And what do you know! Noda declared that nothing would please him more. Naturally there had to be a few ground rules about confidentiality—this was after all a delicate corporate situation—but otherwise he'd be delighted to chat. You could have knocked me over with a feather.
Thus around two P.M. Thursday, Jack O'Donnell arrived at the new twelfth-floor operation, ready to get the truth or by God know the reason why. After he made his way past our Uzi- outfitted reception, I brought him on through the floor and introduced him to Dr. Richardson. Jack knew of her writings
and hit the ground running, asking who, why, when, where, etc., but before he could get any real answers, Noda appeared and took over.
O'Donnell confided later that his first impression of Matsuo Noda matched perfectly my description of the man—every bit central casting's image of the in-charge Japanese honcho. After the usual routine pleasantries, Jack said he'd like to record their talk. Noda politely demurred, saying recording instruments stifled his spontaneity, then proceeded to laud Jack's own articles and speeches urging American industry to get its house in order. Senator Jack O'Donnell, he declared, was a visionary American statesman.
Jack accepted this praise warily, then asked if he could maybe have a peek at the computer operation on the floor below, the analytical armory I'd told him about. Again Noda begged off, claiming he'd be honored to guide the esteemed senator's tour personally, but surely they'd both prefer to postpone that until such time as they had the leisure to review the operation in detail.
Jack sensed, and I did too, that he was getting a polite runaround, so he decided to get down to business. He clicked open his briefcase and took out a notebook.
"Mr. Noda," he began, "there's been considerable speculation in Washington this past couple of weeks regarding the specific intent of Japan's sudden heavy involvement in America's high-tech sector. My subcommittee has monitored foreign investment here for a number of years, and frankly I've never seen anything remotely like what's now underway. I'd appreciate an informal briefing, unless you wish to open the regrettable possibility of a formal subpoena to appear before our subcommittee."
Whereupon Jack received the first whoosh of what soon blossomed into a roomful of aerosol bullshit. Noda started with some malarkey about the great tradition of economic cooperation between our peoples, advanced to balderdash about Japan's desire to share her resources with the world's less fortunate, then outdid himself with triple-distilled crapola about the timeless trust and regard his country's ordinary citizens cherished in their hearts for our Christian nation (which had merely torch-bombed and nuked them a few decades past). Worst of all, Jack had to sit there and listen. I've never seen the guy so uncomfortable.
Clearly Noda intended to give him pure tatemae - soothing generalities that added up to zip. The man was, by God, going to do exactly what he wanted, all of which was perfectly legal, so he didn't really see any point in drawing a picture for the U.S. Senate.
Finally Jack just closed his notebook. "Let me put this differently. I understand that your objectives are not merely acquisition, but also an attempt to rejuvenate U.S. business. Beginning, I take it, with the lackluster segments of our high-tech sector?"