Commodore by Bagnall Brian

Author:Bagnall, Brian [Bagnall, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: EBC Converted
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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Commodore Japan’s general manager was Taro Tokai, known

as Tony by westerners. Tokai was one of the most important

general managers because of his ability to negotiate with parts

suppliers in Asia, and he was skilled in setting up and

operating manufacturing plants. “He was also getting the stuff

out of Korea, and he was overseeing Korea and Taiwan until

they built up the Hong Kong operation,” says Russell.

Tokai gave Commodore access to the same chips Japanese

electronics companies relied on. “If you went over to Japan

you would find they had ten thousand chips that weren’t

available in the United States,” says Russell. “At that point in

time, the chip technology was already shifting to Japan. The

NECs of the world were catching up with what they were

doing in the US, especially peripheral chips and integrated

chips.”

When the RAM chip shortage hit the world in the early

eighties, Tokai continued supplying Commodore. “We were

really scrounging to buy RAM and stuff like that,” says

Russell. “He was a big supplier of parts for the computers.”

Tokai spoke formal English, and just as important, blended

into western business culture. Like the other general

managers, Tokai was always present at meetings in London

and trade shows such as CES.

473

Physically, Tokai was startlingly thin. When he traveled to

North America, his fellow managers were worried about his

health and encouraged him to eat more. He had a long face

with a pencil-thin moustache and spoke in a soft, deep voice.

“He was an extremely brilliant world class business leader

who understood the implications of the first home

computers,” says Tomczyk. “He supported and encouraged

his small team of engineers and software programmers to

work on this computer and make it happen.”

Tokai was the first Japanese businessman Russell met. “Not

knowing much about the Japanese, I was really impressed,”

says Russell. “Then I found out he was the wild maverick of

Japan. He had a huge reputation in Japan for being this bright,

non-traditional Japanese manager.”

Russell was in awe of Tokai’s ability to market American

electronics in Japan. “He was a sharp guy,” says Russell. “He

was marketing things like the VIC where he’s going up

against Japanese products in their own market, and he was

selling PETs. I mean, my God, how did he do it? All those

other guys had specialized keyboards with all different types

of shift keys to generate all the character sets.”

Russell soon learned that Tokai was an exception compared

to his Japanese contemporaries. “Most Japanese managers,

and even people below them, were company men,” says

Russell. “Tokai wasn’t like that at all—he was his own man.

He was going to be successful on his own. Commodore was a

great vehicle early on, but you could tell he was independent

of that.”

474

In many ways Tokai was the managerial equivalent of Yash

Terakura. “He was pretty much like me,” says Terakura.

“Very independent and he didn’t fit in with Japanese society

either. He was pretty much an oddball.”

Much of Tokai’s managerial style was absorbed from the

United States, allowing him to combine the best aspects from

Japan and America. “He was stationed in the US with the

Ricoh company and I think he kind of picked up the lifestyle

in the US,” says Terakura. “He liked it. It’s better than the

Japanese lifestyle.

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