Japan-America Society of TN

The 47th SEUS-Japan Meeting was held last month in Tokyo. TN brought a delegation of 70 state leaders from government, business, and higher ed - the largest delegation of all seven southeastern states. The Japan-TN relationship is entering a new phase of unprecedented strength.

BREAKING: Japan's stock market surges +6% to its highest level on record as global technology stocks see massive gains.

Snoop Dogg hits stage in hilarious Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto shirt trib.al/Pmja6Gl

Bridgestone is a founding JAST member and a bedrock corporate citizen of Nashville. We are so incredibly honored by their generosity and thankful to be included on this list. Cheers to the largest (and best) tire maker in the world 💯💯 tennessean.com/story/money/ca…

Boxing’s top pound for pound fighter in the world is now Japan’s Naoya Inoue.

INOUE VS NAKATANI HIGHLIGHTS ⚔️ Highlights from Naoya Inoue's super fight victory over Junto Nakatani in Tokyo 🎌

I applaud @JPN_PMO @takaichi_sanae’s important speech today in Vietnam on updating Japan’s approach to a Free and Open Indo-Pacific. In particular, I welcome Prime Minister Takaichi’s vision for Japan’s new proactive approach to cooperation on technological security, economic security, and national security with the United States and other partners. As Senator and former Ambassador to Japan, I am confident that the U.S.-Japan Alliance and our many partners will do great things to advance security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond!

Yamaguchi, Japan.

Lamar Alexander became Governor of Tennessee at age 38 and immediately built the blueprint for the relationship we have today between TN & Japan. We are thrilled to read his new memoir: The Education of a Senator. Out next month, with foreword by fellow Tennessean Jon Meacham.

From @WillRevenge's conversation with Nicole Wiley on Japan's decision to lift its ban on lethal weapons exports: "Japan's greatest strength is the fact that defense articles are of high quality and they deliver on time. "Japan will be integrated very importantly into supply chains for unmanned systems, both within Japan and also abroad. This creates opportunities for greater cross-fertilization between Japan's defense sector and its commercial sector." Catch up on their full conversation: hudson.org/foreign-policy…

TN is leading the nation in securing America’s energy future & strengthening advanced manufacturing. With Project Crucible now a FAST-41 project, we’re speeding up critical infrastructure & cutting delays. We thank @POTUS for partnering to drive innovation & opportunity in TN.

Anthony Bourdain on food in Japan: “Every chef I've ever met. If you ask them if you had to spend rest of your life in one country, eating one country's food…where would that be? They're all going to say the same thing: Japan. Tokyo. Period. It’s a humbling experience. You come here and you see how much precision — how much perfection — is possible with so few components and you've come away from that changed and a little frightened.”

The highest concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants in the world is 20x denser than Paris, 50x Manhattan/SF and 100x Tokyo. It’s Higashiyama ward in Kyoto. With ~50 stars for ~35k residents, it has an insane 1 star every ~700 residents! You can’t be >200m away from one.

ARIGATO NASHVILLE!! Eastside Bawl ミュージックシティ、ナッシュビル ボーリング場に併設された映画のセットのようなクラブでのショウ。ミュージックラバーな皆さんが踊り狂ってくれて最高に盛り上がりました。ありがとう！ 次はAustin,Texasへ！

Tennessee’s aerospace & defense sector is soaring, up 44% since 2019, with 12,300+ jobs and nearly $1B in exports in 2024. ✈️ "From advanced testing infrastructure at Arnold Air Force Base to new manufacturing expansions in Morristown and Murfreesboro, Tennessee is aligning workforce, research and site readiness to support the next generation of aerospace and defense investment." Learn more about how Tennessee is shaping the future of this industry: areadevelopment.com/ContributedCon… 📍: @BellFlight, Piney Flats, TN

Beijing’s economic coercion campaign continues to have zero impact as Japan welcomes the most tourists ever for the month of March, 3.62 million of them. Over 10 million people visited the country in the first quarter.

Tennessee: Experience High Volume We love the new brand from @TNECD. It captures the unmistakable speed and scale of our state’s booming economy and is a message that resonates strongly with our Japanese partners. TN continues to be the place to grow, invest and thrive.

Andrew McDermott is a Tennessean and very generous supporter of JAST. Also a brilliant financial mind and Japan expert. This will be excellent next Tuesday. Tune in.

In 1980, Tennessee had zero auto manufacturing. None. Then Nissan picked a stretch of farmland outside Nashville for its first North American assembly plant. Before opening, it flew over 375 Tennessee employees to Japan to train on production lines alongside Japanese engineers. Some stayed weeks, some months. That single decision seeded an entire industrial ecosystem. GM followed in Spring Hill. Volkswagen in Chattanooga. Ford is building Blue Oval City in West Tennessee now. Denso, Bridgestone, Komatsu, and over 200 Japanese-owned facilities came with them. Today, Japanese companies directly employ nearly 52,000+ people in Tennessee and account for more than half of all foreign direct investment in the state. I learn something new every week from my friend Andrew McDermott of Mission Value.