The frog project had another difficult problem besides the dispatch of a resident staff to HSA. That was :

In order to fulfill the smooth entry of the frogs (Mn-rail) to North-American market, the followings are indispensable. 1. To have a customer-service factory somewhere in North America for any troubles or complaints from the customers. 2. To be able to have a quick and thorough response to any individual request of each railway company.

In the result of field survey by the two around the U.S, the 8 samurais decided to have a tie-up with either of the two local assembly factories. They were the Cincinnati Plant of L. B. Foster Co. (LBF) and the Franklin Plant of Abex Corp. (ABX).

LBF in Cincinnati, Ohio, was introduced by Purchase Manager Kynan of Chessie System, giving careful consideration to Miwasaki's worry. According to him, Chessie was contracting out the detailed work relating to rail-crossing parts to LBF.
He wrote the invitation letter of Miwasaki to Bob Cattura, Sales Manager of LBF.

The friendship between Manager Kynan and Miwasaki began by chance, going back as follows.

Kynan was the senior graduate from the same university Penn State with Miwasaki, and had master's degree of management. Miwasaki happened to notice it at the visit to him after several times.

When he got into Kynan's office, he found two nostalgic photographs on the wall. He unconsciously stared at them in wonder, and pointing them out, let slip, "Isn't this Old Main of Penn State? And this picture is Nittany Lion, I'm sure !"
Miwasaki could not have forgotten about the appearance of that auditorium. At its entrance, there used to be a large student assembly where his friend Marco Singus had a big speech on the stage.
The lion's stone statue in the next picture was the symbol of Penn State.
Looking bewildered, Manager Kynan asked him,
"Why do you know them?"
Miwasaki answered clearly,
"Because I stayed there one year as a student."
The relationship between Manager Kynan and Miwasaki became not only of business at the moment.

Miwasaki of sales and Wabuka of technology visited both factories several times, confirmed their will of a tie-up, and weighed them based on the needs of Hayatama Steel.
Eagerness to tie-up, sales attitude, factory scale, technology level, reliability, geographical priority, ..... Almost impossible to decide which in everything.

Miwasaki was in favor of LBF the ability of which Manager Kynan of Chessie System accepted, but not more than that. Honestly he and Wabuka proceeded their investigation only for the solution of physical obstacles blocking their entry to North America.
Therefore, Miwasaki had not thought most of the other important business factors like a distribution channel. In the result, no trading company was yet involved in the case of LBF, but he never wanted to be bothered with direct business.

The advantage of ABX would be clear if another important business factor was added to the solution of physical obstacles. That is, Ichie Trading itself was familiar with the situation in North America, and also active and trustworthy.
So, it was logical and natural that Emperor Tonda made a decision of preference as "Tie-up with ABX through Ichie Trading."

Miwasaki received Tonda's decision as the Revelation from Heaven. He felt relieved at heart and made up his mind to go with ABX.
Wabuka, as he knew Tonda's intention quite well, followed it frankly as a reasonable judgement.

Side by side with such activities in Steel Casting Division, the whole company of Hayatama was proceeding the widening plan of Hayatama Steel America (HSA) in New York which started 2 years before. It included "the addition of one staff in charge of sales."
Emperor Tonda had the considerable spirit in pushing ahead with the entry of Mn-rail into North America by allocating Miwasaki for the personnel.
He must have thought, "If I lost this chance, my division might collapse and no hope of myself."

He talked to most of the executives, mentioning late Udono who had died in the last autumn, saying, "It is the last will of the Executive Director", and was about to get their consent.
Another strong help must have been the large-scale order from Polish National Railway and good delivery situation.
In order to change the company's absolute policy "Sales personnel has to be only from Steel Rolling Division", Tonda claimed them by all possible means, saying, "Miwasaki is surely capable. During a half year period of preparation before the dispatch, he will master what is wanted. I promise the work for Steel Casting Division will be his side job."
It was lucky for Tonda and the division that there was no candidate with a wish to be dispatched to HSA in Steel Rolling Division.

"Transfer of a sales personnel from Steel Casting Division to HSA."
For making sure the real intent of the above strong request pushed through by Tonda, Minabe of Investigation Dept., as a person in charge of the future plan of HSA, decided to question Miwasaki about what was going on in Steel Casting Division in detail. Minabe was just promoted to Director.
He called Miwasaki to his office.
Two fellows, related to HSA, joined the meeting.
One was Inami, former Manager of New York Office. He was in this department as a secretariat of the overseas strategy. He was the same entry to the company with Miwasaki.
Another fellow was Nachi. He was going to leave for HSA as a personnel in charge of general affairs and president secretary. He was several years younger than Miwasaki.
Both of them regarded Miwasaki as an additional sales personnel, since Shirahama, President of HSA, seemed to have accepted it.

Minabe and Inami asked Miwasaki with this way and that about the certainty of "The proposal for the entry of Mn-rail into North America" written by Miwasaki as the consensus of 8 samurais and guaranteed by Emperor Tonda.
Miwasaki never missed the chance to make a passionate answer.
They all agreed in the idea that the tie-up with an assembly factory in the field of North America was the key to success. But concerning the point that the factory had to be ABX through Ichie Trading, two of them made their attitude clear as "Against it flatly."
"Since you are going to work for HSA, dealing with the business of steel-casting frogs in North America, the intention of HSA has to be reflected in everything including the distribution channel."
They unanimously insisted it.

The prospective partner was still blank on their side, even if Tonda declared in his division which side was a winner.
Additionally according to them, Shirahama, President of HSA, was claiming that the intervention of a trading company in this business was not necessary because of the existence of HSA itself.
Miwasaki's idea wavered out of a sheer desire to be dispatched there himself. If it became a direct business, he would have extra troubles. But he did not want to make waves with HSA for a while.
He decided to leave the matter out of himself, because he just told Investigation Manager the things as they were. He had an optimistic hope that after the discussion among the people involved including Minabe and Division Manager Tonda, some suitable conclusion would be made.

HSA had a clear reason to stick to the direct business and to reject the intervention of a trading company about the prospective business developed in North America by the tie-up with an assembly factory in the field.
Their main business of steel rollings was all through trading companies. What they were doing mostly was to take complaints of customers. It meant that HSA would not get much profit in the future, either.
On the other hand, in the result of the change from New York Office to the corporate, HSA naturally had a purpose for profit and actually submitted its profit plan to New York City.
The submission of the plan was obligatory, and if non-profitable every year, it would be difficult to continue to exist.

The profit plan HSA submitted at its opening was naturally optimistic, not to say as irresponsible as "let it be." It did not have any concrete objective like pie in the sky.
Inami, the secretariat of overseas strategy, talked in a self-mocking way, "It is such an uncertain plan that something good would happen in five years."

A planner often puts blame on an action force, saying "Their way to act was poor." But it could not be applied to the case of HSA. Because both plan and action were going to be done by the same people like "birds of a feather", all of them had to take blame for any failure compared with an optimistic plan depending on the result.

At such a time, they happened to encounter a lucky chance.
They must have elaborately read "The proposal for the entry of Mn-rail into North America" written by Miwasaki, and closely discussed among them how it would contribute to HSA. Then they called Miwasaki and made questioning skillfully.
"You may be worried, but President Shirahama is familiar with the detailed situation there and we will do our best to back you up."
Minabe, General Manager of the Dept., finally said so in an assured manner, with a sweet voice to Miwasaki weak to a sweet voice.

It triggered various dispute among related people and among board members: Which distribution channel should the frog project choose, ABX through Ichie Trading or LBF by direct business?
Both concerned, Tonda and Minabe, were called by the president of the company and asked about "What and how is it going on?" The answers of each opponent were opposite as a matter of fact.
However about the dispatch of Miwasaki to HSA, both sides agreed strongly with each other. The personnel matter "Change of a person in charge of sales and increase of another" got off to a start before the solution of the problem.
In the result, Miwasaki's transfer to take over Iwashiro's work at HSA was decided. He was bound to be in charge of the business of steel rollings and the market development of steel castings in North America.

Another personnel had been decided to be Nagashima, for promoting steel forgings to the industry of oil-drilling in the United States.
The steel forgings used to be produced in Tsukiji Plant while Miwasaki was working there, but when Hayatama Steel merged with Shimozu Steel, the productin process moved to Shibukawa Plant, which was Shimozu's main forging plant. And after years, Hayatama made so-called the 3-company merger with Nanki Special Steel and Kamikura Steel. At that time, the forging process of Nanki brought together to Shibukawa Plant, and it began to put its strength on forging products next to steel rollings.
In such a situation, the executives judged to emphasize the overseas sales of steel forgings, because they were inevitable parts for oil-drilling machines and seawater desalination machines. Moreover, the strengthened Steel Forging Division of Hayatama had experienced considerably to make such parts for large-scale international projects. It also had quite a few records of export as single items.

Nagashima, appointed as another sales person, used to work with Nanki Special Steel, and now in charge of steel-forging sales.
Since he was positive and familiar with both forging and rolling in knowledge and technology, he woud have been the right person for the job. He was bound to open Houston Office of HSA.

After receiving a letter of appointment, two of them took special training at the major plants including Shibukawa Plant of steel forgings totally for half a year, and left for the United States in February, 1983.

For Miwasaki, his transfer to Steel Casting Sales Dept. was realized by his pleading with his boss Tawara and the people involved after a series of setbacks. But how was it taken on the receiver's side?
Steel Casting Division had changed a lot during Miwasaki's absence.
First of all, both its Tsukiji Plant and Sales Dept. were not the same with ten years before. Most of the people now at the production sites, sales, management, ..... were new to him.

The production of steel forgings had been brought together to Shibukawa Plant, Gunma Pref. when Hayatama merged with Shimozu Steel, and then Tsukiji Plant became only for steel castings. Instead, Kiso-fukushima Plant of shell-mold castings came to be under control of Steel Casting Division.

Assistant Plant Manager Shimozato, a go-between of Miwasaki, died suddenly of lung cancer, and the Plant Manager, a mahjong master, was gone to a subsidiary company.
Now, this small division was wholely controlled by Emperor Tonda, just promoted to Director.

Plant Manager, General Manager of Sales Dept. and other main posts were occupied by Tonda's friends or favorites in the division or taken from other divisions. Therefore it was for him a mere personnel allocation to receive Miwasaki. Instead, Tonda must have been pleased by the clients, R&D Headquarters and the head office organization for his acceptance.
Anyway, Miwasaki was an unwelcome guest as a personnel forced to be sent from the head office. Miwasaki felt that condition immediately after the transfer.
As a new comer to the sales field, he had to recognize that he could not have a say at any meetings. His opinion was not accepted as reasonable, and regarded mostly as the noise from outfield bleachers not familiar to the situation.

In most of the meetings Miwasaki attended, such whisper of Emperor Tonda, sitting obliquely, was heard around.
"He is saying only argumental and idealistic things. What we want is the opinion sticking to the scene."
The attendees, agreeing to such outright blame, became less supportive to Miwasaki. Since he himself had no honorable wish, he even lost his small pride, far from reacting against the whisper.

Manager Tawara, Miwasaki's boss, had given him a superior job performance assessment until he left R&D Headquarters. So, even though he was made light of at Steel Casting Sales Dept., he was promoted to Manager two years after the transfer, helped by his past record, at the same time with Kushima.
Kushima used to take care of Miwasaki when he worked for the casting production process in Tsukiji Plant.
At that time, Kushima had been noted for his warm personality and good ability, and been among the cores.
Now, he had the confidence of both sales and the plants, and also Division Manager and other executives trusted him the best of all.
Openly compared to such an excellent person, Miwasaki did not know what to do with himself.

In such situation, how did Division Manager and other executives take his offer to promote the export of steel castings?
Wasn't their idea this way?
"It cannot be any hopeful matter whether the export would be instrumental to the division or not. But since Miwasaki has no other strong point, better for him to do as he likes for the time being."

Silly talk of Emperor Tonda continues in a family-like drinking party,
"When on earth will your brain come back from an easy job in your previous days? Since you are now a manager, why not you get down to work?"
Whatever the silly talk was, whispered like that in a scornful attitude, looking sideways at reliable Kushima comparably, even Miwasaki, a coward, could not be only embarrassed and say "Sorry," whether the talker was Emperor or any other executives.
If the goal for which Emperor and everybody involved had to band together hadn't been hanging down before his eyes, he couldn't have put up with such situation and his desperate time bomb would have exploded long time before.
And now Miwasaki received the long-awaited information of his dispatch to HSA.

Which assembler of railroad crossings should Hayatama tie-up with? About this deadlocked problem, Miwasaki, releaved from the spell, shamelessly made a conversion to the direct business with LBF, like "a fox that borrows the authority of a tiger, or a scarecrow in armor", backed by the power of Ohshima, influential Executive Director, and Minabe, the core of the promotion of HSA.

On the contrary, Emperor Tonda must have become in such a state of mind as to be bitten by a pet dog.
Though he was now Managing Director, he did not seem to leave the post of Division Manager to anybody else. Was it because he believed that something clearly showing as his achievement was waiting just around the corner, not to say because of protecting his comfortable position?
He attended the monthly meeting between production and sales every time, and then appeared to the meeting of 8 samurais. When the samurais' meeting changed to a drinking party, slightly drunk, his whisper began as usual to no one in particular
"Leave the future of your division to me. The future of all of you depends on myself. It is your only way of life to support me."
Personnel matter was Emperor's hobby. Everybody in the divisoin recognized if anyone had been against him, who would have known his post the next month?

But, the card of Miwasaki was not in Emperor's hand because of the decided transfer to HSA. Therefore, though he was timid by nature and did not have any guts to go against his boss, he was a little relaxed and drinking beer pretending a pet dog, feeling acute eyes of Emperor.

Part 8-1 Reading: 13' 42"

Part 8-2 Reading: 18' 04"