In my continuing research on IBM Japan, I was surprised that no one, among the chroniclers of International Business Machines, has yet to put up an article about Charles M. Decker. Decker was a senior IBM man who served in MacArthur’s GHQ (Supreme Command Allied Powers – General Headquarters) in Tokyo.
According to Mark Mason’s “American Multinationals and Japan”, Decker had a considerable role in protecting IBM’s interests in Japan, and in making sure that the SCAP was aware of what benefits IBM computing could provide during the Occupation.
It sounds like Decker was the second individual sent from New York to head up IBM Japan, the first being Ko Mizushina, who I mentioned about last month. During the War, of course, the Japanese military government treated IBM Japan as enemy property, and would not allow the company to function. (Even after the Occupation was over, MITI kept IBM Japan on a short leash.)
I am sure there are more interesting tidbits about the several big American companies that have been doing business in Japan since World War II, but you find them in eclectic books.
Did you know that IBM in America recapitalized IBM Japan three times? Neither did I.
Hoofin 