'Entrepreneurial Experience in Japan - Different"

[Taro Toporific]

An Entrepreneurial Experience in Japan - Different than in America
Hawaii Reporter - March 11, 2005
An American Entreprenuer [sic] in Asia....is a formidable guidebook for those who want to try their luck in a difficult field of entrepreneurship and marketing abroad....understand, respect, and even love the culture of the country where one wishes to do business. Ideally it's better to speak their language, but is not mandatory. Disregarding traits of national business and individual behavior, interpersonal relations and social values will bring nothing but imminent failure. ....
.... The book is unfortunately not finished yet, but you can obtain its first 12 chapters on the Web site

[amdg]

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: After decades in Tokyo, promoter has seen, done it all

It takes a true bard to spin gripping yarns of yesteryear. Few, if any, however, can say they've hobnobbed with gangsters and ambassadors, staged a bash with the likes of Whitney Houston or escorted media favorites, the Kano Sisters, about town. But Rick Roa has a way with people as well as words. And at age 74, he's still plying his multifaceted trade. In more than three decades of moving and shaking Tokyo's business and entertainment scene, Roa has made quite a name for himself. Actually he's made several: "King of Roppongi," "Mr. American Train," and "American Maverick in Japan" are a just few. But his friends-and much of his success lies in befriending those he meets-just call him Rick... Much of Roa's exploits are outlined in his biography. It's an interesting read that's as much about his beloved Tokyo as himself. It pales, however, compared to hearing tales straight from the maverick's mouth. Unfortunately, most of what didn't make it into his book he'll only say off the record, if at all. But what he does tell, he tells eloquently. "Rick is like a walking history book on Roppongi since the 1960s," author Robert Whiting says in an e-mail response while visiting Sweden. "He's also a formidable raconteur."

I suspect Mr. Roa is a better storyteller than businessman but he's done a lot more than most FGs in Japan.

[Greji]

[altar]

An American Entreprenuer in Asia - Chapter 12
An American Entreprenuer in Asia - Chapter 11
An American Entreprenuer in Asia - Chapter 10
An American Entreprenuer in Asia - Chapter 9
An American Entreprenuer in Asia - Chapter 8
An American Entreprenuer in Asia - Chapter 7
An American Entreprenuer in Asia - Chapter 6
An American Entreprenuer in Asia - Chapter 5
An American Entreprenuer in Asia - Chapter 4
An American Entreprenuer in Asia - Chapter 3
An American Entreprenuer in Asia - Chapter 2
An American Entreprenuer in Asia - Chapter 1
An American Entreprenuer in Asia - Introduction

Yeheee! We be all entreprenuers and biznesmen
Just joking, might be interesting, haven't read the chapters.

[Papa-Lazarou]

[amdg]

[Sarutaro]

Quote:

"I'm strictly a one-woman man. By this I mean that I always had one woman to whom I was 100 percent loyal--in my fashion. I never searched for another woman when I was involved with a woman already.
Of course sometimes there was overlap"

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?87413789-25e7-4a02-a282-9e1f24fa5173

No, but seriously, I liked reading his story. It's fascinating.

[Taro Toporific]

Asahi: After decades in Tokyo, promoter has seen, done it all
I suspect Mr. Roa is a better storyteller than businessman but he's done a lot more than most FGs in Japan.

[floatr][/floatr]
Well-known Tokyo entrepreneur Rick Roa dies
crisscross > japan > national. Wednesday, April 12, 2006 at 15:20 EDT
TOKYO--- Long-time Tokyo resident and well-known entrepreneur Rick Roa died on Wednesday in Tokyo. He was 74. Roa had been battling intestine cancer for several months. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Roa served with the U.S. Army in South Korea in the 1960s. He then worked for an electrical company in the Bahamas, Germany and the Philippines, before arriving in Japan in 1968.
For the next 36 years, Roa became a mover and shaker in the Tokyo business and entertainment worlds. At first, he sold English education to Japanese companies, before getting his baptism in the world of Japan's hostess clubs as a bartender. Over the next few decades, he met many big-spending and influential businessmen, as well as some colorful characters on the fringes of Tokyo's underworld, became an event promoter, served as Playboy's Director of Licensee in Japan, was the international manager for the Kano sisters, and tangled with more stars and their managers than he could remember.
Roa had a keen eye for business opportunities, especially during the bubble era of the late 1980s and early 1990s. One of his greatest successes came in 1988 with "The American Train in Japan." The transport ministry was looking for a way to publicize its newly formed East Japan Railway, so Roa suggested a mobile advertising train for U.S. products. He flew to Coca-Cola's headquarters in Atlanta and convinced them to sign on....more...

[Mulboyne]

Robert Whiting said that he used Rick Roa as a source for his "Tokyo Underworld" book but Roa was careful not to name names. When Roa put his own book out, the feeling was that he still wasn't coming clean. I wonder if his biographer has the all clear now. Or maybe he didn't know anything after all...

Always sad to see an old FG hand pass though...

[Greji]

Robert Whiting said that he used Rick Roa as a source for his "Tokyo Underworld" book but Roa was careful not to name names. When Roa put his own book out, the feeling was that he still wasn't coming clean. I wonder if his biographer has the all clear now. Or maybe he didn't know anything after all...

Always sad to see an old FG hand pass though...

I also put a post on the Dead FGs thread on this and Marvin has the obit up on his MDN site.
RIP