The Japan Times published a comprehensive report this month on Japanese business activity in the Great Lakes Region of the United States.
The lead article in The Japan Times report titled "The Strength of the U.S. Economic Heartland" provides insights on economic and business relations between the U.S. Midwest and Japan, and indicates they are at an all-time high. In the report, Masuda Funai indicated that its attorneys are seeing significantly increased Japanese M&A activity, as well as an increasing number of facility expansions by Japanese companies in the Midwest. Masuda Funai also discussed that intellectual property assets are more and more important, and that the firm’s Japanese clients are becoming much more proactive in defending their intellectual property.
The Japan Times report also highlights the success of the U.S. Midwest-Japan Conference in Tokyo last September which was attended by Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Gov. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, Gov. Bruce Rauner of Illinois and Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan, as well as U.S. Ambassador to Japan, William Hagerty.
Masuda Funai’s President, Tom McMenamin, and his fellow Conference officers Japanese Conference Chairman Yuzaburo Mogi, U.S. Conference Chairman Gordon Dobie and U.S. Vice Chairman Milton Neshek joined the governors and ambassador for a private discussion during the Conference. Click here to read the full report.
At the U.S. Midwest-Japan Conference in Tokyo last September (from left to right), Kikkoman Foods Inc. Secretary Milton Neshek, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Gov. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, conference co-chairman and Kikkoman Corp. Honorary Chairman Yuzaburo Mogi, conference co-chairman and Winston & Strawn Partner W. Gordon Dobie, U.S. Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty, Gov. Bruce Rauner of Illinois, Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan, and Masuda Funai Eifert & Mitchell Ltd. President Tom McMenamin.