Japan Beginning to See Gold in Black Americans : Trade: Since racist remarks created ill will in the 1980s, African- American culture has captivated the Japanese.

From Tokyo to L.A. to New York, the Japanese are saying black is beautiful.

Trade talk is in the air. Japanese endowments to African-American institutions are rising. You can’t be cool in Tokyo without Spike Lee’s clothes.

The mood has changed on both sides since the mid-1980s, when Japanese officials such as then-Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone offended African-Americans with racially charged comments implying that they have lower intelligence.

The angry reaction left the Japanese with some learning to do. They discovered that some of the impressions white Americans had presented to them about black Americans--as drug dealers, criminals, entertainers--were grossly distorted.

The Japanese have determined that, just as improving relations with a new American President is important, “improved communication with African-Americans also is crucial,” according to Seigi Hinata, deputy consul general of the Japanese Consulate in New York.

“The African-American community has an increasing voice in the American political and economic structure,” he said. “They are increasingly playing a leadership role in American society. Witness the array of black leaders in the Clinton Administration.”

One other thing the Japanese have noted, Hinata said: “The African-American market is also a big market, a more than $300-billion market.”

Kathryn Leary, a consultant who helped lead an effort to strengthen African-American commercial relations with Japan, said the Japanese now are acting partly out of guilt, but that also “a very good part of it is discovering there is a very good talent pool they didn’t know existed.”

She too learned something when she took a group of high-level executives on a tour of New York.

“They were shocked that black people ran an office. That’s the level of ignorance we are talking about. Their experience is seeing us on CNN with jackets over heads,” she said, referring to news footage of blacks in police custody.

The Japanese have shown themselves to be adaptable, however. Many have sought to educate themselves about black history and culture in recent years. Perhaps the most notable example is Kabun Muto, who founded and headed a minority-issues study group for the Japanese government. In early April, Muto replaced Michio Watanabe as foreign minister.

“I find it very interesting that at a time when we have a President deliberately seeking diversity in our government, the new foreign affairs minister in Japan is one who studied at length ethnic and minority issues in America,” Leary said.

The improvement is also reflected in philanthropy from the world’s wealthiest country.

Craig Smith, author of the Corporate Philanthropy Report, said Japanese philanthropy in the United States rose from $30 million in 1986 to roughly $400 million by 1991. Although the breakdown is unclear, a fair portion of that money went to African-American recipients, he said.

“I think there’s been a shift from the prestige giving to cultural institutions and universities toward minority and social causes,” Smith said.

Anecdotal examples also illustrate the change. In Atlanta, Johnnetta B. Cole, president of Spelman College, a historically black women’s college, established personal contacts on a trip to Japan and was given $120,000 from 12 corporations for a Japanese studies and travel program.

“I think it does represent an interest on the part of some Japanese business persons wanting to understand African-American institutions and African-American life,” Cole said.

“It’s good for us, because we must make our own determination as to who the Japanese are as a people. We cannot simplistically parrot what we hear--that the Japanese are all racists.”

Filmmaker-entrepreneur Spike Lee, who has been financially successful in America, is also enjoying a surge in Japan, where he has established two clothing stores. They expect to see $2.4 million in sales this year.

Black urban fashions are the rage among young Japanese. “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” is one of seven books about the slain human rights leader currently selling in Japan’s bookstores.

From Michael Jackson to Al Jarreau to Thelonious Monk, black entertainers have long been popular in Japan. Some, though not all, African-American musicians say they get extraordinary respect when they perform in Japan.

From the Japanese point of view, some of these artists might seem more Japanese than American. A Michael Jackson concert in Tokyo, for example, is considered a national event. His recording label is Sony Corp., Japan’s global electronics and entertainment conglomerate.

In Los Angeles, Toyota Motor Sales USA is investing $3 million over three years in the Los Angeles Urban League Automotive Training Center. The center will recruit, train and help place unemployed and underemployed workers in automotive repair jobs.

“This is something not insignificant by any standard,” said John W. Mack, president of the Los Angeles Urban League. He said Nissan, the other big Japanese auto maker, also sponsored programs in black communities.

“It’s very important that we have other Japanese businesses emulating the Toyota example as well as the Nissan example,” Mack said.

Throughout the United States, the Japan External Trade Organization, a Japanese business-industrial group, has been promoting exports to Japan for the last 15 years. Lately, they have been paying more attention to African-Americans.

“Our feeling is we hadn’t reached the African-American community we wanted to reach,” said Kunio Ito, a Jetro spokesman.

This month, Jetro is sending James McDonald, owner of A. Berger Paper Products, to Japan to cultivate prospective customers for facsimile and computer paper goods.

McDonald said Japan is seeking a stronger presence in the African-American market, through contacts with black entrepreneurs, attorneys, bank officers and others.

He said the Japanese realize that African-American executives “have positions of responsibility that are worth millions of dollars.”

Pat Tobin, owner of a Los Angeles public relations firm bearing her name, said she approached several Japanese firms at the height of African-American anger over racist remarks made by Japanese leaders in the mid-1980s.

Toyota became her anchor client and, she said, “it’s helped my business tremendously. I’m very pleased.”

Tobin said Honda has hired a firm similar to her own; Toyota advertises in Essence magazine and helps sponsor the magazine’s annual awards ceremony; Nissan has hired someone to direct it to markets of color.

“It’s a win-win situation,” Tobin said. “They have the yen and we have the spending power.”