David Halberstam writes in his book "THE RECKONING"....

"Katayama's privileged childhood had made him different than other Japanese.For one thing it had given him a desire for a higher level of independence. For another it had made him an absolute car nut. He had grown up with classic cars in his family. His Father had owned two very sporty cars, an Erskine and a Star Durant. In the post war years when everyone else was preoccupied with finding a place to live and something to eat, Katayama was obsessed with finding a vintage car to drive and a place where the roads were not so bad that they would destroy it. He organized the first post war auto sports club in Japan. Its members were Japanese with found memories of other days and a handfull of American Officers; their cars were a few treasured MG's and some prewar roadsters lovingly reconstructed. It was his love of cars that had brought him to Nissan. His fellow workers saw Nissan as a big company likely to expand. Katayama chose Nissan because it was about cars, and he was about cars, and he not only wanted to build them, he wanted to drive them. At one point in the early 50's, frustrated with the politics of Nissan, he tried to start his own company. He and a friend tried to design their own car, an ultralight car for people in a poor country where gas was expensive. The Flying Feather, Katayama named it. They built a prototype in the second story of a Tokyo office building, then found they could not get the car out the door. Finally it was taken out though the window. He was, he decided an insufficiently practical man to run his own company.

That did not diminish his love of cars. When he was not working at Nissan, he was out driving a car as fast as he could. In a nation filled with laws and restrictions and inhibitions, racing around in a sports car was to him the highest form of personal expression. Years later when he became the Head of Nissan on the the American West Coast and purchased a house at Palos Verdes, California, he continued to speed. It was said of Katayama that he had more speeding tickets than anyone else in town. At first he passed himself off to the local traffic cops as a simple Japanese Businessman who knew no English, but the cops soon caught on. One of them would chase after him, catch up with his car, and say, "Good morning how are you today, Mr. Katayama. And by the way here is your ticket. By the end of his tour he had a chauffeur, since if he had gotten another ticket he would have lost his license."
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FYI:
Studebaker Erskine: http://oldcarandtruckpictures.com/Studebaker/
1928 Star Durant: http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/durant/

Below is a Picture of Mr. K. at the Vintage Z Roll Out event. This was held at the Nissan Motors USA HQ in California circa 1997. I attended the event. Nissan had hired 6 off-duty California Highway Patrol Motorcycle Officers to help with traffic control - and to lead a Z Caravan from Nissan's HQ to a local Nissan Dealership that was selling the Vintage Z's - Universal Nissan.

As word spread among the CHIP's that Mr. K was coming back to L.A. - - - over 35 of them showed up to say hello!! They were on duty but still coming and going all day. I talked to several of the older guys. They told me that when they stopped Mr. K for speeding - Mr. K would give them his business card - and tell them that if they ever wanted a Datsun to come see him personally. Several did - and Mr. K made sure they got what they wanted and at factory pricing. Every one of them said that when Mr. K left the area in 77 - Nissan was not the same afterwards. They also all laughed and said he only got tickets about one out of 20 times - usually if they knew him they would just tell him to slow down

If you don't have a copy of "THE RECKONING" search the Used Book Stores and/or Amazon. If you are a car guy - it is jam packed with great stories and great writing.

FWIW,
Carl B.

Thanks for sharing this interesting story Carl. Mr. K seems like a very interesting individual to say the least!!

Phil

Sadly, in all these 39 years I've never had the privilege nor pleasure to meet K-San,
but I hope that somehow in his heart he knows how much I (I should say WE)
appreciate all that he did to bring such a source of joy into our lives.

_________________
All Z Best,.......Kathy & Rick

1969 Z.CAR (#00013 10/69) 8/30/76
1969 ITSA.Z (#00171 11/69) 8/24/73
1970 OLD.Z (#06289 6/70) original owner
1971 510 2dr since 12/31/75
1969 1600 rdstr (our 160-Z)
1971 (#19851 1/71) sold
1975 75.Z (#01343 1/75)

It was interesting to me to recently learn that during WWII, altho draft age, Mr. K stayed with NISSAN. They wanted to send him to their facility in Manchuria, but he had been stationed there with them once before, and declined. He considers it a very good decision ~ things did not fare well for the NISSAN Japanese who were stationed in Manchuria after the Japanese lost the war.

Hi Frank:

As I recall - Mr. K was actually drafted into the Japanese Imperial Army, but shortly after an eye test showed he didn't qualify for duty and he was released. He returned to Nissan at that point and was sent to their operations in China. After a brief period there, he requested that he be returned to the home offices, and his request was granted.

Mr. Ayukawa, the founder and President of Nissan was tried along with others for war crimes committed in China related to Nissan's operations there. Historically there was no love lost between the Chinese and the Japanese. The Japanese used forced slave labor in China to build trucks for the Japanese Imperial Army. The treatment of the Chinese labor force was the basis for the War Crimes charges - Ayukawa was found guilty, served a prison term and was banned from ever holding a corporate office again.

Mr. Katayama got his name when he married into the "Katayama" family. In Japan the man takes the wife's family name, if that family has no sons to carry the name forward. Mr. K was born and raised as Yutaka Asoh.

Some people wonder how/why Mr. K seemed to get away with a lot of perceived disrespect, or lack of strictly following orders from his management chain, in a Japanese corporation. One of the reasons might be that he is related by family marriages to Mr. Ayukawa. Another might be because he had been with Nissan Motors since its founding. Family and Seniority both mean a lot in any corporate structure.

But why did Katayama not stay in China as ordered? Because he is a Christian, rare in Japan at the time and he objected to the horrible treatment of the Chinese by the Japanese Imperial Army and Nissan management there.

Many people, myself included, believe that the conduct of Nissan in China, combined with the conviction of Ayukawa of war crimes disgraced the name of Nissan. This was broadly covered in the American Press - and for that reason, just 15 years after the war Nissan decided to use the DATSUN brand for export to America. Datsun brand cars/trucks had a pretty good reputation for reliability among U.S. Military personnel stationed in Japan after WW-II as well.

The bottom line is that Katayama was the right man, at the right place, in the right time, with the right set of experiences, the right education and the right philosophy - needed to succeed.

FWIW,
Carl B.

Thanks Carl ~ you must have read the same book I read! (:wink:)