The Japan Connection
Alums contribute to accounting students’ global experience
By Pamela Babcock

rom meeting major corporate players to dining with one of Japan's foremost business executives, UNC alumni drew on their international experiences to make a global immersion elective to Japan and Korea a resounding success for 17 Master of Accounting students.

Calling on other alumni, Jennifer Taylor Smith (MBA '83) and Taketo "Mike" Furuhata (MBA '55) helped UNC Kenan-Flagler faculty and staff assemble an impressive itinerary for the immersion course, "Japan and Korea: Exploring Financial Institutions and Culture." Smith is president of Taylor Smith International Inc., a global training, intercultural consulting and research firm based in West Orange, N.J., that works with American executives relocating to Japan. Furuhata has long been considered one of the top 100 executives in postwar Japan.

Mike Furuhata (MBA '55) helped organize the MAC Japan course.

Accounting professor Doug Shackelford led the 11-day course last October.

"It was a rather extraordinary example of alumni helping out current students," Shackelford said. "I had only visited Japan once, so alumni played an important role in helping us establish strong contacts in the region."

Last fall, Smith read about the upcoming trip in Insider, UNC Kenan-Flagler's e-mail newsletter. Smith had lived in Tokyo for five years and is former executive director of the International Bankers Association. She contacted Shackelford and offered to help, even coming to Chapel Hill before the trip to brief students on how business is conducted in Japan.

Smith also contacted Furuhata, whom she had met several years ago at a Tokyo alumni gathering. His background is impressive. He was one of the first international students to graduate from UNC's business school in the mid-1950s and had an illustrious career with Itochu Trading Co. and as former president and CEO of International Digital Communications Inc., a major telecommunications firm similar to MCI. Furuhata, a member of the Kenan-Flagler board of visitors, contacted Shigeru Suzuki, president of the Carolina Club of Japan, to help with the trip.

Alumni who met with students included Donald P. Kanak, president and CEO of Japan and Korea operations for American International Group Inc.; Suzuki of International Patent House; Minoru Machida, managing director of Aetos Japan; Atsushi Miyasaka, vice president and deputy managing director of Walt Disney International in Japan; and Ted Johnson, an attorney with Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker.

Alum Jennifer Taylor Smith (MBA '83) (left foreground) works with American executives relacating to Japan. She offered expertise on how business conducted in Japan.

A gathering of UNC alumni provided invaluable networking for both students and faculty. Furuhata, who joined students for a private dinner, says he and his counterparts in Japan "all remember wonderful days in Chapel Hill."

"We all wish to reciprocate kindness and friendship received at Carolina and to do something in return," Furuhata said. "By so doing, we will maintain a tie with the School and be real 'Tar Heels' in Japan."

Smith says her presence helped allay some of the students' concerns, since she was able to explain cultural icons and act as an interpreter. She says she's glad she made a difference for the students.

"We gave them a 'real-world' perspective of what it was like to actually live and work in other countries," Smith said. "This made for a real, practical application of textbook theory."