After a return to the hotel for a welcome rest, the final Friday Tokyo business visit was a late morning appointment with executives of American Express.

Arranged through the professional assistance of Ayako Ikehara, we were treated to an executive level presentation of the AMEX business strategy in the Japan market by Gregory Stoops, Marketing Manager for International Consumer and Small Business Services. Greg was supported by a team of three colleagues from his marketing team.

Greg offered a detailed and insightful review of the Japanese consumer and specifically focused on the attitude and behavior relative to the credit card and financial services industry, presenting significant data and studies to support the marketing approaches American Express has deployed to be successful in a very competitive market. Of particular interest were the number of adaptations required to address the needs, wants and demands of the Japanese market. His comments also highlighted the generational issues, challenges and opportunities with Japan’s aging population and changing behaviors.

As a marketing professor, I was thrilled with the depth and scope of the presentations and the student’s questions and response. Wow!

A special feature of the presentation was a view of the future that tied together with yesterday’s DoCoMo visit. The marketing future is the mobile experience! In fact, Greg indicated that they take their visiting New York headquarters executives on the very same tour our students experienced.

Day 4 began at 4:30AM with a visit to Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market, the largest such operation in the world.

Generally a major tourist attraction, the famed tuna auction has been cancelled and access to the market area restricted due to the March 11 events. Fully aware of the possible limited ability to experience the facility, everyone was up and ready for the visit.

The highlight of the morning was a sushi breakfast at local shop right in the market. Except for Keiko and myself, no one had ever experienced the wide array of freshly caught fish and other seafood in the preparation of sushi … and in one case, a student had sushi for the very first time.

Personally, a featured offering of oysters was a very special treat.

The experience is worth getting up at 4:30AM!

I will let the student’s blogs and photography provide interested followers with a description of the “Shibuya experience.”

Our next visit focused on entrepreneurship in Japan as presented by Mike Alfant, Chairman/CEO of Fusion Systems who also serves a President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ).

Mike, a 20+ year resident of Japan, has successfully founded and operated a number of high-tech businesses in Japan and led a 2 1/2 hour diverse discussion of issues posed by student questions and his reflections and a wide array of points on Japanese culture, the entrepreneurial environment and business climate, the post-March 11 recovery, and future policy choices and debates.

Mike also offered students his personal perception of what it takes for a non-Japanese to successfully live and work in the country.