected Japanese Noodle into Generic Instant Noodles ObjectiveIndependent assessment of the misuse of the term โramenโ in the U.S. food industry, identifying how non-Japanese producers have diluted its cultural and technical meaning, resulting in lost equity for authentic … Continue reading Brand Audit: The Bastardization of โRamenโ in the U.S. Market
Brand Audit: Tokyo Table (Toridoll) โ Why a Large Japanese Restaurant Groupโs U.S. Business Model Dilutes Brand Authenticity and Stalls Growth Independent assessment of Tokyo Tableโs U.S. restaurant business model versus authentic Japanese dining execution, identifying root causes of brand dilution, mediocre customer reception, and repeated location failures. Shared to protect Japanese brand integrity and … Continue reading Brand Audit: Tokyo Table (Toridoll)
Brand Audit: Yoshinoya USA โ Why a Japanese Icon Struggles to Replicate Its Global Success in the American Market Shared to protect Japanese brand integrity and help them succeed in the U.S. market without dilution or missteps, not to criticize. ObjectiveIndependent assessment of Yoshinoyaโs U.S. operations versus its authentic execution in Japan and Hong Kong, … Continue reading Brand Audit: Yoshinoya USA