In Norman Matsushita’s office overlooking South Coast Plaza, Japanese-English dictionaries and local phone directories printed in Japanese dot the shelves.
The scene is emblematic of the two worlds Matsushita lives in as one of five partners at Deloitte & Touche’s Costa Mesa office. Matsushita’s 80-person staff works with many of the Japanese companies doing business in Orange County. His client list includes 15 big-name electronics and automotive companies that have their U.S. headquarters here or other sizable operations. He declined to name them, saying shinrai, or trust, is critical.
Matsushita, a third generation Japanese-American, is bilingual. More than that, he can seamlessly switch back and forth between languages and cultures. He’s as comfortable with his colleagues in Costa Mesa as he is with executives from Japan. To them, his flawless Japanese and polite mannerisms make Matsushita seem like one of their own.
“I was born and grew up here,” he said. “But because of my background, I can be sensitive when I deal with my clients.”
With Americans, Matsushita said he can be talkative and aggressive. To blend into a Japanese setting, he tones down. Matsushita said he was raised in a “very Japanese environment” where his parents retained Japanese tradition and qualities.
One point Matsushita had to clear up early on at Deloitte & Touche is how to pronounce his name, which he shares with Japanese electronics company Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Non-Japanese often mispronounces the name. So Japanese callers wouldn’t be confused, Matsushita jotted down a phonetic spelling for his receptionist: “Mot-soosh-ta.”
Doing business in the U.S. can be confusing enough for Japanese companies and executives, Matsushita said.
One of the first shocks they encounter is how different accounting and tax standards can be from Japan, Matsushita said. There are federal and state taxes, and each state has a different tax system. Besides resident and local taxes, Japan has one national tax. So wherever you go in the country, you’re in the same tax structure.
When a Japanese company sets up a business in America, Matsushita has to make sure executives understand that tax issues should be part of their planning process. He also reminds them that their competitors, whether U.S. or Japanese, contemplate the same issues, he said.
On one occasion, Matsushita said he recommended to an automotive company that it form a partnership as the most tax-efficient way of structuring a new production facility.
“Over a number of years, it will save them a considerable amount of money,” he said.
Income tax returns are another headache. In Japan, companies take care of employee taxes, and workers never have to file returns with a tax agency, unless they are self-employed. Every year, Matsushita’s group does seminars on income tax returns for his clients in Japanese.
That’s just for starters, though. To file U.S. taxes, recently arrived Japanese executives have to request statements from their Japanese banks and financial companies, which usually don’t have to produce such documents for customers.
“It’s a big pain for my clients,” he said. “We also have to translate the forms into English and use an average exchange rate.”
Matsushita said he personally deals with 300 tax returns a year, while the firm does some 1,800.
Bridging language and culture also is a big part of Matsushita’s job.
Matsushita said he cautions his staff that nodding by Japanese executives does not mean they understand everything or are in agreement. Most likely, they are just being polite, he said. Japanese tend to keep silent while their American counterparts continue talking, he said.
“I tell them the Japanese are hearing in English and translate into their language, so you have to give them time to digest,” he said.
Just as Matsushita works to acclimate his Japanese clients to Orange County, he also tries to help his own staff members learn about their clients.
A few years back he held a Japanese cultural awareness seminar for his workers that started with a ritual of Japanese business, meishi-kokan, or the exchanging of business cards. From there, the seminar expanded to how to talk with the Japanese. Don’t use double negatives, he told the audience, and speak slowly and clearly. n
